Convert to play on DVD

[paulajune]

Question:

My family multimedia pres was so popular that several people wanted it on DVD, although I ran it from a CD.

There are 17 .dir files linked together, starting with an intro.exe file. I used "link to external file" for the music files, which is a no-no for conversion to digital video, per my Director 7 Demystified book. Each .dir file resides in its own folder, so paths were indicated for linking. The entire project is about 47MB. The contents consist of .jpg images and .swa music files.

Does this project have any chance for smooth conversion to DVD? Do I need to export it to digital video first? If so, do you suggest "Cinepak", "None" or "Photo-JPEG" for compressor options (I selected these three from approx 8 choices)?

Also, do I need to go to each folder and export each .dir to digital? Since I linked to the external .swa files, do I need to go back and insert the music files directly into the .dir’s? How much will this slow down the piece?

Finally, for new projects, what is the best structure to use if I know I'll want to convert to DVD? If I do an all-in-one movie, I'm afraid it will stream too slowly.

I did read the section on exporting to digital video in my book, but feel under-confident.

Thanks so much.
Paula

 

[kennethkawamoto]

You cannot use Director to create a DVD, if that's what you're thinking.

However you can export Director movie as linear video (no interactivity) then make a DVD from it. You'll need a DVD authoring software and it will tell you the video format it accepts.