iMovie and iDVD

[steviebee]

Not sure if this is one for here or Computers and Stuff but here goes anyway:

I have iMovie 3 as part of the bundle with iLife. My Mac hasn't got a Super Drive so I cannot access iDVD. Can you substitute the SuperDrive for an external DVD burner?

Also, does iDVD compress video files? I have an iMovie that is currently topping out at about 12gb and with RDVDs having a capacity of only 4.2, I feel I may have a problem...but as most movies are 1.5 hours long and mine is just 30 mins, I'm guessing there's a way round it.

Thanks in advance.

[Marshy]

iDVD compresses teh DVstream data that iMovie will import from a camera to MPEG2 suitable for writing to DVD.

I think there have been hacks to allow iDVD to work with external DVD burners. I seem to recall that Apple were unhappy about that though.

iMovie and iDVD are meant to be lovely if you're importing from a DV camera, but they're next to f-all use if you just want to take existing digital content and turn it into a DVD. Shame really, iDVD makes lovely DVD menus.

[steviebee]

Thanks Marshy. Looks like MacWarehouse is going to be about £1,400 richer this weekend (and me £1,400 lighter!)!

My 12gig iMovie is a home movie from DV so it should all work fine.

Thanks again.