CD Manufacturing FAQs

Q: What is a glass master?
A: A glass master is made from a CD-R. It's an actual piece of glass about 12" across and 3/8" thick. The information from the CD-R is etched onto the glass. From this "Glass Master" a metal stamper is made which "presses" the individual CD's (something like they way they make coins). When the stamper wears out we go back to the original glass and make another one. Stampers are usually good for 50,000 CD's.

Q: Can you accept masters on DAT?
A: Yes. When you provide a DAT master with a track sheet showing the start and stop times of each track, our engineers create a Pre-Master CD-R. At Base, this service is done free of charge. If you send a CD-R master, you will save a little time in the overall production of your project. Usually 2-3 days.

Q: If I'm ordering 300 or 500 CDs, do I still have to have a 1000 covers and tray cards printed?
A: Yes. When covers and tray cards are printed, several projects are "ganged" together on the same press. This enables everyone to take advantage of a lower overall price. If you went to a printer who didn't specialize in CD insert printing and asked for 300, 500 or even a thousand compact discs inserts, cut and perforated, in most cases the cost would be much higher. We can stock any extra graphics anticipating a re-order or you can request that they be sent along with your project.

Q: Can I reproduce other artist's music?
A: Yes. If you obtain the mechanical rights from the copyright holder. It is also necessary to fill out a mandatory indemnity agreement as required by the RIAA to protect yourself against music piracy.

Q: I need a bar code. Can you provide this service?
A: Yes, and it is FREE. The bar code supplied is an extension of our manufacturing number. If you are preparing your own artwork, call or e-mail our customer service department to make arrangements to have one emailed. This tiff file can be imported to your finished graphic file.

Q: What is the average “turn time” to manufacture my order once you receive it?
A: With properly prepared orders, usually 10-12 days. During the Christmas season, we can estimate production time on a daily basis. Production time does not include shipping.

Q: Do I have to have a catalogue number?
A: No, but it is a good idea to have one. Catalogue numbers identify and match up printed material (covers & tray cards) to the discs. Since paper printing and disc replication are different departments, we automatically assign a catalogue number for titles that arrive without one.

DVD Basics FAQs

With technologies changing so rapidly, many people have some basic questions about DVD. Here's some basic information on DVD's capacity to store data using a multitude of various DVD format styles.

• DVD-5 — 4.7 Giga-Bytes and has data on 1 side and 1 layer.
• DVD-9 — 8.5 Giga-Bytes and has data on 1 side and 2 layers.
• DVD-10 — 9.4 Giga-Bytes and has data on 2 sides and 1 layer.
• DVD-18 — 17.0 Giga-Bytes and has data on 2 sides and 2 layers.

DVD discs are similar to compact discs in their appearance, yet that's where the similarity ends. The capabilities of DVD dramatically increase the storage options available to industries requiring ever increasing storage capacity, as well as some industries that aren't even aware of DVD's awesome potential. Pit lengths and track spacing for DVD are reduced allowing four times as many pits as a compact disc in the same area.

Q: What is DVD?
A: DVD is a high density optical disc similar to compact disc that can hold from 7 to 14 times as much information as a traditional CD. It can hold video, audio, or computer data. Currently, DVDs are used mostly for playing movies, although computer drives also use DVD-ROM discs.

Q: What do the letters DVD stand for?
A: Roughly translated, the letters stand for Digital Versatile Disc or Digital Video Disc.

Q: What are the DVD format types?
A: The most common ones are:

• DVD-5 — 4.7 Giga-Bytes and has data on 1 side and 1 layer.
• DVD-9 — 8.5 Giga-Bytes and has data on 1 side and 2 layers.
• DVD-10 — 9.4 Giga-Bytes and has data on 2 sides and 1 layer.
• DVD-18 — 17.0 Giga-Bytes and has data on 2 sides and 2 layers.

Q: Why are there different formats?
A: The various formats are designed to accommodate different amounts of data. One side of one disc can hold about two hours worth of video and audio. Features that were longer needed to be flipped partway through; new DVD-9 technology allows about four hours of seamless playback on one two-layer side. This allows for special editions and features, such as two versions of a movie — wide screen and so-called "pan and scan" — on the two sides of a disc, so purchasers can have a choice. Added value features like out takes and behind the scenes looks add to the running times of many discs.

