FCPX 10.0.5 How to burn a DVD with a Menu? at DVinfo.net

John Nantz · July 6th, 2012, 09:17 PM

This is another problem area where a solution is needed. I've got several Projects that are relatively short, like in the 3 to 6 minutes range, and don't want to burn separate DVDs for each one.

Question #1: What is the DVD menu normally called? A "Menu"? Or something else? What I'm talking about is what one sees when a DVD is first started and there are options like playing the featured video, other videos (like if the DVD has a series of short cartoons - I've got a kid watching one of those as I write this), etc.

Question #2: If FCPX can't create a Menu then is there another Apple product that can? Or would one have to go to some other third party application? (It'd be nice to avoid that if possible but that may not be an option.)

William Hohauser · July 6th, 2012, 10:06 PM

Toast is an option as well as iDVD. If you really need to make an elaborate menu, Adobe Encore is probably the only pro now.

John Nantz · July 7th, 2012, 12:16 AM

Hey, thanks William! Don't know quite how to say this, but Geeze! I think I got it. iDVD that is.

For the time being iDVD should work fine. I'm not doing anything commercial yet so for my somewhat limited use the options available with iDVD will do fine.

Just found that Toast 11 is available for $50 at cult of mac deals but the offer probably expires tomorrow. I think I'll pass and use iDVD for the time being.

The next step, though, is a burner for my Mac Pro but I don't know which way to spring: regular DVD burner or Blu ray, LightScribe or not, internal or external. An external one could be shared with my MacBook Pro. Anyway, this will probably be another post.

Thanks very much for directing me to iDVD.

Scott Brooks · July 7th, 2012, 09:58 AM

I'm not doing as much video as I used to but still needed something better than the option that comes with X. I just purchased Toast and I'm not that excited about it. I think iDVD will probably work just fine for what you're looking for.

John Nantz · July 7th, 2012, 04:18 PM

Used iDVD and it went not as well as I would have liked. Watched the demo's and they all made it look so easy. When I went to try it, though, things didn't go so smooth. But then what new application does? I should'a known.

The DVD included two menu items: one video and some photos in another. I put the photos in a slide show with a transition between each one then brought in some background music, the same soundtrack that was used in the video.

The video was the part that gave me the static. It brought in an earlier edit version and it took me a number of tries to get the newer version selected. Still not sure what the proper workflow is but a lot has to do with my file system (or maybe lack there of).

PAL format: Great discovery! One of the iDVD selection options is for burning to a PAL format. Didn't do it on this project but have another one in the wings that I can use this on.

Bottom line: really made progress today thanks to some great feedback.

David Dixon · July 8th, 2012, 01:13 AM

For iDVD, make sure that you export a full quality video from FCPX to add to your dvd contents. Also, in iDVD, make sure that you set the project to Best Quality (Project Menu-->Project Info). That gets you 2-pass variable encoding for better quality. Also, after setting up your dvd I recommend File Menu-->Save as Disc Image... as the first step. That creates a .img that you can open and test in DVD Player, and you can also then easily make multiple copies (using Disk Utility) without having to recompress.

Olof Ekbergh · July 8th, 2012, 06:40 AM

DVD Studio Pro still works great if you have FCP Studio 2. It is very easy to use and quite powerful.

I use Bitvice to make the M2V a AAC files after export from FCPX as Prores, then author in DVDSP.

Thomas Smet · July 8th, 2012, 09:37 AM

Honestly it may be cheaper and easier to use Bootcamp, but a copy of Windows 7 and buy one of many DVD authoring programs out there for the PC. Many of them for around $100.00 will even do Blu-ray with full motion menu support. Custom menus as well. Since DVD authoring typically uses lower system resources you may even be able to use Parallels to run a Windows program with great results.

Apple wants Optical discs to go away so I doubt you will see a native Mac solution ever again outside of Adobe Encore.

John Nantz · July 8th, 2012, 06:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by David Dixon

For iDVD, make sure that you export a full quality video from FCPX to add to your dvd contents. Also, in iDVD, make sure that you set the project to Best Quality (Project Menu-->Project Info). That gets you 2-pass variable encoding for better quality. Also, after setting up your dvd I recommend File Menu-->Save as Disc Image... as the first step. That creates a .img that you can open and test in DVD Player, and you can also then easily make multiple copies (using Disk Utility) without having to recompress.

Thanks for the list of things to consider checking. I do try to do the "Best Quality" option double-pass but I'll have to make double sure the next time I burn to see if that's what happens.

As for the others, those are Excellent suggestions to add to the workflow. Speaking of workflow, I need to update mine. Actually, all of them. Seems I've been tweaking them faster than I can get them updated.

John Nantz · July 8th, 2012, 06:45 PM

..... unfortunately, my Macs are a "not for Windoze" platforms. I've almost made the total switch from PC but haven't sent my Pentium IV to the recycler yet. Still have some old legacy software programs that need it's assistance, but the day is coming. It does run Windows XP (that's what I call windows 10, Preliminary). Okay, so much for the fun stuff. I do respect and value your input and judgment.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Thomas Smet

Honestly it may be cheaper and easier to use Bootcamp, but a copy of Windows 7 and buy one of many DVD authoring programs out there for the PC. Many of them for around $100.00 will even do Blu-ray with full motion menu support. Custom menus as well. Since DVD authoring typically uses lower system resources you may even be able to use Parallels to run a Windows program with great results.

Apple wants Optical discs to go away so I doubt you will see a native Mac solution ever again outside of Adobe Encore.

