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General discussion

Unable to export project from iMovie

Dec 5, 2007 10:02AM PST

New! Cannot export project to camera, quicktime or external hard drive
Posted: Dec 5, 2007 5:54 PM
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I recently completed a project of about an hour and 37 minutes. I had iMovie crash dozens of times during the editing process, but was able to limp through it anyway. I'm left with about 14 gigs on the hard drive. The project is too big to export to Quicktime (not enough space on start-up disc). I cannot export to my deck for some reason as well. I've exported projects to it in the past and I can control, import and play the deck through the f/w cable currently, so I don't think it's the cable. It goes through the initiation process, but only exports a black signal to the deck, and no audio.
I tried to transfer the file to an external hd (Maxtor 4 step, 320 gig, usb 2.0 - F/W) but it was very slow (2gig/hr), and then an error came up saying "file for clip 3 not found" and the transfer stopped.
Obviously I need more speed on my ram, but I'm still stuck with a project and no ability to export

Discussion is locked

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Just sharing.
Dec 5, 2007 10:21AM PST

I know someone that ran into this. The answer was their external was in FAT32 format and they ran into the 4GB file size limit. If this is your issue then you know what to do next.

Bob

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Need more clues
Dec 5, 2007 10:27AM PST

you have furnished very little information for us to go on here.
iMovie, what version.
OS X, what version
Anything you may have missed but that is mentioned in the Red Note at the top of each post.

Have you rebooted?
Is the project currently saved on the HD?

Take note of Bob's question. You'll be surprised how often that comes up

P

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Agree with Bob and mrmacfixit... also,
Dec 5, 2007 11:47AM PST

if you are exporting to a deck - I presume that is a miniDV firewire connected deck? miniDV tapes hold only 60 minutes of video - unless you get the 80 minute tapes (not recommended).

Are you able to watch the entire project within iMovie?

Since a Double Layer DVD can hold 120 minutes of video (actually, less with iDVD menuing - so lets say 110 minutes of video, have you tried burning to that - or do you even have a double layer DVD writer?

In all cases, the iMovie project will render first, buffer onto the hard drive then write to the selected media. You need hard drive space.

Your statement "more speed on the RAM" makes no sense. You may need more RAM or you may need more CPU speed - or you may need both - but "more speed on the RAM" is not valid.

In iMovie, you can select a portion (in the timeline) to be shared or exported - can you get part of your project out to the camcorder or deck - and do that, small pieces (20 minutes of so at a time), rather than the entire project - just to see what happens and where? If you can get small pieces out and end up with the entire project exported, you *could* then delete the existing project, re-import the project pieces you just exported and re-edit those specific parts...

How did you "try to transfer" to the Maxtor external? Did you do a "Save As" in iMovie and select that drive or did you try to drag/drop the iMovie file onto the external drive? Or did you try to do a "Share" to QuickTime?

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More speed on RAM?
Dec 6, 2007 3:10AM PST

My bad, I meant more capacity not speed on RAM. I'm running 256 now.
I'll get back with you all on the details of my s/w versions, as the mac is in another location. It's a dual 867 (mirror) 60 gig, 256 RAM running OSX 10.4.2 (I think), but I upgraded to Tiger last year.
Will try segmenting the project into smaller pieces and then exporting to the JVC deck.
Also, good catch on the method of transfer. I did a drag and drop and that may be where the problem is, at least with respect to the external drive.

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BTW Thanks!
Dec 6, 2007 3:22AM PST

Also the project is saved to the HD. I've played portions of the project back through iMovie and there are no flaws that I can see, audio is in sync. BTW, I did a lot of "pasting video over playhead" , in order to keep the original soundtrack. When I tried to add titles and transitions, it bumped the video tracks out of sync, so I took them out, and now it's okay. Once I get the project exported, I can creat a new project with titles and then import the project.