Q: Is a DVD disc made like a CD?
A: In many ways, the process is similar, but there are some big differences. The DVD disc is made of two layers, each half the thickness of a CD. So when they’re bonded together they are as thick as a CD (1.2 mm). The pits of a DVD disc are half as big, and much more closely spaced, than those of a CD. That means the laser that "reads" the disc must be smaller and more sharply focused.

Q: Are all DVD discs compatible with all DVD players?
A: Generally, yes. For legal reasons, some publishers encode DVD discs so that they may play only in certain parts of the world. This is called "regional coding."

Q: Are DVD players compatible with my television now?
A: Yes. You just hook it up as you would any other accessory.

Q: What about High Definition Television (HDTV)?
A: At the present time, DVD won’t work with HDTV because its data rates are so much higher.

Q: Do DVD players play my present CDs too?
A: Yes.

Q: What can DVD do that VHS videotape can’t?
A: To begin with, the picture and sound quality of DVD are far superior to that of VHS. The discs won’t wear out or degrade over time, as tape will. They can’t be accidentally erased. Plus DVDs can have many extra features such as a choice of languages on the sound track, the ability to play back favorite sections instantly, special-effects playback (such as slow-motion), the choice of parental "locks" on objectionable scenes, and in some cases the ability to select different camera angles, such as in a filmed concert. The audio is better than that of a CD.

Q: How about compared with laserdiscs?
A: The quality of DVD video has generally been judged better than that of laserdiscs.

Q: Can labels be printed on DVD discs?
A: It depends on the type of disc. If it is single-sided, a label may be printed on the top side. But because DVDs are more susceptible to heat than CDs are, silk-screening — which uses ultraviolet heat — may not be the best choice. Ink also affects the flatness of DVDs more than CDs. Pit art was developed to avoid these problems. In it, the pits are recorded only in some parts of a disc side, in a graphic pattern that gives the appearance of a design or a label.If a DVD disc has data on both sides, neither silk-screening nor pit art may be used on the main surface. The center band of the disc may be printed on with simple identification.

DVD Authoring & Replication FAQs

Q: What do I need to do to produce a DVD disc?
A: There are two parts to the process, which Digital Disc is qualified and able to offer:

• Part I is compression and authoring
• Part II is replication.

Authoring involves all the decisions and processes needed to prepare your title for replication. Working with our DVD production team, we can help you decide which features to include, such as:

• Subtitles and/or dialog in various languages?
• Multiple camera angles?
• Parental controls?
• More than one image size?
• Two channel stereo or multi-channel 5.1 surround sound?
• Menu design choices, including motion animation and audio?

All these features, and many more, are possible, but because they all use up disc space, each choice involves making trade-offs and deciding priorities.Working with your goals, the authoring professional creates the level of interactivity the disc offers. Typical data formats include compressed audio files in multichannel Dolby Digital AC-3, compressed video files in MPEG2, and titles from bitmap files.Once the authoring has been completed, the title is put on Digital Linear Tape (DLT), which Digital Disc uses as a source of data to be mastered into DVD.

Q: What about the artwork involved?
A: Depending on the type of disc involved (one-sided or two-sided; one-layer or two-layer), you may choose either silk-screening or pit art.The specifications for silk-screening are generally the same as those for a CD: Artwork should be submitted as film, camera-ready artboard, or electronic files with the specifications provided separately. But there are some differences from CD art. DVD discs are more sensitive than CDs to extremes of temperature and to anything that might compromise the surface flatness. Silk-screening involves heat; therefore, it is suggested that the art involve no more than two colors, for minimum exposure to high temperatures. Also, artists should avoid designs that require lots of ink coverage, because that can affect disc flatness. Technicians at Digital Disc will suggest the most appropriate graphic treatment for your DVD project.Pit art does not involve ink. It is an arrangement of the pits on the top layer of a DVD disc to create writing or other designs. Artwork for pit art should be submitted as a black-and-white electronic file with at least 300 dots per inch (dpi).

Q: Does DDM provide check discs?
A: Yes. With DVDs, it is recommended that a small "test batch" be made before mass duplication so that all aspects of the authoring can be re-checked. This check disc service is part of the replication procedure.

