Top Five Reasons iDVD Sucks

[Moogs]

5. Another iApp with arbitrary modality... close the window and the app is gone. STUPID. If I have to work on discrete iDVD documents to edit and perfect my DVD projects, then closing a file shouldn't close the app. The only iApps that should quit when closing the window are iPhoto and maybe iCal, because neither are document based strictly speaking.

4. Inflexible integration with iMovie. Why can't I open any iMovie and "Insert into Existing DVD Project" instead of always having to open a new DVD project? Further, why is it that half the time when I drop an iMovie into my menu from the iDVD media drawer, I get a single entity for clicking and starting that movie... and the rest of the time it creates a new sub-structure where there is a "play movie" button and other junk I never asked to create? Even if the movies are identical in their structure and content type...

3. Spews files all over your home directory because it won't remember the last place you saved to / there is no equivalent iDVD folder the way there is for Movies, Music or Photos.

2. Outline View completely useless as an organizational or editing tool. You can't highlight and delete unwanted items, re-arrange items or do anything to change the structure of your project with a few click and drags.

1. Sluggish as hell even on a Dual G5 with 2GB RAM and boo-coo empty disk space.

[Toadie]

I've had some problems with iDVD, but in general it's been one of the best things I've used on a Mac. If you ever tried to create a DVD *before* iDVD existed, you'd thank your lucky stars for that iDVD program. It's a godsend.

[ast3r3x]

I used it for the first time ever last night to make my schools baccalaureate video, and I was impressed at how easy it was. I'm all for it.

[Messiahtosh]

I've had some problems with iDVD, but in general it's been one of the best things I've used on a Mac. If you ever tried to create a DVD *before* iDVD existed, you'd thank your lucky stars for that iDVD program. It's a godsend.I agree with all of my soul.

[Xaqtly]

Yeah, there's a problem with nitpicking iDVD, or any of the other iApps - they're the lightweight versions made for anybody to use, as compared to their professional counterparts that address these issues. Not that I disagree with the issues you brought up but if you really need that stuff to work, that's why Apple makes DVD Studio Pro and Final Cut Pro.

The question that needs to be answered is "where do you draw the line?" If you start adding more and more features to iDVD, won't that generally make it more difficult to use, hence defeating the purpose of being simple user oriented software?

I'd like GarageBand to be able to record multiple tracks at once, but A) that's what Logic is for, and B) that would add complexity to GarageBand that typical GB users neither need nor want. I mean all your complaints would be addressed by using DVD Studio Pro instead of iDVD. The DVDs I make in iDVD are very simple and that's really what iDVD is good for.

BTW I do agree that iDVD needs some speed improvement.

[Moogs]

I dunno guys... some of these problems are pretty counter-intuitive for a consumer app. Numbers 2,3 and 5 in particular could cause confusion and frustration for people who aren't 100% Mac savvy or computer-literate. I pride myself on usually being able to figure out just about any hang-up I encounter with the software I use, but I'll be damned if the way iDVD was laid out makes any sense.

Why for example, would the outline view not allow you to drag things around to create the hierarchies that you want? Almost anyone who uses it would probably expect exactly that kind of functionality with a thumbnail / outline view.

And the problem of not having an Apple-mandated DVD Project folder (a la Music, Movies or Photos) was really a lazy mistake on Apples part. They clearly didn't even give it much thought.

iMovie, even though it it more complex than iDVD, is much easier to figure out IMO, and iPhoto and iTunes are a total snap, though their purpose is not creating anything so much as organizing things.

I just think for the fourth version of this program, it should be a lot more refined by now. Feels like a 2.0 if you ask me.