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S/W info
Dec 6, 2007 9:03AM PST

S/W iinfo - OSX 10.4.6, iMovie 2.1.2.
Repaired permissions, used disc utility and no improvement.

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Eeek... so... software updates happen
Dec 6, 2007 9:42AM PST

to add functionality and stability... and provide various associated Operating System (upgraded) compatibility...

You are on nearly a current version of the Operating System (10.4.11 is current prior to upgrading to Leopard - which is 10.5.x)... and iMovie is 4 versions ahead of what you are working with. Honestly, I am quite surprised you have gotten this far in the project (though you did mention lots of crashes and limping to get this far - that should have been a hint to you). At a minimum you should be on iMovie HD (vers 5.something)... but version 2? Yuck. (Though you can't do HD video on that machine).

You already know you don't have enough RAM (running 10.4.anything on less that 1/2 gig to a gig is just asking for trouble). And you told us that you know you don't have enough hard drive space.

Just the hard drive and RAM issues alone make it so I am not surprised you are having problems. And all on a 5-6 year old G4...

OK... I HOPE there is NOTHING on the external drive... When you are in iMovie, with this particular project open, have you tried to "Save Project As" to the external drive? Yes, it will take a LONG time.

The lack of RAM and hard drive space (on the start-up disk) will be most of the slow-down... and the CPU won't be helping much either.

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Bought 512 RAM and Borrowing 200 gig hd
Dec 6, 2007 1:46PM PST

Okay I've got some upgrades coming: 512 of RAM coming in the mail on Monday.I'd like to get 512 more but the money isn't there. Then I'm downloading whatever s/w updates I can. Don't know if I can get iMovie 4 for free or not. I do have Final Cut Express (version?), but haven't used it yet since there "wasn't time' to pick up the learning curve.I guess now would be a good time eh?
Tomorrow I pick up an internal 200 gig hard drive that I'm borrowing from a friend. I may try to use it if the external hd doesn't work, but it shouldn't make much difference whether or not an internal or external is used anyway.
I've had the mac stored for a few years, as I've been on the road.
BTW, what minimums are needed if I upgrade to the latest Express?
I would assume at least a gig of memory. Are the dual 867's enough speed?

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We need to get you out of this before you start
Dec 6, 2007 2:03PM PST

replacing software - there are incompatibility issues that may get you to a worse place. So, if all we can do is the external hard drive, then lets limp with that first - we need to get the iMovie project off that internal, and you have already discovered just copying the files to another disk does not work. So you need to "Save As" to that external. Once that is done, and it looks like the internal copy is not needed, we can delete it - which will free-up a bunch of space.

With any luck, this will be enough to get you an export or DVD burn done. If you get the RAM upgrade, install it.

DO NOT upgrade iMovie until you have stabilized with what you have.

Oh... and not so good news on the FinalCut Express 4 minimum requirements:

http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore.woa/wa/RSLID?mco=57A04335&fnode=home/shop_mac/software&nplm=MB278Z/A

"A Mac computer with a 1.25GHz or faster PowerPC G4, PowerPC G5, Intel Core Duo, Intel Core Duo 2, or Intel Xeon processor"

But don't worry about that at the moment - we need to get this other stuff done and your project in more than one spot - and USEFUL.

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Installed additional 512 mg RAM
Dec 18, 2007 2:04PM PST

Today: installed additional ram, now at 768. installed additional internal hard drive, 189 gig.
I have been unsuccessful in "saving file as" - there is no option for that in the menu, just "save project", so I cannot save it to the newly installed extra hard drive. However, I was able to export the movie to the new drive using quicktime. When I attempted to burn a disc, the pop-up read "file too big - unable to burn to disc". The file is 1.11 gig. I forgot to ascertain the features on the dvd burner I installed last year. It's a panasonic, that's all I know. Will update post tomorrow with info on the burner.
A further curious note: While seeking remedies for the situation, I've attempted to access the help menus, both in iMovie and the Mac system. When I type in a subject matter like "reformat hard drive"(for the new drive), or when in iMovie I look up "export movie" I get the same error message which reads something like "unable to search for that subject, try re-phrasing your question.." I don't know if it's related to my original post or not, but this started happening at the same time.

