dvdcopycat.com

This has been a very interesting year so far for DVD Copycat. In Jan of 09, we saw one of the worst months we have ever had. This seemed to be an industry wide experience as clients unsure of the economic downturn had a wait and see approach for new budgets in 09. After that things picked up to a reasonable level as the Industry Giants started promoting very agressive price reductions. Our current challenge has been how to continue our high level of service while going through the pains of shrinking margins. We are steadfastly commited to the quality of our DVD and CD Duplication and Replication products and even more commited to maintaining our level of customer service. Personalized service is just words these days in marketing campaigns. Our goal is to be able to provide a level of service that makes a genuine positive impact on our client base. Over the second quarter of 09 DVD Copycat has seen some good growth which I believe is a good indicator that service and attention is still valued, even in this economy.
Our pledge to our customer base is to alway preserve our standards of quality to make a positive impact on their projects while trying to stay within reasonable industry norms for pricing on DVD, CD and Blu-ray Replication and Duplication.

For More Information take a look at our website here optical disc manufacturing.
Or give us a call at 1-866-210-8768

Up until this point in time , Blu-ray manufacturing costs have been cost prohibitive for most smaller Video and Film Professionals.  Just one year ago if one of our clients wanted to publish 1000 retail ready blu-ray discs the rough costs would be approximately $2500 for the mandatory AACS encryption and about $5.50 per unit retail ready.   As the Blu-ray market develops we are seeing manufacturing costs becoming more reasonable and closer to being available to smaller Video and Film creatives.

Currently we are seeing AACS costs at a one time fee of $1500 and a cost of approximately $3.00 per unit for 1000 retail ready Blu-ray units.  Overall compared to last year this is about a 50% reduction in cost to our clients.

In contrast to this are standard definition DVDs which have no mandatory encryption fees and are approximately $1.29 per unit for 1000 retail ready DVDs.

So Blu-ray Replication is about $4.50 per unit for the first 1000 units and $3.00 after that per 1000.

DVD Replication conversly is still much more affordable at $1.29 per unit, but the general cost trends are coming down for Blu-ray Replication.

As Eric Manning pointed out to me in a previous post about the mandatory AACS fee, the Blu-ray Association has required all manufacturers to pay a mandatory AACS fee for every new title produced.  If the Blu-ray Association were to consider an AACS waiver for small producers it would open the flood gate for small producers to go Blu-ray (BD).  This is the only way that I can see Blu-ray Replication truly replacing DVD as a mainstream video medium for ALL video and film producers, not just the big studios.

However, I do feel that we are headed in the right direction. Costs are coming down and the 5% of our clients that can afford Blu-ray Replication can now realize their Hi-def vision.

More information about our Blu-ray Duplication and Replication can be found here.

If you have questions about standard def, Video Disc Manufacturing and DVD Duplication and Replication, contact us at 1-866-210-8768.

Ask for Amy or Brian

So you thought Blu-ray burning was easy?

Below is a Brief Intro Video about Blu-ray and pro-sumer systems for authoring and burning BD-Rs(blu-ray discs).  This reminds me a lot of DVD in its start-up phase.  It was very difficult to find systems and software that are reliable.  The best way to get past the Blu-ray blues is to realize that developing BD discs is going to be challenging and most video professionals will have to work as a community to “debug” this industry.  At some point things will shake out and we should have some good pro-sumer systems for delivering hi-def video on Blu-ray discs.

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Below are some links to forums and help pages that discuss and debug High Definition Video and Blu-ray(BD) burning and duplication.  I belong to many of these forums and post regularly.  I hope this will help you in your quest to put out a great high definition project on Blu-ray Disc.

One of my favorites that is very thorough is Videohelp.com the have many good topics http://forum.videohelp.com/

VideoMaker.com has a good hi-def forum

http://videomaker.com/community/forums/forum/high-definition

Blu-ray.com has a good forum on Blu-ray burning, pc, drives media and sofware

http://forum.blu-ray.com/forumdisplay.php?f=35

Digital Video Forums has a Blu-ray Forum

http://forum.digital-digest.com/forumdisplay.php?f=104

If you need duplications of your project look at our services on Blu-ray(BD) Duplicaton Serices

Or you can always contact me directly at 415-929-1581 for questions on Blu-ray Duplication

At DVD Copycat we only use the very highest quality cases for our DVD Duplication projects.  All of our DVD Duplications are placed in the original genuine Amaray Box by Nexpak, the US industry standard.

Genuine Amaray boxes are know to have a reliable locking mechanism so the discs wont fall out, and are made with very strong plastic, ….. not those flimsy cases the don’t close and bend.

We could get cheaper boxes at literally 1/3 the price of the genuine Amaray, but we chose to provide you with a solid, reliable product that will stand the test of time.

At DVD Copycat we provide the highest quality disc printing for short run CDs and DVDs (1-750 pcs).

If you’re looking for a way to create an impact with your DVDs or CDs, our full color offset quality printer cannot be beat.  We use Rimage 3 printers equivalent to 173 line screen quality print.  The highest quality print in the industry, and the image is transfered directly to the disc surface resulting in a glossy scratch and water proof image embedded right into the disc surface.

There is no higher quality CD or DVD print solution for low volume in the industry.

Call us and we will send you a sample print and you can judge for yourself.

