Pros:

Compact and Faster:  Flash Drives are small and compact.  They are easy to distribute and also have a data transfer rate faster than the conventional CD or DVD counterpart. They are also perceived as a more elegant and simple delivery solution.

Larger Capacity: USB Flash drives can typically store anywhere from 512K to 32GB.  If the data you are distributing is more than 4.4 GB(the data storage capacity of a single layer DVD) the Flash Drive is an ideal solution.  We have clients who regularly distribute 16GB or more data, which would previously been done on a 4 DVD set.

Re-usable: Flash Drives are reusable and can be rewritten to and erased.  The data can also be locked so it cannot be erased, but the remainder of the drive capacity can be formated to be re-used.  This way, your distributed content is always present on the drive as the end user uses the drive for other data and storage needs.

Cons:

Cost:  In general, Flash Drives are a more costly solution than optical media.  Particularly when distributing 500 units or more, the cost of a typical CD might be $1 per unit, where a 512MB custom printed flash drive with the data pre-loaded would be around $4 per unit.   This cost differential becomes very wide when you are at quantities of 5K or more.  There the price differential can be 40-50 cents per CD vs. $3.50 per unit for Flash Drives.  As the quantity needed, however, decreases, and say for example 100 CDs were needed vs. the flash drives, 100 CDs would be approx $3.00 per unit, where a comparable flash drive might be around $5.00 unit.

Overall Comparison Summary : Overall, USB Flash Drive costs have been steadily decreasing and with this continuing trend they will continue to gain in popularity for data storage and distribution. Cost is really the main determining factor against chosing flash drives. We do not see costs being equal for larger runs, 500 units or more, but at lower quantities, at some point, flash drives will be a more economical solution while also providing a more compact, flexible and reusable solution for physical data delivery.

DVD Copycat provides and extensive selection of over 200 styles of custom flash drives and also provides data loading services if you already have the drives and just need data loads.

Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions regarding Custom Printed USB Flash Drives, CDs, DVD or Bluray discs.  We are always here to help our client get the best product delivered on time.

Cost and Compatibility of DVD-DL: DVD-DL is that the cost is typically about $2 more expensive per disc than standard DVD-R and in some instances, the compatibility of DVD-DL with players can be finicky for video.  This higher cost is typically lower than the cost of making 2 standard DVD so in that circumstance, the DL disc will provide you with some cost saving.

Compatibility for Data application has become less of an issue as most DVD drives now are designed to recognize this format.  Set top DVD Video players also are designed to recognize this format, but the manufactures were slower to adopt, and this why DVD-DL will not play in some older players.

Overall, though, DVD-DL has its niche and fills a void when more data is needed, but quantity is low.  It is a good solution when you do not want to split up a project and put it on 2 standard DVD-Rs.

At DVD Copycat we only source the very best blank DVD-DL media we can find so the quality and compatibility is maximized.

If you have more questions about Dual Layer DVD Duplication, DVD-DL, or would like to place an order, just contact us and we would be happy to quote you and get to work for you and deliver a great product.

The process of getting copy protection on your Video DVD, however, can be confusing and frustrating if you do not understand the basics.

Below we have detailed some basics to help you understand copy protection as it applies to your DVD project.

Basic 1: The DVD must be replicated, not duplicated to apply CSS Encryption – CSS Encryption only works with Replicated DVDs.  Replicated DVDs are “pressed” DVDs that use a “Glass Master” and “Stamper”, to actually stamp out DVDs in poly carbonate.  Duplicated discs are “burned” discs using DVD burners like the one you have in your computer.  Typically the process of Replication starts at a minimum quantity of 500 DVDs(some companies will do 300, but the overall total cost for the project is about the same).  So the first thing you should be aware of is if you need less than 500 units you may not be able to get CSS encryption applied to your DVD unless your DVD manufacturer can replicated the discs at the quantity you need.

Basic # 2: How to Submit the Master for CSS Encryption – Most masters submitted for DVD Replication are submitted as DVD+/-R.  However, when we apply the CSS algorithm to the DVD, the master is required to be a DLT or DDP master.  The confusion often comes into play when authoring the DVD.  On many authoring systems, there is a check box to set the flag for CSS encryption on your master.  However, if you just export your master to DVDR, the extra information required to transmit the CSS Flag gets stripped away before getting on the master.  The only two masters that will hold the CSS Flag information is a DLT master or a DDP master.

What if you dont have the option to output to DLT or DDP? – At DVD Copycat we provide a service where we can convert your DVDR master to DDP for a one time fee.  This fee ranges from $300-450 depending on the number of layers on the master.  So if you do not have the hardware to output to DLT or DDP, we can provide a solution for you.

