iDVD 6 giving me a headache...
 

I've been working on this project, getting a VHS converted to DVD. My friend did most of the work with his camera, and gave me a 13.13 GB video file which i imported into iMovie 6.

I added chapter markers, then brought the project into iDVD 6.

I chose title, theme, etc... Everything is good to go.

I click Burn and then it will encode the menus, the movie, etc... and then right before it ever starts burning, it just tells me something along the lines of "an error occurred in the burn"...which is so uninformative i want to pull my hair out.

The DVD-R is still blank, so i know it didn't burn any data (when i insert it Finder tells me i've inserted a blank DVD)

The most annoying part of this is that when this happens, iDVD 6 doesn't save any of the encoded data...i lose it all (unless it stores it somewhere i don't know about). This is the most lengthy part of the process, since it takes about 4-5 hours to encode the movie and the menus. It makes it very hard to troubleshoot since it takes so long.

Does this sound like a media issue? I will try to get my hands on some other brand blank dvd's, but these Sony's have always worked for me.

I can't get any info about the problem from Console, but i'm probably not looking in the right place.

Any ideas on how to actually get this completed project burned? Or help on how to troubleshoot it?

Thanks guys

iLife 06
MacOS X 10.4.4
TiBook 1GHz
1X SuperDrive
1GB Ram

Maybe there is a more informative error message in the logs.
Launch the "Console" application (under /Applications/Utilities) and look for relevant error messages. Note that messages are labeled with the date & time so you can use that to locate the part of the log to look at. Copy & paste the relevant messages back here so we can see them.

Yeah i looked in System.log and Console.log last night and couldn't find anything of relevance. I thought maybe there was a dedicated iDVD log i couldn't find.

could it be?
 

could it be that the file is bigger thant the 4.7 gigs a DVD-R allows for?

I always find it easier to save the image to a hard drive and burn the resulting image with Toast. This way I can make as many copies as I need, when I need them.

I've tried all those things.

I tried burning it directly to a image, but i get the same error at the same point.

I've also tried:
-Repairing Permission
-Started over from scratch, and made sure every resource used in the project originated from my internal HD (i read on other forums that this worked for some people who had the same error as me)
-no other programs running during the entire process
-Moving the iDVD pref file to the desktop and relaunching

I'm still getting this though...in this order:

http://homepage.mac.com/mbh0ckey/error1.png

http://homepage.mac.com/mbh0ckey/error2.png

I have everything exactly as i want it with the project. I just hope i can get this to actually burn. This is my first time using making a dvd with iDVD -- not so smooth.

any other suggestions?

How much hard drive space do you have available on your boot drive?

How much space does the movie you are attempting to burn take up after it's been multiplexed?

Have you tried a shorter movie to test if it's some kind of resource issue?

Do you have the option to try an older version of iDVD to check if it's specifically related to your current version of the software?

Trevor

1)
I have 5.12 GB free right now. 13 gb for the original movie file, 13 for the imovie project, and 3.4 gb for the iDVD project.

i have a 55GB drive, i moved mostly everything to my external HD to free up as much space as possible.

I originally tried doing this with everything on an 80GB external HD which had about 40GB free, and is till got the error.

2)
I'm not sure how much space is taken up by the multiplexed movie...how would i check that?

3)
I do not have access to any other Macs or older versions of iLife

I just freed up some more space...i now have 18GB free...the project is under 4GB.

hopefully that's all it is...i'm trying to save it as a disc image now.

I'll report back in a few hours

Update:

Grrr...it beachballed halfway through (It's done that a considerable amount of times already). I'm starting it over now, it'll finish sometime before the morning. I'll post back then.

even with 18.5GB free, and burning it directly to a disk image, i still get the multiplexing error.

I followed the guidelines about chapter markers and transitions. I don't know what else to try!

1) You don't seem to have tried a smaller test project like Trevor suggested. That is always a good idea when you encounter trouble.

