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[old-man]

Using a G5/ Panther loaded computer:

I have a couple of film editing questions:

• What is the maximum length of disc iDVD 4.0.1 will author
in either the best quality or best performance modes? Knowing that a home burned DVD probably should not exceed 1.5 hours, will IDVD 4 (assuming you have the space on your hard drive) allow you to burn the full 1.5 hours? In which mode?

• What is the compression formula between a Final Cut Express 2.0.2 exported Quicktime file and the resulting IDVD file after rendering. i.e. If the FCE QT file is 12 gigs, what will the resulting size of the IDVD file be just prior to burning.

• Can you elect to burn a Final Cut Express QT movie file directly into Toast 6, in lieu of Apple's Burn software? If so, what are the basic settings in Toast?

Thanks, ...Old man

[Frobozz]

I don't have answers for all your questions. If you don't get them here you might try posting on the iDVD and Final Cut Express forums at discussion.info.apple.com.

The maximum length for a movie with iDVD 4 is approximately 1-1/2 hours unless you choose the AC-3 sound option. Doing so adds room for about 1/2 hour more video by compressing the PCM audio to AC-3.

Best Quality mode increases the number of key frames but doesn't change the bit rate. At least that is how I understand it. This means the quality difference is only noticeable where there is a lot of motion.

I don't know the actual bit rates of iDVD. If the movie is less than 1 hour in length the bit rate is higher than if it is over 1 hour in length. If you want maximum quality you need to keep the movie to less than one hour. There's a nifty freeware application called mrBitbudget that will calculate file size for different bit rates and video lengths.

You can export the Final Cut Express movie and have Toast 6 compress, author and burn the DVD. The encoding rates are essentially the same as iDVD: 1 hour at the best bit rate and 1-1/2 hours at the lesser bit rate. When Jam 6 is released in a few days Toast also will have AC-3 encoding to lengthen the amount of video that can be added without reducing video quality.

[old-man]

Frobozz,

That was an excellent response and I appreciate the time you took to respond.

Old Man