Basic #3: Extra Charges for Royalties – There is a one time fee of $150 for DVD Copycat to have the CSS encryption applied to your project.

There are also a few misconceptions when applying CSS that you will may hear from other replicators or DVD brokers.  Often they state that CSS is applied at the factory so there is no need to do any CSS master preparation.  It is true that CSS is applied at the factory, however, the only way to apply the CSS is to have a properly authored master with the CSS Check flag set.  There are no legal work-arounds to this requirement.

Overseas suppliers: In China there are very few factories that have CSS capability.  It is speculated that the cost to have this option is not justified in those factories.  We have seen different work-arounds from overseas suppliers, but if you want to do this legally, be sure to know your factory and make sure they hold an agreement with the controlling body of CSS.

If you have any other questions about DVD Copy protection and CSS Encryption, just give us a call at 866-210-8768 or email us at contact@dvdcopycat.com.

We are always eager to earn new clients and would like to help you finish off your project by providing you a super solid, high quality DVD.

Ultimately, we believe that making the choice to pay more for a higher quality disc, will pay off in the long run with less complaints and less problems.
If you have any questions about our Bluray Duplication or Authoring services, please feel free to call us at: 1-866-210-8768.

We are using Adobe Photoshop to demonstrate a way to setup your artwork on a cd, dvd, & blu-ray template. The same concept and directions can be used as a guideline for other templates on our site.

The following examples will show you how to setup your disc art so it is print/press ready.

1. Obtain the correct Template from our site.

 First Navigate to the Templates Page of our Site

The templates can be found on the templates page as shown in the picture.

Download the template to your computer. You can download the template by right clicking on the template link. Choose “save target as…”, or “save link as…”. For this example, we’ll be using the DVD/Blu-Ray/CD Duplication Color Disc Face template. You can apply this process to all of the templates.

2. Opening the template in Photoshop

When you open the template in Photoshop, the first thing you will see is a screen to setup the resolution and printing specifications. The main thing to check is the resolution is at 300dpi, and that the color scheme is CMYK. Hit OK to continue,

3. Laying out your Artwork

When the template is open you can start to layout the artwork of your cd/dvd/blu-ray design. It’s a good idea to keep the template as 1^st layer (Layer 1), this way you can see the outlines of the template.

As you layout your artwork, you should make sure the background is all the way to the outside bleed line. In the example below, We will apply a blue background to the disc. This has been filled in all the way to the outer edge and through the center.

The text, logos, and images should be placed within the inner margin of the template. This will make sure the final print does not get cut off in the print process. You can see in the example below that the text and artwork do not go outside of the inner margin.

The template needs to be “invisible” when you have completed the design. The first and simplest way is to UNCLICK the eye in the left box next to Layer 1, or your background layer. It is now invisible.

The second way is to drag the 1^st layer (LAYER 1) to the bottom. Now all the layers you have added are now above the original template layer. This will ensure that only the crop marks of the template show. The image below shows the layers window with the template layer now at the bottom.

4. Saving your artwork

We recommended that you save the file as a HIGH RES PDF. This will ensure that the fonts will stay as they are.    To do this go to File, Save As, Select – Photoshop PDF from the drop down list of file types. Save the pdf so you are able to make change, by making sure the box is checked next to “ Preserve Photoshop Editing Capabilities”.  You may also want to save it as a .psd file so you can make other edits in the future.

These instructions should be helpful in getting your CD/DVD and Blu-Ray art work ready for your next project!

Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions at 1-866-210-8768 or email us at contact@dvdcopycat.com

We will now be focusing all of our manufacturing efforts on USB Flash Drives, DVD duplication and Replication, CD Duplication and Replication and Blu-ray Duplication and Replication services.  We could not be happier with the current progress of this considerable effort.

New to the site will be the ability to place an order online via e-commerce along with an additional 25% more products and many more pricing options and turn times.  If you have any questions about our transition to the new site, or have comments about the new look, please let us know.  We would love to hear from you.

There are a few distinctions between PAL DVDs and NTSC DVDs.

NTSC DVDs have a frame rate of 29.97 frames per second and have a screen resolutions of  720 X 480.  NTSC is the more widely used and accepted format for DVDs.

PAL DVDs have a frame rate of 25 frames per second and have a screen resolution of 720 X 576.  All PAL DVD players can also play NTSC DVDs, however, the converse is not true.  Most NTSC DVD players cannot play PAL DVDs.

It is for this reason that the best format choice to distribute your DVD project would be NTSC.

Most authoring platforms will author both NTSC and PAL DVDs, however, it is very difficult to convert one to the other once the format has been chosen.  The reasoning behind this is that the vertical resolution of an NTSC to PAL comparison is 480 to 576, so if conversion was to occur between the two formats, there would be some vertical squeezing or stretching of the video depending on which way the conversion went.  So you end up with people and objects that either look unusually tall or unusually short, or you will have to cut of some of the screen, all are un-natural looks.