2) You should do "Repair Disk" (different from "Repair Disk Permissions"!) in Disk Utility when booted from the Install CD/DVD. I.e. you restart from the Install CD/DVD, then run the version of Disk Utility that is available from one of the menus there.
See this Apple doc:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106214

I'll try it with a smaller movie now.

I'll also start looking for my Tiger installation disk now.

Yep, the smaller video file worked fine. The original file was only 21.6MB.

Does this tell you anything? Thanks

1) The basics are working.
2) Perhaps your original project is too big for iDVD. I recall that there is an info panel (on the left) in iDVD that shows you how much space you will be using of the DVD. How much space did it show?

Yeah, i saw that. It was less. Around 3.7GB out of the 4.2GB limit.

I am going to try some things i've read up on...apparently this has been a problem since iDVD 4...the apple discussions are littered with various workarounds for this specific error.

I'll report back if i come up with anything that works.

Me too
 

I have the same problem - errro -34506. I can preview the whole project in iDVD with no problems using a file archived from the iBook to the G5. The project is well within space and time limits of the DVD and there's 140GB of space on the G5.

I'm on a brand new Intel G5 trying to burn a project created on my iBook with iMovie and iDVD 4. I've tried all kinds of things including the disk image route but have the same problem as trying to burn. I just found out about the iDVD upgrade to 4.0.1 which I will try tonight and then rearchive and try to save as a disk image again.

I'm guessing I need to do a test of a simpler project created on the G5 but this seems silly since its a brand new machine.

Success!
 

So it finally worked. What i did was i took my original file, the one that came off my friends camera, and used ffmpegx to convert it to .dv

I had read on other forums that importing the original file directly into iMovie (which just converts it to dv) isn't a good idea for whatever reason.

I imported that new file, the one output by ffmpegx, and then added my chapter markers. I then trashed the com.apple.idvd.plist in my ~/Library/Preferences folder.

I then handed the movie over to iDVD from iMovie, added songs to the menus, and burned it to a disc image. Then i took the disc image, and burned it to a DVD-R with Toast. It played on the first try in my powerbook dvd player fine. I then took it to another room in my house up here and put it in a dvd player hooked up to a tv, where it also worked and looked cool.

It's really cool to see this old tape (from 1994) come to life on a dvd!

I can't wait to send it to my brother as his belated christmas present.

Lucky! - My problem has morphed into being stuck in "burn:current operation: Writing lead in for the past 10 hours". This is progress since it never got to the burn process before. The only thing I did was select a new theme thinking it didn't like the one from iDVD - most have been good intuition. It also ended up that I already had IDVD 4.0.1 on my iBook so that was not the problem.

Do I need to start a new post or can someone pick this up and give me some direction? I don't understand the steps MHOCKEY said he took to get his to work.

Lucky! - My problem has morphed into the burn phase which is good but it's stuck on CURRENT OPERATION: WRITING LEAD-IN.... for the past 10 hours. The only thing I did to progress to this stage is change the theme from the one I picked in the iDVD 4.0.1 version to one from iDVD 6.

Do I need to start another post or can someone help me here?

Try saving it as a disc image (instead of burning it directly to a DVD from iDVD), and then burn the resulting image with either Disk Utility or Toast

Also check for possible errors from iDVD in the logs.
Launch the "Console" application (under /Applications/Utilities) and look for relevant error messages. Note that messages are labeled with the date & time so you can use that to locate the part of the log to look at. Copy & paste the relevant messages back here so we can see them.

We are on hour 20 of burning a disk image stuck on CURRENT OPERATION: WIRITING LEAD-IN with the spinning rainbow - should I force quit? This seems like a long time of seemingly doing nothing or is it doing something - i can't tell......

here's my console log: I don't see anything for yestrdays' and today's activity - it's stilling trying to burn as I write...