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The reason I see is...
Dec 18, 2007 10:09PM PST

That it's a newly installed drive. You didn't tell what file system was used but if it's new it could be FAT32 which should fail.

Try making it an Apple file system.

Bob

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Agree on the filing system
Dec 18, 2007 11:57PM PST

for the new drive - and while you are in Drive Utility, have you checked to see if the start-up drive need permissions repaired? With all the iMovie crashing (your description in the original post) it is possible that there are some file fixes needed.

Remember, DO NOT do any applications changes or updates or new installs until you can get the machine stabilized and this iMovie project completed.

On the QuickTime export that you were able to do - was that at "Full Quality"?

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FAT file conversion
Dec 19, 2007 3:37AM PST

Okay, how do I convert FAT 32 to apple? My help engine doesn't work anymore. I can look here for help with that I suppose.
I've repaired premissions on the native HD and "verified". I did export the movie as "highest quality", assuming that I would encounter resolution loss if I didn't. I could try again on lower quality, but will final resolution suffer?
Thanks again.

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Presuming you have nothing on that external (or new) drive,
Dec 19, 2007 4:07AM PST

Using disk utilities, Format the drive - It should set up to what you need.

Good that the hard drive has been verified and permissions repaired.

EXCELLENT that the project was exported at "full quality" (QuickTime).

You will not need a lower quality version for now.

OK... stop and take a breath.

What more do you need to do to the project? If the project - as it is in that Full Quality QuickTime - is complete, that is awesome.

IF the "Full Quality" QuickTime version is at a place where you feel comfy that there will be minimal changes (maybe just adding titles, credits and that sort of stuff - no more cuts/fades/effects...), you could consider using that file as your new "source". In theory, the Full Quality" file is the equivalent of getting it straight in from the camcorder... but all the cuts/fades/wipes/special effects will no longer be change-able as they are in the iMovie time-line.

Now that you have verified the HD and repaired file permissions, have you tried to launch iDVD to get the project out to your DVD burner? At 90+ minutes, you will need a double layer disc - and without any details, we are hoping that burner you got can use double layer discs for writing... Or - we discussed exporting portions to the camcorder (or deck) since the tapes are 60 minute tapes, you will need to split the job...

Once you get that external drive settled, there are a few things to do... but we'll get to that after you have had time to work though the above...

Anybody else with ideas to move past this bump? I'm trying to be fairly cautious here... and not putting everything out on purpose.

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Regarding HD formatting
Dec 19, 2007 6:39AM PST

Okay, I need to clear things up a bit, my apologies. I do not have the external drive anymore (borrowed), just an additional internal of 189g. Since I exported the movie to the new internal, will formatting erase the project from it? I couldn't find a tab or pop-up with the "Format drive" option on it, just "first-aid" etc. If I can figure out how, I can format and then re-export the project if necessary, but there's a catch (go figure): I'd like to add some cut-aways to the project from dvd. But if this creates insurmountable probs, I can live with the project as is and add titles, tie the bow and off I go.

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If you reformat the internal,
Dec 19, 2007 7:56AM PST

you will lose everything on it. Disk Utility will wipe the drive and format it for OS Journaled (I presume you intend to use that format to get it to work with the system). As to the movie file itself, I recommend burning DVDs to use before you attempt to reformat anything.

I have a question here: Did you delete the iMovie file after converting the movie into a Full Quality QT file? If that is the case, you'll be stuck with whatever effects you had, unless you add to it. When I use iMovie, I tend to either share to iDVD, burn to a disc, or share to QT, burn that to a disc or copy to an external, and then deleting that QT file from the main HD. Keeping the movie in the original iMovie format is good to do, because then you can always go back and edit everything, and share it in multiple formats and configurations.