415-929-1581 or Toll Free 1-866-210-8768

Ask for Brian or Joe

At DVD Copycat we use hard ink printers that provide a beautiful rich glossy finish to your DVD and CD inserts.

Even if you only need 50 copies of your project, with DVD Copycat you will get a  looking, glossy inserts for your project, just like we provide for our big professional runs.

Hard ink printers are also much more environmentally friendly than conventional short run printers so you can feel good about keeping the earth a little greener while having a great printed piece to give your CD or DVD a real professional POP!

We make sure your DVD or CD will play flawlessly every time.

At DVD Copycat we have chosen Taiyo Yuden as our supplier for our CD and DVD blank discs. Taiyo Yuden is widely know in the industry for their consistent performance as the best Blank Media manufacturer in the industry.

We carefully evaluated many vendors to determine what blank media supplier was considered the best overall. Time and time again the answer we recieved was Taiyo Yuden blank media.

Lowest error rates, highest compatibility, flawlessly consistent product that is always in spec.

Here are a few links to independent reports on media quality for you to judge for yourself.

Blank Media Quality Guide and FAQ

CD Media World CD-R EVAL

CDr Zone EVAL

For more information regarding DVD Copycat and our CD, DVD and Blu-ray BD Duplication and manufaturing please look at our website or give us a call.

1-415-929-1581 or Toll Free at: 1-866-210-8768

Ask for Brian or Joe.

At DVD Copycat, we often receive time sensitive DVD Duplication or Replication orders. Sometimes we have to go through extraordinary efforts to make sure that our customers time requirements are met.

To make sure your DVD project is completed in a timely manner you should run down the following checklist.

1. Make sure you have your artwork for the DVD face and any packaging inserts that you may need ready. DVD Copycat has templates online here. When you use our templates we can easily integrate your artwork into our process for printing the DVD Discs and any inserts needed for your packaging. This will reduce confusion and make it easier to process your project.

2. Make sure you have a working master ready. Many times master authoring, compression and design takes longer than you would think. If you think you need to deliver your master to us on a Friday, plan to have it done on the Wednesday before. You will appreciate the extra two days of “cushion” if something goes wrong with your overnight compression, or if you find a last minute change in content.

3. Make sure we have your billing information. If we don’t have you in our card file and have some secured payment information(VISA, MC, AMEX for first time customers) then it will delay starting the job until we have that information.

4. Leave one extra day to make sure that you can see a sample or color match for your dvd duplication jobs. We can provide you with proofs so you can double check your color matching needs.

If you follow these 4 steps, I can assure you that at DVD Copycat, we will have no problem processing your order on time, reliably, and stress free.

I receive this phone call about once a week.

“Hi Brian, I had 150 DVDs duplicated from “Company X”, but after I distributed them, I received 7-8 complaints that the DVD didn’t work properly. Is there a way to do low volume DVD Duplication that is reliable?”

The short answer is: Yes, by using high-quality media.

Here’s the long answer:

The most important factor in manufacturing a reliable CD-R or DVD-R is the blank disc. Only manufacturers that have strict manufacturing process control can consistently produce a disc blank that is within industry specifications for:

1. optical characteristics
2. coat coverage, and
3. dye life.

So, for example, a disc manufactured with the right optical characteristics but poor dye life may record and play well for the first few months, but as the dye degrades in 6 months or a year, those discs will become useless.

There are dozens of manufacturers of blank discs operating world-wide. I lump these into three categories. (I don’t want to berate any brand so I will refrain from naming names here)

Category 1: Premium Top of the Line
Category 2: Fit for Use
Category 3: Fit for Coasters and Decorative Use

95% of Disc manufactures in the world fall into category 2 and 3 and are largely manufactured in China and Taiwan.

Category 3 (Lowest Price Media): From my experience in the Disc Duplication Industry, these discs should never be used: and there are few very popular brand names in this category. This category is your run of the mill bulk product you buy at your local warehouse store.

Category 2 (Prices here are mid range): This category is a bit of a toss up. Depending on the batch you get and how you burn them, these discs can be fairly reliable. I still would not recommend these for general distribution as I have heard about, and experienced, “batch” problems with several well known brands.

Category 1 (Best Media-Highest Cost): There are only a few companies that fall into this category. Among the top from my experience and research have been Sony, Verbatim (if they are manufactured in Japan) and Taiyo Yuden. My personal choice for consistency, reliability and overall quality is Taiyo Yuden. If you have been in the duplication industry for more than a few months you will learn about this company. They manufacture media for some very popular brand names and also sell direct to duplicators.

Staying within this category will ensure that you will get the best results for reliability, compatibility, and longevity.

Where the picture can get very confusing is at the consumer level. Many popular brands are manufactured by different companies that could be comprised of Category 1, 2, or 3. Depending on the batch, you never know what you could be buying at your local electronics store. For example one time the brand you buy may work great, and the next time it may not.

The best way to ensure that you get solid results is to use a reputable duplicator and ask them what type of media they use and if they guarantee their work.

If you are hunting around for the lowest price, be aware that in the CD and DVD Duplication world you get what you pay for.

Written By: Brian Fisher, Founder DVD Copycat (http://www.dvdcopycat.com)

Here is a related article that I found that helps explain in a little less technical nature.

dvd-duplication-what-you-should-know.html