After shooting, editing and authoring (the process of segmenting the production into chapters and wiring it all together with custom menus) most of our work is delivered to our clients on DVD media.

While the majority of our projects are limited to the distribution of no more than a few disks (in the case of weddings, video transfers and music videos) there are certain events we cover where the distribution is significantly greater. These include recitals and competitions.

It is primarily for those who receive these DVD's that this section has been published. Additionally, we hope that any others who might benefit from this knowledge be blessed as well, including associates in our field. Thanks to the vast amount of information readily available on the net, as well as industry insiders who gave of their time and expertise, we were able to assemble what we offer here. It is our pleasure to help pass it on.

Concerning the issue of disk compatibility among home players, we've naturally found that the phenomenon is exponentially amplified in situations where dozens of people are attempting to play back media on dozens of different pieces of equipment. Further, we realize that most folks don't have a clear enough understanding of the limitations of the media and are dumbfounded as to why we gave them a 'bad' disk. What oftentimes seems like a bad disk is usually just a compatibility issue with the player being used. What normally (and most understandably) happens is this causes people to question our integrity or the quality of our service, regardless of how dazzling a production we create.

Unfortunately neither of the above assumptions are correct. We are firmly committed to excellence, care deeply about the entire performance, and try our best to showcase it in its best possible light. Coming to the table with 30 years of professional entertainment experience, it's only natural that we get nearly as swept up in it as you.

Now we realize that everyone is so accustomed to renting movies and hardly ever experiencing difficulties, unless of course the disc is obviously scratched. But why shouldn't one of ours play just as easily, each and every time? The answer is simple, yet somewhat intricate, so please bear with us.

The following is a fairly comprehensive analysis of recordable media and disc compatibility. We hope that this information, along with the assurance that the steps we take to achieve the highest compatibility with the discs we distribute, will help alleviate any frustration you may feel when you hit play on your little star's shining moment and instead of viewing the cinematic event you were expecting you're treated to something more resembling Mr. Toad's Wild Ride.


First Things First

Standalone (home) DVD players are not by default programmed to recognize or properly play recordable media (DVD-R's). It doesn't matter what make or model, or how new or old your equipment is, manufacturers up to this point have simply provided this ability basically to be nice. Home players at this point in time are produced to play DVD-ROM's (feature films). No matter how futuristic a picture they paint, the computer and entertainment industries have not yet fully merged -- on our end at least. There's no obligation yet for them to acquiesce.

With this in mind it's pretty incredible that we only receive a relatively few reports of incompatible (burned) disks on home players. But that still doesn't sit right with us. We're doing all we can to tip the scale in our favor and allow you to pop your disk in any tray with the least amount of concern.

Suffice it to say that our productions should be viewable on any PC. So before calling with a suspected bad disc, if you've either not been able to play it on a standalone player or are experiencing intermittent errors/skips, etc., we implore you to find a computer to try it on first and see if it'll play on that. This will undoubtedly reveal if the disk is truly 'bad' or simply a matter of incompatibility with the player(s) you're trying to view it on.

A word to the wise regarding computers and DVD's. Do yourself a great favor and use DVD player software (WinDVD, PowerDVD, etc.) to view the production on your PC. Do not allow Windows to let it autorun and have Media Player take over. You'll be navigating blind if you do. There'll be no button highlights and if you use the forward and back buttons it will frustrate you to no end. You'll not know where you are and there's no 'menu' or 'title' button (like on a remote control) to escape with. You'll be forced to skip through the entire production just to return to the main menu. Not a pleasant thing.

So faced with the compatibility issue of home players (the obvious preference for most to view their disc, we realize) and the current state of the technology, what's a filmmaker to do? What can be done to guarantee that every order placed will play perfectly on every type of player imaginable?

The answer to that, of course, is a resounding "nothing." So the next question is "what can be done to increase compatibility to its maximum level?"

That's where our research began and here's what we found.
 

Dupe, dupe, dupe. It's a whirl...

At first, we thought "well let's just send them out for professional duplication. That ought to solve everything."

"Not so, grasshopper..."

You see, there's Duplication, and then there's Replication. Replicated disks are stamped (or pressed) from a glass master. These are known as 'retail ready' disks, and are what you buy when you pick up that copy of Shrek 3 at WalMart for the kids this Christmas. Works all the time, every time.

Problem is it's not at all feasible for our humble productions (yours or ours). Replication is normally only done for orders of 300 or more (and trust us, we receive a very small fraction of that for any given event) and the cost is astronomical. We'd actually be paying you to produce it for you. Not that you wouldn't approve, we're sure...

So that leaves duplication as the only viable option.

Duplication is the process of burning the image onto the disk. The minimum quantity for professional high speed duplication is much lower than replication, yet believe it or not still about 25% more than we normally receive orders for, and costs 3-4 times as much as we can do in-house. And they do the very same thing we do in-studio, only in larger batches at a time. We were told this by one of the nation's largest duplication houses. So this option wouldn't help much either with regard to increasing playback compatibility.

So given the reality that duplication is the only feasible option, and that the technology to perform this process is basically the same in-house or out, the question then boils down to "how can we 'bullet-proof' our disks as much as possible?"

We've discovered that with proper diligence (and a real clever trick we learned) it's possible to significantly increase the odds in our collective favor.


Here's the 5-point production plan we adhere to:

1. Quality media We use the best consumer grade disks available. There are pitfalls to finding and choosing which are best, as you can read here, but we're careful not to purchase any obviously questionable media.
2. A slow burn To help reduce errors, it's suggested that a slower speed burn helps. We burn at the very minimum possible speed to increase disc reliability.
3. Data verification A verification of the data on the disk after it's burned adds to its chances of success in terms of missing data, resulting in intermittent playback.
4. Speed/Failure test All disks contain some number of errors. The first thing that professional duplicators normally do is run your master through some sort of fail test. We run each disc through this utility to test its error rate after burning. There's a negligible area and anything below that is discarded.
5. Bitsetting Probably the most significant boost in increasing disc compatibility on home players is a little-known technique called Bitsetting.

The "Book Type" is a field of four bits at the start of every DVD that indicates what the physical format of the disc is. Many devices will use this book type field to determine how the disc should be treated. One common cause of compatibility problems is when a device does not recognize the book type of the disc that has been loaded. When the book type field (bitsetting) is changed to DVD-ROM then DVD players are fooled and will think the user has put in a DVD-ROM disc instead of a DVD+R disc and will read it accordingly. This results in an increased chance that the player is able to read the disc.


In closing, we recognize that DVD's are awesome things, and what they allow us to do and share is equally incredible. But much like us human types they're not nearly as perfect as we'd like them to be at times. It troubles us that, much like the subjects we film, we pour our heart and soul into creating as magnificent and polished a production as we can, only to receive feedback that some of the discs weren't viewable by those who purchased them.

We remain committed to providing the highest quality production (and product) we can. And we thank you for your understanding and support of our creative endeavor.

Our lines of communication are always open. Feel free to call or write anytime.