Now I understand that you only bought 512MB of RAM, and that you decided you couldn't buy more than that. Since you wanted to use Final Cut, I suggest in the future, perhaps you should buy the additional memory, and a Sonnet G4 upgrade. Those dual 1.8Ghz sets are powerful. Then you could upgrade to Leopard and run almost anything you could want to use, so long as it can run on G4 technology.

Hope this helps,
-BMF

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BMF is right - formatting a drive
Dec 19, 2007 12:41PM PST

deletes everything from it. So do not do that - bad idea - unless you are able to save the Full Quality file to something else (an external drive or optical drive).

Since you were able to export the project to the new internal, why do you think you need to format - I thought it was the external that was problematic.

It might be possible to add the cutaways you want by using the "Full Quality" export. You would need to reimport that Full Quality version back into Quicktime - be aware that it will be just like re-importing from a camera, so the audio and video track will be combined (so you may need to Extract Audio (under Advanced). It just depends how you want to do that.

Personally, I would be checking to see if the iMovie project still crashes and if there is still a problem with iDVD or trying to write the "full quality" file to a DVD (you said the Full Quality file is 1.1 gig and a single layer DVD should hold 4.7 gig, so I don't quite know what is up there...

In the iMovie project... have you emptied the trash recently?

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I think he said that the help functions and stuff fail to
Dec 20, 2007 10:29AM PST

work since he introduced the internal to the machine. That's the impression I got. Like Boya84 says, you should be able to write the full quality file to a DVD. Once you do that, you can format the internal for Mac OS Journaled.

If I remember correctly, he said he was running Tiger and iMovie 2. I'm wondering if iMovie crashed because it's a bit old to run on the newer system. Just a guess, since you're running older software on a newer OS. Burn the file to a disc, reformat your drives, and upgrade to the latest versions of all of your apps. If you need to, you can upgrade to 10.4.11. That said, a fresh install will generally work better. Newer versions of iMovie, which I think will only run up to iMovie HD on this Mac (HD is the best by far. New iMovie only runs on G5 machines or later. Interface is terrible in my opinion.), should import your file and run correctly.

-BMF

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Assign future imported video to new internal drive
Dec 20, 2007 11:24AM PST

I'd like to burn the qt movie to disc, but it says that the file is too big at 1.1g(!?) The disc is rated at 4.7g, so is this an issue with the burner s/w interfacing poorly with Tiger?
Assuming I burn the movie to a disc, I wonder if it will help much, since I will have to re-import the movie to finish the project and it will end up back on the start-up disc. So, assuming I will be successful in burning the dvd, how do I assign the import in iMovie to the new internal drive? For future projects, I want all the video projects to be on the larger internal drive and not the start-up disc anyway. Is there some back door or preference mode whereby all imported video can be assigned to the "non-start-up disc"?
BTW, the help function failed along with the iMove melt-down before the new hard drive install.
Hey isn't this fun?

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I think we should slow down...
Dec 20, 2007 12:11PM PST

let's check what we HAVE:

We have the QT full quality export.
We have fixed permissions and verified the drive.

Have you tried opening the iMovie project recently? Does it still crash? If yes, then since you have the full quality QT, you may be in a position to upgrade iMovie - I strongly recommend 5 or 6... and NOT the current version from iLife08. Have you tried exporting to the camcorder since the fixed permissions and verified drive?

I agree that the old version of iMovie in combination with the newer OS is likely what is at the root of the iMovie problems, but since new versions of iMovie probably will not read the project created by the older version, the only way out is to either export the project to the camcorder (which we can't seem to do) or to a QT movie (full quality will be the same as getting to the camcorder).

I do not know the model of the Optical drive you are using - have you ever written DVDs in it before or only played back DVDs and perhaps written CDs? When you tried to burn the QuickTime file to the disc, can you explain to us how you did that? The message you shared indicates your machine thinks that is a CD - not a DVD...