This part I don't understand. Why do they want to move this way so fast? Because they have, or will have (don't know if it's finished being built yet) a large data storage facility? Is the plan to rent space and have another income stream?

Personally.... I prefer to have my data in my own two little hands and not rely on some data warehouse a thousand miles away. On the other hand, I'm not sure my data is any safer. There was a time when I was making good backup and burning them to CDs but that hasn't happened for awhile. If we ever have a fire or when we get our 9.0 magnitude earthquake our data might just be toast. So I don't know.

Thanks for your comments and one of the questions I still need to answer is whether I really need to burn to blu-ray. As photographers we're always looking for better resolution and blu-ray is supposed to have it.

July 7th, 2012, 12:16 AM	#3
John Nantz Trustee Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Seattle WA Posts: 1,254	By Jove, I think I've got it! Hey, thanks William! Don't know quite how to say this, but Geeze! I think I got it. iDVD that is. For the time being iDVD should work fine. I'm not doing anything commercial yet so for my somewhat limited use the options available with iDVD will do fine. Just found that Toast 11 is available for $50 at cult of mac deals but the offer probably expires tomorrow. I think I'll pass and use iDVD for the time being. The next step, though, is a burner for my Mac Pro but I don't know which way to spring: regular DVD burner or Blu ray, LightScribe or not, internal or external. An external one could be shared with my MacBook Pro. Anyway, this will probably be another post. Thanks very much for directing me to iDVD.

July 7th, 2012, 09:58 AM	#4
Scott Brooks Major Player Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Charleston, IL Posts: 231	Re: FCPX 10.0.5 How to burn a DVD with a Menu? I'm not doing as much video as I used to but still needed something better than the option that comes with X. I just purchased Toast and I'm not that excited about it. I think iDVD will probably work just fine for what you're looking for.

July 7th, 2012, 04:18 PM	#5
John Nantz Trustee Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Seattle WA Posts: 1,254	Just burnt my first ever DVD with Menu Used iDVD and it went not as well as I would have liked. Watched the demo's and they all made it look so easy. When I went to try it, though, things didn't go so smooth. But then what new application does? I should'a known. The DVD included two menu items: one video and some photos in another. I put the photos in a slide show with a transition between each one then brought in some background music, the same soundtrack that was used in the video. The video was the part that gave me the static. It brought in an earlier edit version and it took me a number of tries to get the newer version selected. Still not sure what the proper workflow is but a lot has to do with my file system (or maybe lack there of). PAL format: Great discovery! One of the iDVD selection options is for burning to a PAL format. Didn't do it on this project but have another one in the wings that I can use this on. Bottom line: really made progress today thanks to some great feedback.

July 8th, 2012, 01:13 AM	#6
David Dixon Major Player Join Date: May 2011 Location: Knoxville, Tennessee Posts: 495	Re: FCPX 10.0.5 How to burn a DVD with a Menu? For iDVD, make sure that you export a full quality video from FCPX to add to your dvd contents. Also, in iDVD, make sure that you set the project to Best Quality (Project Menu-->Project Info). That gets you 2-pass variable encoding for better quality. Also, after setting up your dvd I recommend File Menu-->Save as Disc Image... as the first step. That creates a .img that you can open and test in DVD Player, and you can also then easily make multiple copies (using Disk Utility) without having to recompress.

July 8th, 2012, 06:40 AM	#7
Olof Ekbergh Sponsor: Westside AV Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Mount Washington Valley, NH, USA Posts: 1,365	Re: FCPX 10.0.5 How to burn a DVD with a Menu? DVD Studio Pro still works great if you have FCP Studio 2. It is very easy to use and quite powerful. I use Bitvice to make the M2V a AAC files after export from FCPX as Prores, then author in DVDSP. __________________ Olof Ekbergh • olof@WestsideAV.com Westside A V Studios • http://www.WestsideAVstore.com/

July 6th, 2012, 09:17 PM	#1
John Nantz Trustee Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Seattle WA Posts: 1,254	FCPX 10.0.5 How to burn a DVD with a Menu? This is another problem area where a solution is needed. I've got several Projects that are relatively short, like in the 3 to 6 minutes range, and don't want to burn separate DVDs for each one. Question #1: What is the DVD menu normally called? A "Menu"? Or something else? What I'm talking about is what one sees when a DVD is first started and there are options like playing the featured video, other videos (like if the DVD has a series of short cartoons - I've got a kid watching one of those as I write this), etc. Question #2: If FCPX can't create a Menu then is there another Apple product that can? Or would one have to go to some other third party application? (It'd be nice to avoid that if possible but that may not be an option.)

July 6th, 2012, 10:06 PM	#2
William Hohauser Inner Circle Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: New York City Posts: 2,650	Re: FCPX 10.0.5 How to burn a DVD with a Menu? Toast is an option as well as iDVD. If you really need to make an elaborate menu, Adobe Encore is probably the only pro now. __________________ William Hohauser - New York City Producer/Edit/Camera/Animation

July 8th, 2012, 09:37 AM	#8
Thomas Smet Trustee Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Milwaukee, WI Posts: 1,719	Re: FCPX 10.0.5 How to burn a DVD with a Menu? Honestly it may be cheaper and easier to use Bootcamp, but a copy of Windows 7 and buy one of many DVD authoring programs out there for the PC. Many of them for around $100.00 will even do Blu-ray with full motion menu support. Custom menus as well. Since DVD authoring typically uses lower system resources you may even be able to use Parallels to run a Windows program with great results. Apple wants Optical discs to go away so I doubt you will see a native Mac solution ever again outside of Adobe Encore.