DVD has taken over from VHS as the format of choice for distribution of internal and external business communications. High street stores no longer sell VHS recorders and it is almost impossible to buy a PC without a DVD-Rom drive; DVD has enjoyed the fastest uptake of any new technology in history. The DVD format is an exciting, versatile and interactive delivery method for visual communication. This is a much more complicated technology than a linear video tape, and when considering the benefits that DVD offers it is worth talking to your production company to examine the potential pitfalls of accessibility, compatibility, design and delivery.

The key difference of a DVD is its interactivity, which has several benefits:

• You can include several language audio versions of your programme on the same disc.
• You can include the option of subtitles for the hard of hearing, or audio-description for the visually impaired.
• By putting all versions onto one disc, you only pay for one set of copies, which reduces your costs for replication and delivery to the audience.
• Rather than trying to condense every bit of information into one short programme, DVD allows you to separate a project into smaller bite-sized sections that the viewer can navigate through at their own pace - personalising their experience, delivering training or messages in small stages and presenting only relevant information to your audience.
• You can include accompanying documents in a DVD-Rom folder that the user can print out for reference when the disc is accessed with a computer. These documents can feature links to your website or intranet for the user to access more information. Producing and delivering a DVD-Rom containing printable documents is cheaper than mailing out a VHS package with printed documents.

1. A factory pressed DVD (Recommended)

A factory-pressed DVD is exactly the same as the Hollywood discs you would buy from a shop. Using professional DVD authoring software, the information is transferred to DLT (digital linear tape), from which a Glass Master is created. The DVDs are then made with the information actually pressed into them. Professionally authored pressed DVDs are compatible with the widest possible range of PCs, MACs and set top DVD players.

The professional production of DVD allows copy protection software to be installed on the disc - preventing unauthorised duplication and distribution of inferior copies of your project.

2. A 'burnt' DVD (DVD-R, DVD+R and Authoring DVDs)

A burnt disc can be made with most home computers. You can spot them by turning them over and checking their colour. If they are silver or black they have been factory pressed, if they are any other colour, the most common being purple, then it is a burnt disc. If you need less than 1000 copies in double quick time, and copy protection is not an issue, it may be better to produce burnt DVDs. Talk to your production company about your audience and they will advise on the best delivery methods.

The disadvantages with burnt discs are that they cannot be copy protected, and because these discs can vary in grade and quality, you need to allow for the possibility of failures and compatibility issues with DVD players.

An authoring DVD is a disc burnt with a pioneer professional authoring drive. Whilst this type of disc still has some of the characteristics of other burnt DVDs they are a much higher grade disc and offer better compatibility and stability.

As a client, you do not need to become an expert or understand the DVD Production process, you should be confident with your production company's design and test processes. If you are paying for a professional job, the production company should have evidence of delivering hundreds of thousands of discs every year. A client should not be paying for a production company to learn how to do something. DVD design and authoring can seem expensive until you look at the amount of work involved in a typical project. It can take between 2 and 4 weeks from approving your video, to receiving your printed, packaged and wrapped copies. Producing audio described menus, foreign language subtitles and voiceovers can also add to the lead time. If your production company knows the launch date for the project they will advise on what can be achieved in the timescale.

We keep our clients up to date with their project every step of the process. Here is a brief overview of what we are doing at every stage to make your DVD a success.

1. Encode all video content for DVD.
   

   If you have more than one programme, and more than one version of each, then the total video to be encoded can quickly mount up.

2. Design menus and submenus.
   

   A professional DVD authoring house will include moving menus, and licensed music. They will include a copyright notice for your content and programme the DVD so that the user cannot skip past the mandatory parts of your programme. A skilled DVD author will make the DVD navigation system intuitive and accessible to the viewer, simple to use and eye catching.

3. Test every link and button press on the DVD to ensure that each does as expected. Test every frame of the encoded video for errors. Test the project in a variety of set top, hand held and software DVD players; this process is often called emulation.
4. Design on-body and sleeve print.
5. Translate all spoken word and graphics into foreign languages if required, (this can only be done once the programme and all graphics are completed.
6. Create foreign and/or hard of hearing subtitle streams to be included.
7. Record Audio Description for Visually Impaired audiences if required.
8. Create DVD-Rom folder system and add any printable reference documents.
9. Master DVD to DLT (Digital Linear Tape) ready for replication. The use of professional DLT technology ensures that your DVDs are exact copies of the approved project. When a project is replicated from a DVD-R or DVD+R the copies inherit all the compatibility issues of burnt discs. It is also impossible to copy protect your project when it is mastered to DVD-R or DVD+R for replication.
10. Add analogue and digital copy protection - CSS and Macrovision if required. Make sure that your production company has a Macrovision licence, and they include the license fee in their quote. If they don't and there is copy protection on your DVDs you may be liable for an arbitrary fine per copy.
11. Create a glass master or stamper from which exact copies of your project will be pressed.
12. Press copies from glass master and test, verify and quality control. We have the capability to produce pack and test upwards of 25,000 discs every day.
13. Print on-body (on to the disc) and place into desired packaging. iceni provide a wide range of packaging from bespoke cases to polyprop wallets.
14. Deliver by the pallet load or by the box to your warehouse, or deliver individual discs directly to your audience.

Visit the uk corporate video production team at iceni productions for more information and examples of recent projects for public and private sector clients.

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