Mac OS X Version 10.4.4 (Build 8G1165)
2006-02-02 07:47:36 -0800
2006-02-02 07:47:37.285 SystemUIServer[129] lang is:en
/Users/elin1215/Documents/askbill2106 Archived.dvdproj/Contents/Resources/MPEG/V_D1321946714C7FF5C4B8BAB36A2E2D526D6F7669_6000000_N_S0.000_E15.717: No such file or directory
/Users/elin1215/Documents/askbill2106 Archived.dvdproj/Contents/Resources/MPEG/V_D1321946714C7FF5C4B8BAB36A2E2D526D6F7669_6000000_N_S15.717_E521.396: No such file or directory
/Users/elin1215/Documents/askbill2106 Archived.dvdproj/Contents/Resources/MPEG/V_D1321946714C7FF5C4B8BAB36A2E2D526D6F7669_6000000_N_S521.396_E641.666: No such file or directory
/Users/elin1215/Documents/askbill2106 Archived.dvdproj/Contents/Resources/MPEG/V_D1321946714C7FF5C4B8BAB36A2E2D526D6F7669_6000000_N_S641.666_E677.200: No such file or directory
/Users/elin1215/Documents/askbill2106 Archived.dvdproj/Contents/Resources/MPEG/V_D1321946714C7FF5C4B8BAB36A2E2D526D6F7669_6000000_N_S677.200_E1128.211: No such file or directory
/Users/elin1215/Documents/askbill2106 Archived.dvdproj/Contents/Resources/MPEG/V_D1321946714C7FF5C4B8BAB36A2E2D526D6F7669_6000000_N_S1128.211_E1221.146: No such file or directory
/Users/elin1215/Documents/askbill2106 Archived.dvdproj/Contents/Resources/MPEG/V_D1321946714C7FF5C4B8BAB36A2E2D526D6F7669_6000000_N_S1221.146_E1333.216: No such file or directory
/Users/elin1215/Documents/askbill2106 Archived.dvdproj/Contents/Resources/MPEG/V_D1321946714C7FF5C4B8BAB36A2E2D526D6F7669_6000000_N_S1333.216_E1439.818: No such file or directory
/Users/elin1215/Documents/askbill2106 Archived.dvdproj/Contents/Resources/MPEG/V_D1321946714C7FF5C4B8BAB36A2E2D526D6F7669_6000000_N_S1439.818_E1625.690: No such file or directory
/Users/elin1215/Documents/askbill2106 Archived.dvdproj/Contents/Resources/MPEG/V_D1321946714C7FF5C4B8BAB36A2E2D526D6F7669_6000000_N_S1625.690_E2180.570: No such file or directory
/Users/elin1215/Documents/askbill2106 Archived.dvdproj/Contents/Resources/MPEG/V_D1321946714C7FF5C4B8BAB36A2E2D526D6F7669_6000000_N_S2180.570_E2391.042: No such file or directory
/Users/elin1215/Documents/askbill2106 Archived.dvdproj/Contents/Resources/MPEG/V_D1321946714C7FF5C4B8BAB36A2E2D526D6F7669_6000000_N_S2391.042_E2448.443: No such file or directory
/Users/elin1215/Documents/askbill2106 Archived.dvdproj/Contents/Resources/MPEG/V_D1321946714C7FF5C4B8BAB36A2E2D526D6F7669_6000000_N_S2448.443_E2798.318: No such file or directory
