How can I burn an iMovie I created, onto a DVD from my old iMac 27” Running Sonoma?

Q1. Does Apple Have One?

Not a dedicated authoring app but they do provide the ability to author DVD's in the Final Cut Pro Application.

You can get a free 90 day trial here...

Final Cut Pro for Mac - Free Trial - Apple

Q2 Are there instructions on the Web?

Yes ,here, best to create disc image before burning to DVD.

Create optical discs and disk images in Final Cut Pro for Mac - Apple Support (AM)

Q3 Will a 2 1/2 hour iMovie fit on one DVD?

According to "Create optical...." link above , creating a disk image defaults to Single Layer media by reducing the bit rate, so the extended time would result in reduced quality. In other words it does what it can to ensure that it does not exceed the capacity of a single layer disc, but reducing quality as it does so.

As mentioned above, best to split movie into two parts at a convenient point, by doing the following.

Import your iMovie project into FCP by "Sending projects to FCP"

Send projects to Final Cut Pro from iMovie on Mac – Apple Support (UK)

In FCP when you create the DVD disc image(s) you can select the range in the time line.

You will do this twice, first range will be the start to a convenient point about mid way and the second range will be this same mid way point to the end.In other words two disc images, first half and second half. Disc image 1 and disc image 2. Two separate single layer DVD's required for complete movie.

You might want to consider adding chapter markers which can be performed in FCP before you create the disc images. Use the "search this guide" function ( ....chapter markers ) in the following link , FCP user guide.

Final Cut Pro User Guide for Mac - Apple Support

Not as complicated as it might first sound .Have fun.

try Burn. it's a free open source app. i like it because it's pretty much bare bones. i just needed to burn dvds without all the stupid twirling menus people go overboard with.

not sure it will burn an iMovie format, but if you can save it out as a Quicktime video then it should work.

works on my Studio M2 Max + Apple USB Superdrive DVD burner running Sonoma 14.4.1

i like it because it will convert your video to the proper format to burn rather than just giving you an error message.

here are the barebones options. i like the loop with no menu option so that it's idiot-proof. just pop the dvd into a player & it plays. no annoying twirly menus you have to navigate.

INFORMATION & DOWNLOAD URL

Burn sourceforge page

I believe the response from thesurreyfriends was already quite comprehensive. However, I have personally used and highly recommend a different software called Cisdem DVD Burner. It truly is powerful and incredibly user-friendly. You can easily grasp the entire workflow just by looking at the screenshot below. The DVD menu templates it provides are stylish and the burning speed is also impressively fast.

It offers 3 DVD burning modes: Fit to disc, High Quality, and Standard. You can choose the "Fit to disc" mode to burn a 2 1/2 hour iMovie to a DVD. The larger the file, the more compressed it will be.

Hi,

You would need a DVD authoring program to create and burn the DVD disc. Apple's iDVD was great but has been discontinued for a few years. There are several DVD authoring apps out there for the Mac, although none are as good and as easy to use as the old iDVD. For example, Roxio Toast Titanium 20:

https://www.roxio.com/en/products/toast/titanium/#tech-specs

DVD Creator by peng Guiping has been recommended on this board.

There are numerous DVD authoring apps offered at Apple's online store that you can check out.

The basic procedure is to create your video with iMovie. Export the movie to your desktop. Then drag the movie into your DVD authoring app (or follow whatever instructions that the app provides for loading the movie). You can then either create a disk image on your desktop from the authoring app, and burn your DVD from there, or render and burn the DVD directly from the authoring app. Creating a disc image on your desktop is the preferred method because creating the disc image renders the movie just like it was burned to a DVD. Thus, you can burn numerous discs from the disc image without having to go through the time consuming rendering process all over again. Burn at 4x speed.

A standard single layer DVD-r can hold approximately 2 hours of video. So, your 2 1/2 hour video would be too large. You could either split the movie in half and burn two discs, Part 1 and Part 2; or perhaps use a double layer disc to fit the whole movie. I understand that there are newer type discs that can burn larger movies, but I am not familiar with those so can't comment.

-- Rich

Single-layer DVD media can hold up to about 2 hours of video.

Dual-layer DVD media (DVD-R DL or DVD+R DL) can hold about 4 hours of video. And the Apple USB Superdrive can burn dual-layer disks.

I recommend Verbatim DVD+R DL disks. They have always worked perfectly for me.

Roxio Toast Titanium is freqently recommended for preparing & burning DVD video disks. It's been around a long time, new features are added with each release and it's a close substitute for the old Apple iDVD app compared to other burn apps that are on the market.