Using DVD2One, I can join three movies, all good quality, but then there is no DVD menu and the only way to navigate is to go through all the chapters (up to 20) for each movie. I cannot get from one movie to another easily. Each movie is simply a new Title, but I cannot navigate between titles on my DVD player (not the Mac app).

Using VisualHub, I can join the three movies, all good quality, but there is no DVD menu and each movie is a single chapter, so I've got three chapters and three movies. They're all under the one Title. I start the DVD and go through the Next Chapter button to get the next movie.

Toast just doesn't seem to want to work effectively, joining vob files and using menus, and it does seem to object to an apparent size problem, not found in the other apps.

Now, I do know that it's possible to create a DVD with quite a number of movies on it, with at least a menu selection for each movie, and sometimes even with chapters for each movie. But I assume those DVDs were burned using some kind of PC software.

Whatever you can do on a PC, you can do on a Mac. So what kind of software are they using to compress those movies in order to put a dozen or more on a single DVD and then also have appropriate menus?

Ideas? Suggestions?

I used to use DVD Studio Pro to make dvd's with menus. Firstly make vobs in what ever app (visualhub?) and then split em (demux) into audio and video streams, Studio pro doesnt like vobs and using the raw video and audio is better cos it doesnt need to re encode anything. Then you can design your own menus in dvd studio pro..... build/burn done .... easy

Make sure your vobs are small enough for em all to fit on the dvd! (encode to a certain size in visualhub?)

Probably a quicker way of doing all that, never made a DVD for ages I just watch the avis on my xbox

iMovie might do it, if DVD Studio Pro will.

This is getting much bigger and more complex than I really want.

I took a look at DVD Studio Pro, and I'd have to learn a new language to even begin attempting much with it, manual or none notwithstanding.

Why is it that so much software seems to expand like Murphy's Law, to take up whatever space might be available? Look at how Toast has become bloatware, for example. It's got to be everything to everybody, and in doing so, becomes nothing, or at least so complex that it no longer does the simple task it was initially meant for.

Okay, short rant finished.

I might continue some extra time experiments, although I'm tempted to simply toss the lot.

Thanks anyway, guys.

I found DVDstudio pretty easy to use. Everythign was basically drag and drop other then renaming menu and track items. Chapter markers were drag and drop into the chapter line and you can link the menu buttons to them easily. The templates are decent and easy to figure out. I didn't even ahve to look at the manual until I was starting to actually script things, but for what your doing you wouldn't need to at all.

Over all I found it way easier to use then any of the cheapy 'easy' programs. This one at least lets you do what you want instead of being constrained by what the program thinks you want. iDVD should work fine as well, between iMovie and iDVD you should be able to join the movies, place your chapter markers where you want them, create a menu that works and burn a DVD.