/Users/elin1215/Documents/askbill2106 Archived.dvdproj/Contents/Resources/MPEG/V_D1321946714C7FF5C4B8BAB36A2E2D526D6F7669_6000000_N_S2798.318_E3143.610: No such file or directory
/Users/elin1215/Documents/askbill2206.dvdproj/Contents/Resources/MPEG/V_7AAF56421F4A2ED7DFC71C84A91ED3D26D6F7669_6000000_N_S0.000_E15.717: No such file or directory
/Users/elin1215/Documents/askbill2206.dvdproj/Contents/Resources/MPEG/V_7AAF56421F4A2ED7DFC71C84A91ED3D26D6F7669_6000000_N_S15.717_E521.396: No such file or directory
/Users/elin1215/Documents/askbill2206.dvdproj/Contents/Resources/MPEG/V_7AAF56421F4A2ED7DFC71C84A91ED3D26D6F7669_6000000_N_S521.396_E641.666: No such file or directory
/Users/elin1215/Documents/askbill2206.dvdproj/Contents/Resources/MPEG/V_7AAF56421F4A2ED7DFC71C84A91ED3D26D6F7669_6000000_N_S641.666_E677.200: No such file or directory
/Users/elin1215/Documents/askbill2206.dvdproj/Contents/Resources/MPEG/V_7AAF56421F4A2ED7DFC71C84A91ED3D26D6F7669_6000000_N_S677.200_E1128.211: No such file or directory
/Users/elin1215/Documents/askbill2206.dvdproj/Contents/Resources/MPEG/V_7AAF56421F4A2ED7DFC71C84A91ED3D26D6F7669_6000000_N_S1128.211_E1221.146: No such file or directory
/Users/elin1215/Documents/askbill2206.dvdproj/Contents/Resources/MPEG/V_7AAF56421F4A2ED7DFC71C84A91ED3D26D6F7669_6000000_N_S1221.146_E1333.216: No such file or directory
/Users/elin1215/Documents/askbill2206.dvdproj/Contents/Resources/MPEG/V_7AAF56421F4A2ED7DFC71C84A91ED3D26D6F7669_6000000_N_S1333.216_E1439.818: No such file or directory
/Users/elin1215/Documents/askbill2206.dvdproj/Contents/Resources/MPEG/V_7AAF56421F4A2ED7DFC71C84A91ED3D26D6F7669_6000000_N_S1439.818_E1625.690: No such file or directory
/Users/elin1215/Documents/askbill2206.dvdproj/Contents/Resources/MPEG/V_7AAF56421F4A2ED7DFC71C84A91ED3D26D6F7669_6000000_N_S1625.690_E2180.570: No such file or directory
/Users/elin1215/Documents/askbill2206.dvdproj/Contents/Resources/MPEG/V_7AAF56421F4A2ED7DFC71C84A91ED3D26D6F7669_6000000_N_S2180.570_E2391.042: No such file or directory
/Users/elin1215/Documents/askbill2206.dvdproj/Contents/Resources/MPEG/V_7AAF56421F4A2ED7DFC71C84A91ED3D26D6F7669_6000000_N_S2391.042_E2448.443: No such file or directory
/Users/elin1215/Documents/askbill2206.dvdproj/Contents/Resources/MPEG/V_7AAF56421F4A2ED7DFC71C84A91ED3D26D6F7669_6000000_N_S2448.443_E2798.318: No such file or directory
/Users/elin1215/Documents/askbill2206.dvdproj/Contents/Resources/MPEG/V_7AAF56421F4A2ED7DFC71C84A91ED3D26D6F7669_6000000_N_S2798.318_E3143.610: No such file or directory

