I am clueless on this, so I will put the facs as clearly as I can.
My wife has put together a movie in iMove and it is 1:28:25 in length (88 minutes). She is using iMove 3.0.3 and iDVD 3.0.3 on an iMac (15" FP, 800mhz G4) running X.2.8. She has done several movies before, the longest being around low-80-something minutes. When she sends the movie over to iDVD and try to change the backdrop (from curtains to storybook) and burn the disk, she gets a message that she is tring to burn a movie greaer han 90 minutes.
? - WTF?
? - Is there a way to burn a DVD that is greater than 90 minutes? (I have Toast, but was not sure how to get it all doen up right as a real DVD from the .mov file)
TIA
Remember that the menus take up space on the disc...since you're pretty close to 90 minutes with the actual video, even a small menu could push you over the edge.
You can burn a disc longer than 90 minutes, just not with iDVD 3. iDVD 5 offers dual-layer DVD burning support, which should let you burn up to at least 120 minutes of video. (You can, of course, fit more than 90 minutes of video on a single-layer DVD, but I suspect iDVD 3 won't let you do that because the quality would be too poor.)
What I suggest you do is try it with iDVD 5. If you don't have a dual-layer DVD burner, you can dump the project to an image file, and then mount it and use something like Roxio Popcorn or Toast 7 to compress it down to fit on a single-layer DVD. Or, if you have access to DVD Studio Pro, you could probably fine-tune the encoding so you can make it all just barely fit on the disc.
? - Does iDVD 5 require an OS upgrade?
? - Since I really do not want to crack open the hemispehere, I was going to look into an external (FW) DVD burner. Sounds like your reccommending a dual layer burner. Who makes a good one and which model(s) should I run to/from?
? - Upgrade or Buy up? - Knowing that my wife has a 60G, 800MHz, 15" FP w/ X.2.8 and that her primary usage of this computer is:
...should I fork out the cash to up the OS, get an external DVD burner, maybe add an external HD, upgrade iDVD (possibly buying DVD Studio) or should I put the money to a new Mac and if so, which one? (Was thinking a Mini, but the cost of Mini + monitor = new iMac)?
Looking for some good suggestions on this one - I have limited my knowledge to older Macs and their software, so burning DVDs and what system config works best leaves me making some wild guesses. I do not want to spend a lot of cash, but I want to renew her setup with something that is ideal for her usage/needs.
The cost of a regular LCD monitor should be $250-$350 for a 17"-19", depending on brand. That puts the mini _ LCD into the range of 1/2 to 2/3 or an iMac, which starts at $1299. That's assuming you wouldn't be going for a $799 Apple 20" display... Which would be nuts to get to use with a mini.
Yes. The minimum for iLife '05 is 10.3.4, which, honestly, you should at least be running anywyay.
Since iLife '05 lets you use external DVD burners, this would be a decent solution. You don't necessarily have to buy one that's already in an enclosure; you can save money if you buy the drive and enclosure seperately. I've had good luck with NEC and Pioneer drives. You should be able to pick up a dual-layer burner from either of those brands for about $50; a decent external case would run another $50 or so. If you want to buy just a drive that's already in an enclosure, LaCie makes good ones. But keep in mind that dual-layer DVD media isn't nearly as cheap as regular DVD media; DL discs run about $2 each.
There's nothing wrong with an 800HMz G4. You could easily replace the DVD burner and hard drive with better units and have quite a decent machine. But if you're not willing to crack open the iMac, I'd just buy a new iMac G5. You'll end up with a much faster CPU, more RAM, bigger hard drive, and dual-layer DVD burner for not much more than you'd pay for a slower Mac mini. The G5 would be really nice as it would be faster at encoding the video, meaning your DVDs burn faster. And it'll give you room to grow, if you eventually decide to upgrade from iMovie/iDVD to Final Cut Express and DVD Stuio Pro.