DVDs, Images, originals, and related trivia...

[Xairbusdriver]

A friend asked me some questions about a DVD created by a relative that includes many family images and music accompanying their presentation. I'm assuming that iDVD was used to create this new family treasure and heirloom.

One question concerns the quality and accessibility of the images on this DVD. I am not experienced with iDVD/iMovie, but I don't think the images on this DVD will be of the same quality as the originals. I am also not sure how easy it might be to extract the images from the DVD, although that may be moot if their quality is not the same as the originals.
Question 1

Are the images in these DVDs suitable or useful as archives of the originals?
If so, are they easily retrieved from the files on the DVD?

I suggested that the originals should be burned to a DVD by either creating a Burn Folder from the Finder or by creating a Disk Image from Disk Utility. This would entail simply dragging and dropping the original files onto the .dmg or the Burn Folder.
Question 2

Is that 'plan' acceptable and usable for many dozens of original images, possibly requiring at least a dozen DVDs?
Is there a simpler way?
A more convenient method?
Third party software?
"Smart Folders?"
iPhoto?

The whole point in the original question is to find a way to remove the originals from the hard drive to prevent problems from not having enough free space. The method used, of course, must be as easy as possible and provide a long lasting repository for the originals. I also suggested that a convenient and logical system of folders be created to hold the images; folders titled by date, maybe within folders titled by event or subject matter. I think the owner of the files is computer savvy enough to follow most any plan that is mentioned. But I think the collected knowledge here will be much more trustworthy than my assumptions and "knowledge."

[Paddy]

To answer question 2, - yes, just burn them to DVD. The only other alternative is an external drive - but drives fail too. Of course, nobody knows how long DVDs will last either! Anyway, I'd be inclined to sort them in some way before archiving - folders by date or some other method. I don't know that I'd rely on iPhoto's sorting, though that could be employed as well (or you could export them to File and then burn).

As for question one - I think that archiving from the originals would be the way to go - cannot find anything about how to successfully extract photos from an iDVD slide show. Also, depending on how the slide show was constructed and whether .jpg or .tif files were used, the quality could vary tremendously apparently. I read somewhere that usually iDVD creates slide shows with pictures reduced to 640X480 pixels, which is certainly far from original quality and not good enough for anything but wallet-size printing.

[krissel]

In addition, you don't know under what method the DVD was made regarding any possible compression methods that may affect quality of individual images.
Also, there is also the problem of some DVDs not being playable on some machines.

Would stick with the idea of archiving the originals.

[Xairbusdriver]

QUOTE

Would stick with the idea of archiving the originals.

I agree and the question then becomes how best to do that. Is there any advantage of using a disk image instead of a burn folder? If the disk image does any type of compression, I would fear that the de[/]compression might be unsupported at some time in the future. Of course, even the file system used in a plain file burn could also become obsolete.

With either of these two methods, I don't think there is any 'automatic' warning that you may be trying to put too much on a disk. Other than the warning after the normal 'drag-n-drop.' And I'm not even sure that a burn folder will warn you then, the warning may not come until you insert a disk to burn the collection.

I think I'll see what Apple says about these two methods...

[Xairbusdriver]

QUOTE

Would stick with the idea of archiving the originals.

I agree and the question then becomes how best to do that. Is there any advantage of using a disk image instead of a burn folder? If the disk image does any type of compression, I would fear that the de[/]compression might be unsupported at some time in the future. Of course, even the file system used in a plain file burn could also become obsolete.

With either of these two methods, I don't think there is any 'automatic' warning that you may be trying to put too much on a disk. Other than the warning after the normal 'drag-n-drop.' And I'm not even sure that a burn folder will warn you then, the warning may not come until you insert a disk to burn the collection.

I think I'll see what Apple says about these two methods...

Main difference I see is that a disk image would be useful for making multiple copies (disks) of the same info. It must be sized when it is created for the type of disk one will be using. It appears that the current disk imaging system does not include a Read-Only (compressed) version that was available before OS X. I will, therefore, assume that there is no change made to the files being burned. The format is important and should be selected with the future OSs in mind.

Burn Folders appear to be much simpler to use. Just use the File menu in Finder to 'create' one. Drag-n-drop the files you want to save checking the size of the folder. Even better, check the bottom of the Finder window! The window will display the number of items and the "minimum disc size" needed. It will not warn that you have too many bytes for any specific media, however. But that info should be known by looking at the media or its packaging. The format will probably be whatever is set for your internal drives. However, the folder can be "compressed" simply by using the File menu item. That would result in a ".zip" file. In fact the folder will be treated like any other folder even though it is actually a "virtual" one.

[Paddy]

I'd just use the Burn Folder method. And don't zip anything - keep it simple.

[Xairbusdriver]

OK! Let's burn some disks! Step by step instructions follow. You might want to wait a few hours so others can read and correct any errors in these instructions...
1. Determine the space available on the disk you will be burning to. Roughly, CD = 600MB, DVD-R = 4.7GB, Dual Layer DVD = 8.6GB, Apple ][ floppy = 1.44MB.
2. Click on any part of the Desktop to access the Finder.
3. Click on or open a new Finder window (command-N, or "New Finder Window" in the File menu)
4. In the File menu, select the "New Burn Folder."
5. A new item called "Burn Folder.fpbf" will be created and the name will be highlighted ready for you to type in a name. Do not over-write the ".fpbf" part of the name if you're using Tiger or earlier X versions.
6. Drag any files you want into the newly named folder.

It may help to open another Finder window.
Note the "Minimum disc size" in the bottom part of the burn folder. Be sure it does not exceed the space available on the disks you'll be using.
FYI, when you drag a file into this folder, it will be displayed as an alias. The original file(s) will not be moved or duplicated, but the OS will now know where each file is.

7. When you have moved as many files as will fit on the disk or you have no more to burn, you are ready to do the actual burning. There are a couple of ways to do this:

1. Double-click the folder and then click the "Burn" button on the right-hand top of the window.
2. Control-click the folder and use the "Burn Folder" in the contextual menu.
3. Click the 'burn' icon in the at the top of the window holding the burn folder.

8. You will be presented with a window showing what kind of disk will be required to hold the contents of the folder.

1. If you have a disk of that size or greater, insert it into the disk drive and watch the indicater move as the disk is initialized, files are written and then 'finalized.' You're finished with that disk, be sure to label it so you'll know what's on it.
2. If your disks are too small (in space available) simply remove some of the files in the burn folder until the "Minimum disc size" indicates something less than you disks capacity. Now return to step 8.1 and burn your disk.

9. If you have more files to burn, you have two options:

1. Simply move all the file names in the current burn folder to the trash and return to step 7. Remember, these are not the actual files, they're only little files that tell the OS where the real ones are.
2. Create a new burn folder by returning to step 2 above

Now that you've burned/stored all your valuable files, there's no longer any need to keep them on your internal hard drive. You can erase them by moving them to the trash can, the space they take up will become available for new stuff after the trash can is emptied.

[krissel]

10. Test the disc before erasing the files.

11. Make a copy of the DVD and store it offsite.