Here are some pointers that I figured out after experiments, several disasters and a few near misses. Others are just common sense.

• Have two sets of rewritable disks when working. That way, you can make changes on one set while leaving a working set intact (this is especially important if you're using work you've produced in a program).
• Keep a log of segments you've produced with their filenames (including location on your hard drive) and position on the disk. When a disk contains 70 separate segments, you'll be able to find them easily.
• Don't be afraid to use some digital "sleight of hand" when making video. I have a Mars segment that has the viewer approaching Mars, swinging around to its nighttime side then coming up on the daylight side. In order to make the segment longer, I made it two separate sequences with the cut taking place in the dark frames. When played back, it's seamless.
• If you have laser disks or other video produced by another company, it's not legal for you to make your own DVDs of it. If they make a DVD version of it, buy it. Otherwise, use it in its original format.
• It's not a bad idea to have a DVD player near your computer when experimenting. That way, you don't have to run into your dome each time you want to test a segment. You'll find that a DVD looks very different on a composite monitor than it does on your computer. I have a little Apex DVD player that plays DVD-R/RW disks quite well.
• I produce video that looks a little darker on my monitor. When it plays back in the dome, it looks just right. Experiment with a variety of gamma settings for output with your CGI software (with 3DS Max, I use 1.8 for my gamma setting).
• The resolutions given here and on my related pages are for NTSC systems. Use the link below to DVDRHelp.com for information on other video standards such as PAL or SECAM.