Hoping to purchase an iMac, HD video advice please

[lindylou22]

Hello everyone, my first posting here.
I am currently a PC user, but have an iMac lurking around from 8 years ago that I still remember fondly for it's ease of use and loveliness!
I use a Panasonic HD SD9 camcorder for home movies, but have to keep these on SDHC cards as my PC cannot create dvds. As the PC is now 5 years old it's time to invest in something new, and I have read about iDVD and iMovie in the iLife package.
I can't afford to buy a PC or Mac that won't fulfill all our needs, basically that's email, internet, and transferring these home movies . So could anyone reassure me that an iMac coud do this? And produce a dvd disc that can be played on any unit - to give to Grandad?
Thank you, this forum looks so helpful, I have been reading for ages.

 

[Hellhammer]

Yes, the iMac can do that fine. If you burn a lot DVDs, I would think about investing on external DVD burner as the SuperDrive is fairly slow and known to scratch discs and cause other issues.

 

[mulo]

@hellhammer
hmm, never had any problems with mine. burned quite a few dvds.

 

[yoak]

The iMac can do it without problems. There are a few things to keep in mind. You have to convert your avchd to another format for editing. It's a capture codec not very well suited for editing. These converted files will take alot more space than your original files, and it will take some time to convert them
Your iMac can only burn SD DVDs, not HD.
There is a workaround if you by a software called Toast. Then you can burn a blu ray DVD that can play in most players, not all. It will also limit your length to 20min due to capacity.

 

[Sirmausalot]

I'm using an iMac from 2007 to do all of this and more. Encoding 90 minutes of video can take a long time, but you can make lovely DVDs with time and practice.

Hello everyone, my first posting here.
I am currently a PC user, but have an iMac lurking around from 8 years ago that I still remember fondly for it's ease of use and loveliness!
I use a Panasonic HD SD9 camcorder for home movies, but have to keep these on SDHC cards as my PC cannot create dvds. As the PC is now 5 years old it's time to invest in something new, and I have read about iDVD and iMovie in the iLife package.
I can't afford to buy a PC or Mac that won't fulfill all our needs, basically that's email, internet, and transferring these home movies . So could anyone reassure me that an iMac coud do this? And produce a dvd disc that can be played on any unit - to give to Grandad?
Thank you, this forum looks so helpful, I have been reading for ages.

 

[lindylou22]

Thank you. The quality of the playback from the Panny when connected direct to the TV is outstanding, it will be a shame to lose it onto SD
Also there is no point in recording a blu ray dvd as my Dad only has a dvd player.
Would iMovie and iDvd do the converting for me? Sorry if I am asking silly questions but I don't know what a codec is

Lynn

 

[yoak]

Asking is the way to learn. There are no silly questions.

Codec is the file format different camera ords in, or is used for editing.
Your camera records in the avchd codec I think.
I haven't used the consumer products for a while, but I'm pretty sure they will do it all for you

 

[416049]

@hellhammer
hmm, never had any problems with mine. burned quite a few dvds.

Hellhammer meant at least a few every day a very fast external one does make sense as the superdrive is quitw slow and would wear out fast and is difficult to replace

 

[lindylou22]

Lovely. I'm only thinking home movies, so may be 5 to 6 discs a year!

Yes the camcorder records in AVCHD, which I understand creates a few challenges when moving to dvd. I bought it last year and it was quite a new idea then, I was quite happy to wait till something caught up with it to make discs. As I say the quality when viewed on a Panasonic HDTV is stunning, but that's a direct connection.
I think on our size TV's we won't lose too much when it's converted to an SD disc.

Thank you so much for this help, I can read all I like but it's great to have my specific question discussed.

 

[yoak]

You´re welcome.
Good luck with your purchase, I don´t think you will be disapointed.

One other thing to remember, when you have your burnt DVD, try it out on a DVD player hooked up to a TV. If you play it back on your computer it might look bad or "wrong" as it´s encoded for a DVD meant to play on a TV.

I´m sure even the down ress´d SD material will look fine. A grandfather will be happy no matter what, as long as his grand daughter is the star ;-)

 

[lindylou22]

Oh very true, she is the apple of his eye, how did you guess ?