DVD-R and DVD+R

[Odysseus]

I was to burn my first movie (a potential blockbuster har-har-har) yesterday by way of iDVD. But after loading a blank HP DVD, I got a warning window informing me to that iDVD cannot write on the disc. The program was asking me instead to load a DVD-R media. It turned out that the discs I bought were all DVD+Rs and not DVD-Rs.

What's the difference between +R and -R?

Can I stil use those DVD+Rs (say for example to back up my data, not necessarily movies)?

My 90-minute movie took five hours to burn (this is not the right term I suppose) through iDVD. Is this normal? Step Three (recording assets) alone took more than three hours.

After the long wait, the recording was finally over. I was blown away when I previewed it on TV! Now, if I could only find a distributor to market my movie. :beer:

[hacksaw]

Check this thread.

~hacksaw

[Henjie]

Originally posted by Odysseus
I was to burn my first movie (a potential blockbuster har-har-har) yesterday by way of iDVD. But after loading a blank HP DVD, I got a warning window informing me to that iDVD cannot write on the disc. The program was asking me instead to load a DVD-R media. It turned out that the discs I bought were all DVD+Rs and not DVD-Rs.

Officially, iDVD can only burn to DVD-Rs. This issue is discussed in the link hacksaw provided above (includes the workaround). :-)

What's the difference between +R and -R?

Nothing much. Different formats but both serve the same purpose. You know how things are in the tech industry. Manufacturers like to create their own standards hoping that others will adopt it. It's only an issue if you don't have a dual-format drive (I believe your eMac has a Pioneer DVR-107 which is a dual-format 8x drive, fire up System Profiler to be sure) or if your standalone players favor one format over the other (DVD-R is supposed to be more compatible but in my experience, both are about equal).

Can I stil use those DVD+Rs (say for example to back up my data, not necessarily movies)?

Yup. Use Toast Titanium. I myself prefer DVD+Rs. What brand DVD+Rs do you have?

My 90-minute movie took five hours to burn (this is not the right term I suppose) through iDVD. Is this normal? Step Three (recording assets) alone took more than three hours.

Sounds about right for a single-proc 1.25GHz Mac. As for the actual burn times, try to monitor them the next time you create a DVD. Basically, 1x burns should take no more than 60 minutes; 2x around 25-30 minutes; 4x around 15 minutes; and 8x around 9 minutes. :-)


~Henjie

[Odysseus]

Thanks, Hacksaw and Henjie.

For DVD+R, I have single-sided HP branded discs. As for the DVD-R, I have Philips.

As for the actual burning (or duplicating the master copy) it only takes a little less than 15 minutes (verfication included).