John Carter is a busy guy. You've heard his PMUG presentations, maybe his SIG ones, too. But John can give you personal help for those pesky problems that are slowing you down. At Saturday's PMUG meeting former Prez Howard LaPittus was bragging on John's helpfulness. Email John here. And he passes along the following info, too. Zenda Sergo is another local resource for anyone looking to take a formal class on how to use their Apple device or to learn a particular app like iPhoto or Pages. Zenda has a website that shows what classes she is offering. All classes are 2 hours in length, and she provides handouts ("Unlike me," comments John. "but then I don't have a formal class schedule to work from."). Click here for her website.
How Long Will CDs Last?
You didn't expect CDs and DVDs to last forever . . . but how long will they still be good? John Carter grabs our attention with this information, "Here's an interesting article that attempts to explain the reasons why you might not want to rely on CDs and DVDs for an archive of your favorite images, videos, and documents. The life span of such a media is dependent on more than just how the CD/DVD is made - mold and rot are also factors." This MakeUseOf article was posted yesterday, and it tells how to check your disks for deterioration.
DVD or Blu-ray Player Gotcha
David Passell sends along this article by Jim Clark, from the Yavapai Amateur Radio Club Newsletter.
"If you have a working TV DVD or Blu-ray player, it is suggested that you DO NOT REPLACE IT with a newer version, especially one that does not connect with component (yellow, white, red) connectors. Also true for computer DVD or B-E (Blu-ray) recorder/players. Reason: The newer ones are designed to ONLY play commercial DVDs or Blu-rays. The new ones will not play home recorded or converted camcorder DVD's — take heed and if you must buy one (new or used) for a TV look for the yellow, red, white component connectors on the back and test them out in any case. There might still be some older ones left in the stores.
"Keep your old one just in case.
"If you have a working TV DVD or Blu-ray player, it is suggested that you DO NOT REPLACE IT with a newer version, especially one that does not connect with component (yellow, white, red) connectors. Also true for computer DVD or B-E (Blu-ray) recorder/players. Reason: The newer ones are designed to ONLY play commercial DVDs or Blu-rays. The new ones will not play home recorded or converted camcorder DVD's — take heed and if you must buy one (new or used) for a TV look for the yellow, red, white component connectors on the back and test them out in any case. There might still be some older ones left in the stores.
"Keep your old one just in case.
"This is a Sony and others' change supposedly to prevent movie piracy. There are workarounds like Locksmith on the Internet but you have to keep updating to keep ahead of the constant changes and need to be somewhat technically oriented to do that. If you already have a newer Blu-ray player you might be too late for home-recorded Blu-rays but look around on Craigslist for an older one if you need one and test it out before buying."
So, what do you think? We put the question to Jim Hamm, and here he enters the discussion: "Very interesting. Coincidentally, we just recently (within two weeks) purchased two new DVD Blu-ray players from Costco. They are the Samsung brand, and they connect to the TV with a HDMI plug. We don't happen to have a home-recorded DVD movie to try to see if it would play on the Blu-ray player.
"This makes sense from the perspective of Sony and other DVD manufacturers such as Samsung. But it probably won't sit well with people who have copies of DVDs. We'll be at our condo Monday and I'll see if I can pick up a home-recorded movie from our daughter and son-in-law. If yes, we'll bring it home and see if it will play. I'll let you know the results."
"Permanent" May Not Be Permanent
What is permanent? John Carter found this important information about DVDs. He begins, "You might feel like you’re making a 'permanent' backup of your files when you copy them onto a DVD or backup to a computer hard-drive, but the truth is these devices suffer from natural decay and degradation.
"Current DVD technology uses organic dyes and low laser power to make marks on the data layer of a standard recordable DVD. Over time, these marks become unreadable because organic dyes degrade when exposed to minimal levels of light, heat, and humidity. This means all the data you thought was safely stored could be lost because the discs you used have an average lifespan of only about 3 to 5 years! Why would you risk your data based on an average; hundreds of discs taken into account in that average were corrupt and unreadable after only a few months." Read the rest of the story here.
Know How to do DVDs?