Q: What about packaging?
A: So far, there is no universal DVD packaging standard. DDM offers a wide array of packaging solutions and will work with you to determine which of the currently available options best meets your needs. Learn more about the current DVD packaging options.

DVD Mastering FAQs

DVD Mastering For transferring a movie to DVD, there are several steps in the mastering process. First, the movie is transferred from film to videotape. Then the videotape must be viewed to identify certain sequences. For example, if the DVD is to have a parental lockout feature, the offensive material must be noted so that it can be excluded from playback to children. If the DVD will use "pan-and-scan" instead of a widescreen format, then codes must be entered to identify which parts of the image are to be scanned scene-by-scene.

The data must be encoded using the MPEG2 digital video encoding standard. In this process, the billions and billions of bits of information in the original image are compressed into a bit stream that will fit the capacity of the DVD disk by eliminating redundancies. MPEG2 uses a variable bit rate encoder; that is, fewer bits are used to encode a less complicated image and more bits are used to encode a more complex image. If the bit rate were constant, the quality of the image would vary, because some sections are more complex than others. Because of the variable bit rate, however, the quality of the final image is consistent.

Similarly, the audio tracks must also be compressed into the Dolby digital format. The DVD format supports Dolby Digital AC-3, in two-channel or 5.1 channel surround sound (the "5" and the ".1" are five standard channels and a subwoofer). Each audio stream is encoded independently of the video and then combined.

The compressed video, audio, and subpicture streams are combined into a single data stream and transferred to the source of the input data for mastering, Digital Linear Tape (DLT). This tape was developed for its high data capacity and high rate of data transfer. It also has excellent error-detection and correction specifications.

DVD Packaging Options FAQs

So far, no single type of DVD packaging has emerged as dominant. For the publisher, therefore, the question is which packaging best suits the needs of each individual project.Early in the development of DVD, the Video Software Dealers Association, known as VSDA, made several recommendations as to the packaging guidelines to be followed. According to the VSDA’s task force, DVD packaging should:

• Be unique to DVD — for immediate consumer identification and awareness;
• Resist damage to itself or to the disc;
• Be environmentally responsible;
• Be source-tagged;
• Have retail identity labeling;
• And have as its dimensions 5 5/8" wide by 7 3/8" high, ranging from ranging from 3/8" to 5/8" thick. (The width is therefore the same as a CD, the height the same as a VHS tape. Undoubtedly these dimensions were chosen so retailers could use existing shelving to display DVDs.)

Among the most popular choices in DVD packaging are these:

The Book
As its name implies, this packaging opens up like a book. Some styles are molded on both sides, with room for a disc on both flaps. Most of the printed material is on the outside of the package and, if there is only one disc, on the left inside flap. Some styles have a molded tray on the right and a paperboard flap on the left and the back. If desired, the left flap may have several fold-out parts, allowing extensive graphics.

The "Book" style has several types of closure. Some snap shut, some are secured with small flaps, and other styles fit together tightly. Some "Books" allow for folders within the paperboard for additional printed material.

The Slider
This involves a molded tray, which is pulled out like a drawer from one end. This style’s "box" may be made of paperboard or other material. They tend not to have as much space for graphics as the Book styles do, although one Slider type allows up to a 32-page booklet.

The Jewel Box
These come in a variety of configurations, many of which conform to the familiar square style of the CD Jewel Box. Some are virtually indistinguishable from a CD Jewel Box, though made of a more durable material so they don’t crack as easily. Others have paperboard outer coverings and can take various foldouts. In some cases, they can accommodate more than one disc. Some slip into a paperboard sleeve, much as vinyl phonograph records did into album covers. Other Jewel Box styles allow multi-faceted images that can be viewed through the box’s special outer shell. When it comes to securing the disc within the packaging, again there are various options. Some boxes have a center hub that holds the disc in place by applying slight pressure, as is the case with a CD Jewel Box. Others have a locking mechanism that holds the disc in place more securely. "Sliders" don’t use any hub, but rather hold the disc in place from the outer edges.

Which of these is right for you?

That depends on many factors: how your product is to be marketed, what type of impact you want, how much written or graphic material is to be included, how the DVD will be displayed, how many discs there will be per case — and, of course, the cost. The best course is to discuss your packaging requirements with your DVD professionals at Digital Disc. We can guide you to the solution that’s best for your individual needs.