What you may need to do is make two or three QuickTime full quality export files - so the two or three segments can fit on CDs... you can re-assemble them one the updated iMovie is in the machine... CDs hold 700 meg each.

Yes, when iMovie starts up as a project and you name the project, you can select the drive (presuming you have more than 1 drive)... it does not need to store projects in the start up. That is how it works in 5 and 6... It is not a "back door preference" - it is right up front when you start the project.

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Oh, you posted just before I did, LOL.
Dec 20, 2007 12:24PM PST

I guess we both said similar things here, but yeah, newer versions may not recognize it.

You know what Boya? You raised an interesting point here. I think I'm wrong, but perhaps his optical drive can't burn DVDs. If you have before, then maybe it is a DVD burner, but what if it hasn't? What if you mistook it for a DVD drive when it was a Combo drive? Doubtful guess, but worth verifying. Burning files to a disc can be done by most of our current drives today, but for DVDs, it requires the capability to do so. Burning it to a CD may work too, but if you don't want to split it up, go get a working external FireWire optical drive. Or USB, depending on what works faster for you.

Looks like we have a bunch of problems that haven't been fixed by the usual remedies. Permissions, check, QT capabilities, check, file and internal drive available for use, check... We do need to know what the deal is with this optical drive (yes, I've said it a million times Wink ) and we need to get that file off the machine so you can do a clean install of everything. Trust me, once you get Tiger 4.11 on it with iLife '06 and all the most recent versions of your software that the machine can handle, you'll be in good shape. Looks to me that it's just the file transferring that is the real problem.

-BMF
After this is all patched up, you should look into those G4 CPU upgrades. They may squeeze quite a bit more life from the machine. You've got the RAM and HD space, so it's just this that is limiting you from upgrading to things like iLife '08 and Final Cut.

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Either your burner is cooperating or simply can't burn it.
Dec 20, 2007 12:14PM PST

I've found that some discs come labeled with a certain storage, but only hold a certain amount based on what your format is and what you put on it. When you insert the DVD, right click on it on the desktop, click "Get Info", and see what your Mac says it can hold. Might not do any good, but it's best to explore all the options available. And if the disc is the correct size... hmm... are you using an external or internal burner? Depending on either choice, try the other. Or, once you store it on the larger drive, remove it, plug it into an external housing, and hook it up to another machine capable of reading and burning the QT file. External housings are cheap nowadays if you don't have one. Or just get the friend's external again, put it on that, and have your friend burn it if he can.

Point is, you need to get the file off of the machine and on to a better machine that will finish it up for you. As to the storage question... I know with iTunes you can change the library location to whatever folder you want your music and videos stored in. On iMovie HD, I usually save to my user's movie folder, but I don't have to. I've never set a default storage site for iMovie projects, since I've always picked the location when prompted to. iMovie prefs don't do me any good with that either, unless you have something that I don't. The new iMovie automatically creates an iMovie folder in the movie section and stores all of its files there. All of these files can be accessed directly through the iMovie library. I just looked at it and I don't see anything that can change it, but I'm sure moving the folder it creates would do the trick. But you can't use the new iMovie on your machine, and you don't have HD, so it depends on what this version does.

Once the machine gets cleaned up, you could get iLife '06 which had HD, so that may make it easier for you. Plus, it was made after Tiger came out, so it works fine. Let us know what happens.
-BMF

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(NT) Anything new on this?
Dec 23, 2007 1:45AM PST
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Finally getting back to you
Dec 31, 2007 4:45AM PST

Sorry for not getting back sooner. Just got back from a trip to California. I have burned DVD's with this o/d before,though not of this length.

I have tried to export the project to the jvc deck after repairing permissions etc., and it's still no-go. As mentioned earlier, the system recognizes the deck; I can manipulate the deck through the f/w, but the system only exports a black signal. I exportd another project (15 min.) the same day I started this one with no problems at all.

