Why does video files take so long on a mac?

I new to the mac world...I got an iMac for home because all we do at home is internet, photos, videos but really nothing else...so now i'm trying to take old vhs tapes converting them to dvd (via a sony stand-alone dvd/vcr) then I want to cut them up on the iMac and put them back onto dvd's so friends and family can enjoy them...my problem or question is why does it take so long just to rip a dvd or import video to iMovie or burn a DVD...i've got a 2.6dual core intel with 4 gb ram so I know it is not a hardware problem...I've done equal projects on windows pcs that take 10 minutes (just the burning and ripping, not editing) and it take hours (not one or two but sometimes 6) on the mac...I have a feeling I'm going about it incorrectly but I need some help....thanks

idvd converts all videos into vobs for the dvd format. this requires the files to be converted which is highly processor intensive taking ages. this makes them viewable on a dvd player. also idvd has to transcode all of the menus you create ect frame by frame. if you just want the files on a dvd just burn the files which will just take mins.

idvd is a bit of a convoluted process for what your trying to do. its good for wowing the family with photoshows with fancy menus but it takes an age to author a movie. im sure there will be better apps out there i just dont know of any lol.

i use visualhub for all my encoding but i never author to dvd.

hope ive been of slight help. dont worry tho its not a problem with your imac. idvd is just slow

This might not be the ideal method for you. I noticed that it takes forever to add movie files to iMovie. However, if you import the movie from a digital camcorder, it's only the amount of time it takes to play the file.

My digital camcorder uses Sony mini DV tapes. If I connect the camcorder to my VCR I can recorde VHS tapes (that aren't encoded) as well as TV onto the mini DV tapes in the camcorder. After that they're just like the movies I filmed on the camcorder and can be directly imported into iMovie.

This might not work for you if you don't have a digital camcorder and I'm sure there might be another, perhaps better way, to do the same thing. But it's the only way I know how to do it without having to deal with movie files that take forever to load into iMovie.