geminidomino's Journal: Apple Geeks? Help me out!

Given the flakiness that is dvdauthor, I'm playing with the idea of getting a Mac Mini for dvdauthoring.

This is strictly a hobby, so I'm really not looking to spend $500 on software on top of the cost of the compute r (though this would be a good excuse to finally get myself a Mac!)

So what I mainly want to know is: how advanced is the DVD Authoring software bundled with the Mac Mini?

Can it:
Create Detailed menus, with clips, etc? (dvdauthor can do this)
Apply subtitles to the stream during authoring, from .srt format? (dvdauthor can't do this)
Work directly with file formats other than raw mpeg2 video and ac3 audio (built in demuxer)? (dvdauthor can't)

I want more than the simple "click and drag" style level of control.

Is it doable, or am I hoping for too much?
Thanks for any help.

iMovie and iDVD

[data1]

That's the software package included with the Mini - and although it will do most of what you want, you will probably have to sacrifice some extreme flexibility for the "seamless user experience"(TM) that most consumer software from Apple has.
To get everything you want, you'd have to upgrade to DVD Studio Pro - not cheap.

Re:iMovie and iDVD

[geminidomino]

To get everything you want, you'd have to upgrade to DVD Studio Pro - not cheap.

This is the important part here. Which parts of "everything" I want? :)

re: dvd authoring on a mac

[the original m0nk]

my only experience with iDVD is when i was helping a friend create a family photo album dvd for her family, so i'm by no means an expert. my limited experience suggests that:

1. it looks like you can get a nice menu system with some of the menu templates. whether it can let you get as detailed you want, i'm not sure. mostly because i don't know how detailed you want :) it seems like it would let you drag a clip onto a menu template, but i cannot confirm this, see #3. (short while later after launching and

iMovie and iDVD

[Burz]

I am not sure about the type of iMovie subtitles available, but I did find this article about them:
http://producer.mediablab.com/imovie/imovie_subtit les.phtml [mediablab.com]

The iLife suite can do the rest of the stuff you mentioned. iMovie and iDVD are pretty good at importing different formats (I've used quicktime, DV and AVI clips).

iDVD

[Kadin2048]

Create Detailed menus, with clips, etc? (dvdauthor can do this)
Apply subtitles to the stream during authoring, from .srt format? (dvdauthor can't do this)
Work directly with file formats other than raw mpeg2 video and ac3 audio (built in demuxer)? (dvdauthor can't)

I think you're going to find working with iDVD very different than working with whatever Linux tools you've been using. In fact, I would pretty much forget everything you know and try to come at it with an open mind and a clean slate, or you're goi

iDVD

[Angostura]

It doesn't do subtitles. Precisely what other file formats do you want to work with?

You say that you want to go beyond 'click and drag', but that is precisely what all Apple software is. You don't really give a good picture if your practical requirements and say what it is you are actually wanting to do with the package.

In essence iDVD and iMove are great packages for editing and applying effects to movies and then placing them on DVDs. It supports things like chapters, you can build wizzy animated menus (

Re:iDVD

[geminidomino]

By "not all click and drag" I was thinking of something along the lines of dvdauthor on Linux, except that it might actually work.

Judging from the comments though, it looks like the mac isn't the way I need to go (or rather, that I can afford to go, since DVD Studio costs almost as much as the computer does).

Thanks for all the input from everyone.