I'm not at the g4 now, so will have to get back to you with more details after the new year.
Thanks again everyone.

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Okay back at it today
Jan 10, 2008 2:47PM PST

and I found the reason why the project is too big to burn - it's 19.6 gigs!!
This project was exported to quicktime and has a .mov extension. So this sounds like a compression issue to me, although as I mentioned earlier, in the project I have pasted video over the existing soundtrack, so I'm not sure if that adds significantly to the size or not.
DVD's hold roughly two hours of video at 4.7g, so what's up with this project having 19.6 at one hour thirty-seven minutes? Is it because of it being "high quality"? Even so, I get videos at the store with far more resolution than my videos, and they fit on one disc with room to spare.

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That helps a little...
Jan 10, 2008 10:12PM PST

If you were in iMovie and launched iDVD to properly burn the DVD, you would have received an error message indicating the project is too large. A single layer DVD can indeed hold 4.7 gig of data - but DVD compression is different from QuickTime compression. That is why I asked early on if you could split the project into sections - so we could get to the under 120 minute mark the DVD can hold as DVD format.

It sounds like the QuickTime movie you have there is in "Full Quality"... because 1 hour of DV-quality video is ~13 gig...

You were not exactly "burning a DVD" when you were trying to copy the QuickTime file to the DVD, that is a data file being copied to an external drive - except in this case the external drive is an optical drive. That DVD disc with the QuickTime file on it would never play in a "normal" DVD player.

The pre-burned movie videos at the store are generally double layer DVDs... which hold 8.5 gig. This will help you - but as a DVD burned file via iDVD or DVD Studio... not as a Quicktime file. That presumes your DVD burner is capable of burning to double layer DVDs. I think that capability started with the second generation of G5 iMac flatpanels two and a half years ago...

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I've found that all the files put into it add to the size
Jan 11, 2008 6:30AM PST

It just seems to be that HD will not delete parts of audio clips and stuff when you shorten them, since you are always able to extend them back. Video clips can actually be shortened, but not all people do it. I've made 15 minute movies with 2GB, so it doesn't surprise me.
-BMF

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The dvd burner I have is aftermarket,
Jan 11, 2008 4:50AM PST

a Pioneer DVR 111D, which does have dual layer capability at 8x. I'm having trouble locating the dual layer discs locally though.Assuming I can buy some dual layer discs, is there a special command to tell the burner to burn both layers, or is it done automatically?
The project is 97 minutes , which is shy of the 120 min. limitation of the standard dvd, so today I will first attempt to burn the project directly to iDVD as you recommend in it's entirety, then splitting it up if necessary.
I've previoiusly burned (I'm reasonably sure) two projects, both at around an hour and a half long, through q/t, then to dvd, so I'm still curious about that.
Will check in tonight and update.
Thanks again.

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External DVD burner...
Jan 11, 2008 7:26AM PST

I have had success only with those from LaCie (have not checked which mechanisms are inside).

Good luck!

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Double layer discs...
Jan 11, 2008 7:33AM PST

When you are in imovie with your project open, there should be a button on the right... "iDVD". This will take you to a place where you can add bookmarks which later turn into scenes on a DVD (or when exported to QuickTime, a drop-down appears on the right of the QuickTime player that allows you to select the scene).

Anyway, in the iDVD section of iMovie, there is also a selection to "run iDVD" or something like that. iDVD will launch and whatever default theme for the menu background will be selected for you... you can pick another theme. If you go into "Customize" you can also replace the music. If the theme has a photo or graphics, you can drag you phot over it and replace it... lots of fun... anyway...

in iDVD Project info (which will be under one of the command line drop-downs), it *may* have Single Layer or double layer already selected... I don't know if it "just knows" or what will happen with the 3rd party external DVD burner...