dvdcopycat.com

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.

Brian G Fisher
DVD Copycat Inc.
DVD Duplication and Replication Services

1-415-929-1581

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.

If you need any more information on DVD Duplication, Please contact us at:

415-929-1581

1-866-210-8768

DVD Copycat, Inc.

745 Fillmore, #101

San Francisco, CA 94117

www.dvdcopycat.com

I have recently posted new definitions for CD Duplication, DVD Duplication and BD Duplication on Google Knol.

If anyone reading these has any comments or addtions to these definitions, please let me know and I will make the updates.

Often times we get the question “what is DVD Duplication, and what is the difference between DVD Duplication and DVD Replication”.

DVD Duplication is defined as the copying or burning of the contents of one DVD to multiple copies.  Depending on the blank media you use, the quality of the outcome can vary from very almost perfectly reliable to very poor results.  If you want quality results on your Duplication, it means that you have to spend the extra money to buy good blanks.  Its that simple and is the difference between happy customers and irate complainers.

The difference between Duplication and Replication is the manufacturing process.  Replication most often becomes more cost effective than Duplication at 1000 pcs.  In the DVD Replication process, a glass master is created, then a stamper is made from that master and is used to physically stamp the metallic layer on the disc.  Most of the cost is in the glass master and the setup, which can them be amortized over the cost of 1000 discs or more.  With Duplication the cost of the blank burnable media is fixed, so there is only so much cost reduction that can be achieved, which is typically only the amortized setup costs plus the blank media costs.

If you would like more info on DVD Duplication or Replication you can contact us at:

DVD Copycat

415-929-1581

Ask for Joe or Brian

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.

Despite the fact that many Blu-Ray Disc set top players do not work with burnable Blu-Ray(BD-R) discs yet, the market is clamoring for Blu-Ray Discs(BD) in low volume.

We are receiving regular requests for BD-R(Blu-Ray Writable) Discs and have accomodated our clients by accelerating out adaptation to low volume Blu-Ray Duplication.

DVD Copycat has now released and offering of BD-R discs as a compliment to our regular line of CD DVD duplication and replication products.

DVD Copycat’s number one focus is the quality of our CD and DVD and Blu-Ray Disc products.

In this market, CDs and DVDs are perceived as a commodity, but at DVD Copycat, we strongly disagree with that perception. There are may variables that differentiate the quality and reliability of a packaged DVD, CD or Blu-Ray Disc product. Some of these variables can make the difference between making a great impression and making a flop.

At DVD Copycat, we always guarantee that we use the best media, boxes, and printing methods so you can make the best impression with flawless looking and working product every time.

We have a continuing commitment to manufacturing the best product available in this market today.

DVD Duplication, CD Duplication, DVD Replication and CD Replication are our passion.

According to Blu-ray.com, Walmart has just announced that they will be going to Blu-ray exclusively starting in June.

Just one more domino to fall.

As the industry solidifies around Blu-ray Disc, DVD Copycat is committed to accomodate the shift from our standard DVD Duplication in San Francisco to Blu-ray Disc Duplication and Replication.

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