So if you are deciding whether to create a project in PAL vs NTSC, your best bet is to shoot, edit and author all in the same format.  Mixing format, example: shooting in PAL and editing and authoring in NTSC will still result in a skewed perspective.

So know your format, your target audience, and choose accordingly.

Film Festivals:

Here is another area that we are seeing good influx of blu-ray requests.   It seems that more and more film festivals are requesting submissions on bluray.  At DVD Coypcat we are fielding many calls from clients who have hi-def source material that need to be converted to a Blu-ray Master then duplicated for distribution to film festivals.

Bluray Authoring Platforms:

Blu-ray authoring platforms are also becoming more robust and I have been seeing less and less frustration with BD master creation these days.  I personally have experienced a good deal of frustration with some Platforms over the past two years and have only recently had more regular success with some of the more up to date systems.

Archiving using Blu-ray Discs:

Here is another popular use for bluray discs.  Archiving everything from tens of thousands of family photos, to sensitive data for businesses.

All and all, we are projecting the first significant inroads for Blu-ray Duplication in 2011 and we expect to see this continue strongly through 2012 and 2013.

For more information, take a look at our Blu-ray Duplication and Services page for more information and pricing, or just give us a call at 1-866-210-8768.

DVD Masters:

The Basics :

DVD Masters need to be submitted as an authored DVD.  This means that if you have been through editing, you need to get your edited project on an authoring platform and create your menus, compression, and final DVD.  Some common authoring platforms are: DVD Studio Pro, iDVD, Sonic Scenarist, Nero, Adobe Encore.  If you are not sure that you have authored your DVD just give us a call and we should be able to determine the state of your project.

Once your project is complete and you have an authored master, in most circumstances we recommend that you submit a fully working DVD-R master that you have thoroughly watched, have checked all menu functionality and are completely satisfied with the quality of your final master.  Once we receive your master we guarantee to give you exact copies of your project back, so be sure you are happy with your master before you end up with 2000 discs you don’t like or cannot use.

Electronic Submission of DVD Master:

Some times we have clients that would like to save a day or two of snail mail and submit their DVD disc image master electronically.  We typically discourage this as in most circumstances we would charge to create the DVD master from a disc image, then, to insure the content and integrity of the master, would typically send that master disc back to our client for final approval on the master.  Ultimately this would result in longer approval time.  The best way to ensure we do a great job on your project is to submit a hard master that has been thoroughly checked for functionality and quality.

The only caveat to this method of master delivery is if you would like CSS copy protection on your DVD video.  In this circumstance, you will need to submit your master as either a DDP master or a DLT master.  You can read the ins and outs of applying DVD CSS encryption here on this blog post.

CD Masters:

CD Audio Master Basics :

For submitting CD Audio masters, the best standard to submit you master under is the “Red Book Audio Standard”.  Particularly when replicating your disc, if you want your audio to be flawless and manufacturing to go smooth.  If you would like to address things like having the text show up on your CD, embedded metadata and ISRC codes, look up the Red Book Audio Standards, have your music mastered at a credible mastering studio with an experienced audio engineer.

If you are working on a budget and cannot afford an audio engineer, you can create you master with any number of commercially available audio programs.  This method is often very successful, particularly if you have limited requirements for you CD,…ie. do not need CD text to show, do not need metadata or ISRC codes embedded in your music.

Electronic Submission of CD Master:

On occasion we do receive requests from clients who would like to upload their tracks to us and have DVD Copycat create the master.  Again, we usually recommend that you submit a hard copy CD-R master according to Red Book Audio standards.  If you would like us to assemble your master, we can drop your tracks on a CD, but this often times is problematic, as mistakes can be made or preferences can be set not according to the expectations of our clients.  ie, time between tracks is to long or short, track order is not correct, etc.  For these reasons, when we do create audio masters, we do send that master back to the client for approval before manufacturing.

Data CDs and CD-ROMs:

In most circumstances Data CDs and CD-ROMs must be submitted as a hard master on CD-R.  Data CDs can often have auto executable files or complex software  applications, or too many files to accurately transfer over the internet.  So when submitting this type of master, we recommend sending us a fully functional CD-R.  In some circumstances we will create a master for you, but in this exception we will need to send you a copy of the master we created for your approval.

As always, we are looking for ways to provide our clients with top notch service and a great product.  If you have suggestions on how we can make improvements, please contact us and tell us about it.  We are looking forward to another successful year in 2011 and look forward to serving all of our current great clients and picking up some new ones too.