Here's a SOS from David Passell. Anyone want to write and describe the procedure? David is trying to produce a playable DVD from a disk image ... "a DVD in UDF format which I can give to someone with a commercial DVD player. I have done this numerous times before from disk images from DVDs I have made at church, and also have copied from tapes.
"I have a friend that wants copies of the Oprah Finale which I copied from a tape. I made a couple, but lately it seems that I draw a memory blank. I can't remember the procedure. I have burned a .dmg to disk and I get a disk with the .dmg on it which will not play on the machine. I turned the .dmg into a .cdr (CD/DVD master) and when I burn it, I get a disk with the .cdr on it which also will not play. There are just too many 'burn' choices."
On Reading SD Chips with Adapter
David Passell passes along this information: "For a long time I have been copying a friend's SD chips to archive-DVDs and also using iDVD, iPhoto, etc. to make playable DVDs. I went through a time though when I thought I was getting corrupted chips. They wouldn't load, I couldn't copy them, and when I tried to play videos (AVI) from them I would get 'end of file errors,' etc. Even with the SAFE/LOCK key in place I would have problems. The underlying problem was that I was plugging the SD > USB adapter into a hub. When I plugged it directly into a Mini USB connector, the problem went away.
Basic principle:
• To avoid corruption, or changes on photo dates, always put the little key on the SD chip to the SAFE/LOCK position.
• Always plug the adapter directly into a USB port on the computer.
• Don't use a hub, not even a powered one.
• Before removing the chip, EJECT the image of the SD, just like a large Hard Drive or USB thumb drive."
From his MacBook Pro at the Sunnyvale, CA public library we hear from John Carter on the subject: "Pam Wickstrom was told by Apple support that you cannot use a USB hub (powered or not) on an Airbook to connect to an external hard drive - the external hard drive has to be connected directly to the Airbook. David’s experience with an SD chip is similar, but I don’t know if he was using an Airbook. So from this we might conclude that you can’t read any external media through a USB hub on an Airbook. This needs to be confirmed."
Upon receiving this info from John here's David Passell's reply, "I'm not sure what an 'airbook' is, I think it means the MacBook Air. However, I am using a Mac Mini. I have three hub-type devices. A Gigaware four-port (powered), a Targus four-port (unpowered) which is in turn conected to a TrendNet KVM switcher which has two USB ports. I have never had a problem with hard drives or USB thumb drives through a hub. I do have my TimeMachine drive connected directly to a Mini USB port. The problem appears to be when I use my Targus USB to SD adapter. SDs apparently do not read properly when plugged in through a hub."
Suggested Remedies for DVD Problem
Three of our PMUG members have responded to the earlier post today, "Transfer Video to DVD."
Bill Williamson asks, "Have you tried MPEG Streamclip? It's freeware and converts almost anything to anything and can be downloaded from the web."
John Carter offers, "I can certainly help with this. I am a volunteer with the Prescott Library and I do Mac mentoring there. I have had similar problems with my video camera. I believe that converting the video files can be done with Final Cut Express, and there are plenty of other applications that can do the job as well, and some of them are Windows based - I have a few of those applications. Email = John Carter
David Passell explains his remedy, "Hello Arti: Welcome to Prescott, and I hope you will be able to become a member of the Prescott Macintosh User's Group. I see two ways in which you can get your video content into the Mac.
1. Get an external DVD drive with a drawer rather than a slot. You may be able to find a used one. It should accept the mini-DVD. It must have a USB or Firewire port and be compatible with Mac. The .vob, .ifb, and .bup are files commonly found in all DVDs for home and commercial use.
You shouldn't need a ripper for your non-commercial recordings from the Handy Cam. Rippers are a quasi-legal way to duplicate commercial DVD movies with copy protection schemes. (As an aside, you may have noticed that a DVD player cannot play a movie properly through the input connections of a VHS or another DVD recorder.)
With a drive that doesn't "choke" on the mini-DVD you should be able to read it with the Apple DVD Viewer or the more versatile VLC viewer. You can use the Apple Disk Utility to burn a direct copy or create a disk image from which you can burn full size DVDs. I have done acceptable DVDs by just copying a .vob file to a blank DVD. You have to experiment. It is unlikely that any of the mini-DVD files are larger than the 4.7GB capacity of the full size DVD. You don't want to put .mpeg or .avi on the DVDs you give to the veterans, if they are to be played on standard DVD players. You want the same DVD format as you would find on a DVD Movie (less the copy protection).