**********
Disk Utility started.

Eject of “MATSHITADVD-R UJ-846” succeeded
2006-02-02 20:43:25.149 iDVD[254] *** WARNING: Method setAutoresizesAllColumnsToFit: in class NSTableView is deprecated on 10.4 and later. It should not be used in new applications. Use setColumnAutoresizingStyle: instead.
2006-02-02 20:43:25.149 iDVD[254] *** WARNING: Method autoresizesAllColumnsToFit in class NSTableView is deprecated on 10.4 and later. It should not be used in new applications. Use columnAutoresizingStyle instead.
2006-02-03 15:18:23.652 iDVD[254] Could not create CGImageDestinationRef for output type 'public.tiff'
Feb 3 15:18:23 elin-holmbergs-computer-2 /Applications/iDVD.app/Contents/MacOS/iDVD: CGImageDestinationCreate capacity parameter is zero\n
2006-02-03 15:26:13.779 iDVD[254] Could not create CGImageDestinationRef for output type 'public.tiff'
Feb 3 15:26:13 elin-holmbergs-computer-2 /Applications/iDVD.app/Contents/MacOS/iDVD: CGImageDestinationCreate capacity parameter is zero\n
2006-02-03 15:26:31.538 iDVD[254] Could not create CGImageDestinationRef for output type 'public.tiff'
Feb 3 15:26:31 elin-holmbergs-computer-2 /Applications/iDVD.app/Contents/MacOS/iDVD: CGImageDestinationCreate capacity parameter is zero\n
2006-02-03 15:26:32.869 iDVD[254] Could not create CGImageDestinationRef for output type 'public.tiff'
Feb 3 15:26:32 elin-holmbergs-computer-2 /Applications/iDVD.app/Contents/MacOS/iDVD: CGImageDestinationCreate capacity parameter is zero\n
2006-02-03 15:26:33.614 iDVD[254] Could not create CGImageDestinationRef for output type 'public.tiff'
Feb 3 15:26:33 elin-holmbergs-computer-2 /Applications/iDVD.app/Contents/MacOS/iDVD: CGImageDestinationCreate capacity parameter is zero\n
2006-02-03 15:26:34.860 iDVD[254] Could not create CGImageDestinationRef for output type 'public.tiff'
Feb 3 15:26:34 elin-holmbergs-computer-2 /Applications/iDVD.app/Contents/MacOS/iDVD: CGImageDestinationCreate capacity parameter is zero\n
2006-02-03 15:26:41.436 iDVD[254] Could not create CGImageDestinationRef for output type 'public.tiff'
Feb 3 15:26:41 elin-holmbergs-computer-2 /Applications/iDVD.app/Contents/MacOS/iDVD: CGImageDestinationCreate capacity parameter is zero\n
/Users/elin1215/Documents/askbill2206.dvdproj/Contents/Resources/MPEG/V_7AAF56421F4A2ED7DFC71C84A91ED3D26D6F7669_6000000_N_S0.000_E15.717: No such file or directory
/Users/elin1215/Documents/askbill2206.dvdproj/Contents/Resources/MPEG/V_7AAF56421F4A2ED7DFC71C84A91ED3D26D6F7669_6000000_N_S15.717_E521.396: No such file or directory
/Users/elin1215/Documents/askbill2206.dvdproj/Contents/Resources/MPEG/V_7AAF56421F4A2ED7DFC71C84A91ED3D26D6F7669_6000000_N_S521.396_E641.666: No such file or directory
/Users/elin1215/Documents/askbill2206.dvdproj/Contents/Resources/MPEG/V_7AAF56421F4A2ED7DFC71C84A91ED3D26D6F7669_6000000_N_S641.666_E677.200: No such file or directory
/Users/elin1215/Documents/askbill2206.dvdproj/Contents/Resources/MPEG/V_7AAF56421F4A2ED7DFC71C84A91ED3D26D6F7669_6000000_N_S677.200_E1128.211: No such file or directory
/Users/elin1215/Documents/askbill2206.dvdproj/Contents/Resources/MPEG/V_7AAF56421F4A2ED7DFC71C84A91ED3D26D6F7669_6000000_N_S1128.211_E1221.146: No such file or directory
/Users/elin1215/Documents/askbill2206.dvdproj/Contents/Resources/MPEG/V_7AAF56421F4A2ED7DFC71C84A91ED3D26D6F7669_6000000_N_S1221.146_E1333.216: No such file or directory
/Users/elin1215/Documents/askbill2206.dvdproj/Contents/Resources/MPEG/V_7AAF56421F4A2ED7DFC71C84A91ED3D26D6F7669_6000000_N_S1333.216_E1439.818: No such file or directory
/Users/elin1215/Documents/askbill2206.dvdproj/Contents/Resources/MPEG/V_7AAF56421F4A2ED7DFC71C84A91ED3D26D6F7669_6000000_N_S1439.818_E1625.690: No such file or directory
/Users/elin1215/Documents/askbill2206.dvdproj/Contents/Resources/MPEG/V_7AAF56421F4A2ED7DFC71C84A91ED3D26D6F7669_6000000_N_S1625.690_E2180.570: No such file or directory
/Users/elin1215/Documents/askbill2206.dvdproj/Contents/Resources/MPEG/V_7AAF56421F4A2ED7DFC71C84A91ED3D26D6F7669_6000000_N_S2180.570_E2391.042: No such file or directory
/Users/elin1215/Documents/askbill2206.dvdproj/Contents/Resources/MPEG/V_7AAF56421F4A2ED7DFC71C84A91ED3D26D6F7669_6000000_N_S2391.042_E2448.443: No such file or directory
/Users/elin1215/Documents/askbill2206.dvdproj/Contents/Resources/MPEG/V_7AAF56421F4A2ED7DFC71C84A91ED3D26D6F7669_6000000_N_S2448.443_E2798.318: No such file or directory
/Users/elin1215/Documents/askbill2206.dvdproj/Contents/Resources/MPEG/V_7AAF56421F4A2ED7DFC71C84A91ED3D26D6F7669_6000000_N_S2798.318_E3143.610: No such file or directory

