Preparing your Final Cut Express or Final Cut Pro movie to work with iDVD

Q: “What do I do with my Final Cut movie to prepare it for use with iDVD?”

A: In Final Cut Express, choose File > Export > Final Cut Pro Movie. If you’ve added chapter markers to your movie, choose Chapter Markers from the Markers pop-up menu, then click Save.

To add a Final Cut Pro movie to your iDVD project, you need to export it as a QuickTime movie. Any movie in QuickTime format can be added to an iDVD project, but for best results, export the movie as a DV (digital video) file, as described below.

1. In Final Cut Pro, choose File > Export > QuickTime.
2. In the Export window, choose the NTSC or PAL DV format you want to use from the Settings pop-up menu. If you are using Final Cut Pro version 1.2.5 or later, make sure the Make Movie Self-Contained checkbox is not selected. (This will make the export process much faster.)
3. Click Save. A QuickTime file that references your Final Cut Pro movie is created on your hard drive. This is the file you will add to your iDVD project.