2. The second method is klunky and slow: If the Handy Cam has the usual video and sound "RCA" output jacks (so you can cable them to the external line inputs of a TV or VCR), then you can obtain a device which accepts these outputs and digitizes them to a form that you can view on your computer with the Quick Time Player. The "Elgato" is one such device. If you have QuickTime player 7 (Snow Leopard) or QuickTime player pro ($29.95) you can Select File > new movie recording. You then will have to play back your recording from the Handy Cam to create the file you can duplicate to another DVD. I have one ADVC110 (which I don't think is any longer made) through which I have copied full length VHS tapes and TV programs. I still partly live in the stone age:).
3. I believe that SONY makes a recorder that is designed to make DVDs from the output of their cameras.
David concludes, Hope this is helpful, I am sure there are members of PMUG including myself who can provide hands-on assistance."
I Inserted a Blank DVD. Now What?
Good question, David Crooks. We'll follow John Carter's directions and view his screen shots to see how easy it is to do. The top two options are set on my machine as you see them there. Here are the options:
David asks, "I bought some DVD_RW on which to record data I want to save forever. I inserted the DVD, and it did not appear on my screen. What do you suggest?"
"Good question," begins John. And here for all of us to benefit from, are John's directions:
Your preferences for what to do with a blank DVD or CD are probably not set to do what you would expect should happen.
Here's what I get when I insert a blank DVD+RDL: (the type of DVD does not matter)
To set up what action to take place when you insert a blank DVD or CD, click on the Apple icon, click on System Preferences, then click on the "CDs & DVDs" icon:
You should see this:
Your machine might have it set to "Ignore" which is why you didn't see anything after inserting the blank DVD.
I you don't see any place to click on to eject that blank DVD, first launch Disk Utility (you do this by clicking on the Spotlight and typing in "Disk Utility."
Notice that without moving the mouse, the Top Hit has highlighted the application. All you need to do is press Enter or Return to launch the application.
You should see something like this in the left side of the window:
I have my DVD drive highlighted. On the right side of the window is this:
Click on the Eject button.
After setting your preferences for what action to take when you insert a blank DVD or CD, you should then be able to work with the DVD or CD the way you want to.
Take care at this point! If you selected to open Finder so you could copy files to the DVD or CD, you might not think to look in the Places section of the Finder to see where it put a link to access that DVD or CD:
So now all you need to do is drag files/folders into that location. Nothing is actually written to the DVD or CD yet. That only happens when you eject the DVD or CD. Notice the grey and yellow icon on the left? You click on that when you're ready to burn the contents of that folder onto the DVD or CD. And yes, you can change the title of the folder (Rename) and that name will be the title of the DVD or CD.
If you don't want to burn the DVD or CD just yet, leave it there until you have everything in this folder. And alternative is to first prepare a new folder with the contents of what you want to burn to a DVD or CD, then insert a blank, then copy the contents of the prepared folder to the Untitled DVD folder.
You can always back out and not do anything by ejecting the DVD or CD using Disk Utility, even if you have copied stuff to the Untitled DVD folder. Doing so does NOT remove (delete) the Untitled DVD folder from the Finder sidebar. You have to move that folder to the Trash by going to your Desktop (where it lives), right click (control click) to open the options menu, and select "Move to Trash." As we say in baseball, no hits, no runs, no errors.
How to Burn Several Times to the Same Disc
A helpful tip comes via John Carter, alerting us to Small Dog Electronics. Their home page posts a long, sort-of-boring-looking list, but go here for directions in how to burn several times to the same disc. This company in northern Vermont also displays their dogs' photos and short intros. John adds, "You might be interested in reading all the tips they have there — when you have time."
How to Create a DVD
Today's PMUG meeting at the Prescott Public Library featured Bill Williamson demonstrating how to create a DVD on the Mac. Using iMovie, then importing photos and clips he showed how easily he could format, add transitions, and add music to the production.