Did you move your iDVD project file after you began working on it?

Googling for the error message "CGImageDestinationCreate capacity parameter is zero" found this thread at the Apple forums:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread....29526&tstart=0
where one person found an easy work-around.

To MBHockey: Yes - the project was created on my iBook with no burner so then I moved it to my iMac which has the burner.

To Hayne: - Have read and will try this tonight. I'm hoping this is the problem. I'll let you know how it goes....

Disk Utility
 

I have been reading with interest this post. And when you recommended using disk utility I had to ask a question. I crashed my laptop while in Australia where I am now. I downloaded some software to get back up and running. I have a ico file but don't have toast. I called Apple and they said I could burn the ico image file to a CD using Disk Utility. The issue is making the ico image a CD that will work like a program install CD. I can't seem to figure out how to do this. I seem to be stuck and cannot navigate to where the ico file is and choose it so it can be burned on the CD. Are there any instructions that can help me, or can you give me a step by step solution to this problem? I'd appreciate it.

Cfrazier

Umm, what software is it that is on that 'ico' file?
And why did you think that this problem is relevant to this thread?
(If the issue is not about getting iDVD to work - which is the topic of this thread - then you should start a new separate thread for your problem.)

Well - I deleted all the transitions just to be safe and that didn't work. I still have titles interspersed through the project and the chapter markers are after the titles. My next try will be to take out all the titles. I'm beginning to think I need to remake this movie on the new machine - very disappointing.

What are the "rules" about chapter markers again - I read them somewhere and can't find them..... thanx for hanging with me - this is all new to me.

Have you tried taking the original video file and converting it to .dv with ffmpegx first, then importing it into iMovie followed by adding chapter markers, titles, etc..?

That's what worked for me.

BTW, the rules on chapter markers/transitions are:

I don't know what ffmpegx is and this seems too advanced for me. I've been reading a lot of posts about just changing the theme, deleting preferences, saving before burning, saving as a different file, or saving to an external drive before burning. This problem seems to be solved a lot of different ways for people.

Does this "rule" about transitions apply to titles too?

I have solved my problem with the help of Joe at our local genius bar. It's a simple solution and I'm amazed that it never was mentioned in all the posts I've read about this problem.

He had me share the iMovie file from the iBook as a Quicktime Full Quality DV file over the firewire to my iMac. (Select File/Share/Quicktime/Full Quality DV).

Once on the iMac, I was able to open the file in iMovie, add chapters, themes, photos, and music before burning as a disc image. I then burned the dvd out of disk utility and was viewing a perfect movie within 2 hours. Voila - hope this helps someone else!

The annoying thing about doing that is you lose the chapter markers, which is why i didn't suggest it (i thought you were past that point in creating the iMovie, sorry for misunderstanding)

I'm glad you solved it though, happy burning!