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.
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/
After CES this week the consensus from the Blu-ray bullish have continued to confirm adoption of this new Video Technology.
Despite the sagging economy, some in the industry are predicting a six fold increase in sales of Blu-ray(BD) discs and players.
I personally think that despite the online downloading potential in the coming years for Hi-def video, the general population likes to have something new and “gadgety” and fun to that they can possess. Blu-ray discs are seem to have a place in this gadget seeking behavior.
As more of the general population understand the benefits that Blu-ray offers, I believe the BD nay sayers will be surprised with the overall popularity and adoption of this new Video Format.
During a time of financial difficultly, I am humbled to say that DVD Copycat Inc. has done very well this year. We continue to grow aggressively and I can’t emphasize enough my most sincere thank-you to all of our customers and suppliers that have made this year a success. Between our customers, suppliers, and DVD copycat we form more than just a business mechanism, but a community of Business Professionals, Film, Video and Music individuals. It is this community that brings us to work everyday. To help promote and provide for great CD, DVD and Blu-ray(BD) projects.
Thanks very much for our 2008. I look forward to 2009!
Brian Fisher
CD Duplication is copying or burning of Audio or Data CD or Disc Image onto blank CD-/+R or CD-/+RW. The advantages to CD Duplication is that you can “burn” many fewer copies than CD Replication. IF you only need 100 or 200 CDs, you can duplicate them much more cost effectively. Quality is usually not an issue if you use a good printer and quality blank media.
Conversely, if you need more than 1000 CDs, it is much more cost effective to choose CD Replication. CD Replication is a manufacturing process where a glass master and stamper is made to actually stamp the cd content into the Disc. This has its advantages in that once the cost of the stamper and glass master have been created, you can realize significant cost saving over CD Duplication.
The detriment to CD Replication is that it usually takes more time to complete since the glass master and stamper process is much more elaborate that just burning or using CD Duplication.
If there are more questions out there regarding these two methods of making CDs, please dont hesitate to leave a comment or give us a call at 415.929.1581.
Well it seems like there has been very little good news on the economic front these days. I personally have many friends and colleagues that are feeling the direct impact of this economic downturn.
With pocketbooks shrinking, it makes it even more difficult for the average consumer to go out and buy that new blu-ray player. Even though I have been seeing specials for Blu-ray Disc (BD) player under $200 dollars, I will be curious to see how many consumers have the extra money to buck up for the latest and greatest in Hi-def video.
I personally like Blu-ray. We have a player in our home and I enjoy the better picture, and just as importantly ,I get a bit of a personal rush when I know its the newest thing for Video. When our Netflix comes in the mail and it has a blu-ray disc in it, it is a bit more fun.
That being said, I believe this Christmas Season will be very tell-tale for the future of Blu-ray Disc.
So you have finished all the hard work of having your CD or DVD mastered and readied for production. Finally you are ready to have copies manufactured and can’t wait to sell and distribute this project you worked so hard on.
In our business as a DVD and CD Duplication and Replication house, there are a couple of simple preparations that will make your task of getting your project manufactured easier and less costly.
1. Preparation of your artwork – Most CD/DVD manufactures have specific art requirements for the disc and insert printing for your project. Be sure to look into these requirement and follow them to the letter. Changes in artwork always slow things down and usually cost design time and money. Most duplication houses have templates available online for your specific project.
2. Use good media to burn your master disc – sometimes there can be problems with cd and dvd masters when they are burned. Particularly when you use cheap blank discs. Always get a brand name disc to avoid poor master quality.
Incomplete art and bad masters represent 90% of the delays when it comes to DVD and CD Duplication and Replication. So, take the extra time up front to make your art and master flawless, and things will go much more smoothly. In the end you will be happy you did.
DVD Copycat is proud to announce the release of a new CD-R that is pure silver on the bottom. These burnable CD-Rs look just like replicated CDs that you buy in music stores. Now you can get truly professional looking CDs for your next gig at volumes as low as 25 pcs.
For more information about these CDs, give us a call or look us up on the web.
Occasionally we receive requests to burn 1-5 DVDs for some of our clients. This is usually a pretty expensive proposition since we have to setup art and a duplicator for just a few discs.
If you would like to save some money and do the DVD Duplication yourself, there are some steps that will result in a good duplication.
Step 1: is to make sure you have a good quality DVD burner. If you have purchased a DVD burner that is a no-name brand, you may be jeopardizing a good burn. You do get what you pay for in burners. A good avenue would be to locate a technical consumer review of DVD burners. The Internet has a long list of available research on burners.
Step 2: is to make sure you use good quality media. Inferior media will result in poor results. Once again you get what you pay for, Sony, Verbatim, Taiyo Yuden all make a reliable burnable DVD.
Step 3: Make sure you leave your computer alone while burning your DVD. If you are using other programs while your DVD is burning, this may cause a problem with the burn.
Step 4: Verify your burn! Most burning software programs have a check box that will have the DVD read after the burn and compared to the original disc image. If they match up ok, the software will tell you that your DVD has been verified and it is a good disc.
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