Thanks, Bill, for these notes you've written:
Part 1 – Creating the movie:
1. Select photos & video clips to be used for your DVD. (Optional: Put them all in a folder)
2. Double click on iMovie icon in the applications folder.
3. “IMPORT” photos and clips. They will appear in the Clip Pane. You will see “Clips” highlighted at bottom of the Pane.
4. When all your photos are in the Clip Pane, click on the left mode rectangle below the monitor and drag the photos in the order you want them to be viewed into the Clip Viewer at the bottom of the screen. Note: If you change your mind about the order later, they can be moved.
5. When all the photos and videos are in the Clip Viewer, click on “Media” below the now empty Clip Pane and select “Photos” at top. Decide how long you want each photo to be on the screen, then click on the photo and then on “Show Photo Settings” above “Media." A box will appear that allows you to move the bottom slider for the time needed adding about 2 seconds for transitions. Ten seconds is a reasonable time. This box also gives you the ability to use the Ken Burns effect to simulate motion in a still photo. When you have all the settings as you want them, click “update." Repeat with each photo, but experiment with a few until you see how it works. All can be done together using shift click.
6. Click on “Editing” and then on “Titles” at the top of the screen. Choose a title type and a box will appear for you to select a color, font, size, length of time to stay on screen, & speed of motion for the text. Enter text in the box and a preview will show in the black monitor. When you like the preview, click on the title type you selected and drag it to just in front of the picture you want it to appear on. A red line along the bottom will let you know that it is “rendering."
7. Next in “Editing” select “Transitions” at the top of the screen. This allows you to choose how to move from one picture to the next. Drag the type of transition selected to the space between the clips.
8. When you have a few titles and/or transitions placed on the Clip Viewer, go to the first and click on it, then shift click on the last one. The headers and footers should now be blue for the pictures selected. Click on the middle play back button above the Clip Viewer. Watch the show so far to see how it looks. Make adjustments and continue until the entire line of pictures have transitions and/or titles, testing as you go. To remove a transition, click on it and then on delete. If you don’t like a title, it is best to delete the picture that has the title on it and start over.
9. Click the left playback control to go to the beginning, and then right hand playback button to view the entire show in full screen mode.
10. Remember to “Save Project” under File on toolbar often and especially when going on to the next step in the process.
Part 2 – Adding music:
1. Click on the Audio Mode next to the Video mode just above the Clip Viewer. The viewer will split with the photos above and spaces for sound below.
2. Click on Media above the Clip Viewer and Audio at the top and your iTunes list should appear. Select music wanted and drag it to the lower part of the Clip Viewer. You can have multiple songs within the two audio lines shown on the viewer. Music can also be imported.
3. Adjust the volume by clicking on the song to turn it purple. Then move the playhead line to where you want to start and click to see a yellow bullet. Move the bullet up or down for volume control and back and forth to where it should start. A dark purple dot or box will appear on the line and it can be dragged to below the desired volume in order to fade in and out. If you are using two songs, the bullets can be manipulated to fade one out as you fade another in.
4. If a song is too long it can be cut off by “splitting the audio at playhead” under Edit on the toolbar. The song to be split must be clicked to turn it purple in order to split it. Choose the part to be removed and click delete. It is a good idea to cut off the end of the music if it goes past the end of the photos, because the finished DVD will keep going until the music ends.
5. When you are satisfied with the movie, choose Save Project under file, and then go on to create your DVD.
Part 3 – Creating your DVD:
1. Except for very short movies it is a good idea to create chapters at logical breaks. This allows the DVD to be watched by selected scenes. Select Chapters above the Clip Viewer, then select the first picture of a new topic and click on “Add marker." The picture will show in the box to the right and you can type in a title for the Chapter.
2. After inserting all the chapters, be sure to Save Project and you are ready to go on to iDVD. On the toolbar, select Share and click iDVD. Click on “render and proceed.”
3. iDVD will now open automatically. You can select a theme from the list presented in the iDVD monitor window. To change the preset title, double click on Menu and change the text, color, size, font, placement, etc. Choose a picture for the drop zone. Choose music for the theme and drag it where indicated.
4. Preview and if OK, click on left button and select Burn DVD.