Thursday 29 March 2012

The Process of Replication

In the present technical era, DVD/CD replication is a vital requirement for most of the business organizations particularly dealing with entertainment, education and many other uses. A number of reputed firms have flourished which offer all sorts of CD services at very affordable cost. They have successfully established an unmatched quality standard in the industry. These firms typically offer CD duplication as well as replication services to generate desired quantity of copies in less period of time. The information is burned on the surface of your DVD when you need only a few hundred disks. However, if the DVD quantity is more than thousand, a glass master copy is prepared which is used for stamping the data on to the DVD surface.

Most of the companies offer you different tools and techniques for CD DVD duplication but before hiring such services, you should consider certain important aspects like the company should offer customized services as per your specific requirements, they should use modern techniques to avoid any unnecessary wastage, the firm should be able to complete your work within your specified time period, their equipments should be maintained in an appropriate manner, they should use top quality media for CD replication, and finally analyse their entire deal thoroughly and enquire about any special schemes offered by them

There are a number of benefits of hiring a professional CD replication firm and the first and foremost is that they give you best quality result, in case, you are unsatisfied with their work, and they can fix the problem and give you the quality as per your required standard, the services are quite affordable since the unit cost drops with increase in quantity of work. They complete your project within your desired time period. They can lubricate the DVDs or rejoin sections if needed. They can carry out colour amendments, image stabilization as well as noise reduction to ensure quality output. They provide you full accuracy with safety of your sensitive information. They may also offer you other related services like disk packaging, label designing, transportation, etc.

Professional CD DVD manufacturing and wholesale companies are becoming popular over the years of evolving technology. CD replication and duplication techniques have indeed proved to be a boon for the business organizations that aim to increase their profitability in the long run. If you're uncertain how to choose between duplication and replication services, don't worry. The decision is made for you once you know how many copies of CDs or DVDs you want. If it's hundreds of discs, it's duplication. If it's thousands, it's replication.

If you need to regularly produce batches of more than 1,000 discs, you'll need to work with a replication vendor: replication equipment is far too expensive for most businesses to own and operate.

While the differences between duplication and replication services are significant, you'll actually find a considerable number of similarities between the two. The quality of the completed discs is about the same. Both services are automated on highly precise equipment. You can choose all the same packaging and additional services you want.  Both feature in-line inspection to ensure there are no errors. Vendors can provide finished proofs before a production run to see if they meet your standards. You can select CD replication or duplication service according to your needs.

Wednesday 28 March 2012

The Best DVD Packaging

CD and DVD manufacturing is a process that is has many technical points to it. It has a little complicated process that is not understood by everyone.  Everyone has their own ideas when it comes to how their finished CD or DVD artwork should look for maximum visual impact. Whether it's retail, corporate, promotional or even a giveaway, there are hundreds of CD and DVD packaging or optical storage disks options available.

Things have come a long way since the first music CD was launched in the 1980s. The simple song list and lyric covers that were inserted in the original CD jewel case have moved over for the more complex and visually interesting multi-page CD and DVD cover designs of today.

As music has evolved, so has the CD packaging. Similarly, the DVD you recently played at home, has undergone that same evolution. DVD Distribution companies spend huge sums on promotion, marketing and advertising and to make sure their DVD packaging is eye-catching, cutting edge, even "over the top", to grab the buyer's attention. The DVD packaging needs to reflect the style, tone and pace of the movie, so that buyers will be motivated to buy and watch that movie.

The old plastic case has given way to metal," flat panel" and "cut out", 3D or even Holographic designed cases. The newer Blu-Ray discs will certainly set new packaging heights as they become more common and title owners vie for sales. No limits DVD packaging means more sales. New Digital Print technology means that fast, quality, affordable CD & DVD packaging is now within reach. Packaging budgets now go further as costs have come down, and tight deadlines are now achievable.

There are lots of generic options available, some so simple that no printed paper parts are required. The Internet can be extremely helpful for deciding which packaging is right for your next CD or DVD duplication job. These days’ duplication companies have easy to use templates available on their websites, making it simple for you, or your art team, to download and get to work on new and innovative packaging. Several duplication companies offer more than 20 different CD/DVD packaging options to cover most requirements. These are Mac and PC friendly. Web sites offer this type of service free of charge. Jobs are then finished on the latest technology Offset or Digital Printing systems, packed up and ready for distribution in a few days.

After spending so much time and effort perfecting the content and print of your CD or DVD it is important to pack your disc into an eye catching and original pack to grab your end users attention and make sure they will jump on your product. CD duplication or DVD duplication can take time, as well as CD printing or DVD printing, but CD/DVD packaging is something important that shouldn't be forgotten. You could usually find a wide range of 'off the shelf' packaging solutions for you to choose from but most of the time, any company specialized in the field would be happy to work with you to create and design a new and bespoke pack to suit your brand that has never been seen in the market place before!

Tuesday 27 March 2012

Process for CD Manufacturing

In today's society we are conditioned to think that technology makes everything easier, faster and cheaper. That is not the case for every one of the products. You will note that every component of a fully packaged CD DVD is completely custom made. The only 'off-the-shelf' component being paper stocks and ink that are used in the printing processes, custom manufacturing of so many components for each and every order certainly creates a burden of time and expense, which becomes a challenge in today's market of easier, faster and cheaper expectations.

You can learn from a CD or DVD disc packaged in a printed board-stock sleeve or wallet. For this there is a need for Glass Master and Stamper Creation. The CD replication process embeds data into the disc during the injection-moulding process. Using a specialized suite of software programs, the data from the client's master disc is ripped, analyzed for errors, and is then transferred via an etching process onto a "glass master". The glass master is then electroplated to create a "stamper" which, in turn, is used to embed the data into the disc in the replication process.

In DVD business replication is a very important part of the process. The replication process begins with optical grade polycarbonate pellets which are heated and injection-moulded into the finished size and shape of the disc product.

During injection-moulding, the clear polycarbonate is pressed up against the stamper which embeds the data into the plastic. After the discs cool very thin aluminium layer is added to the data-side of the plastic and is then protected with a clear lacquer coat.

When replication of the discs is complete the graphics are printed onto the clear lacquered side of the disc. This is typically done using either CMYK Offset Printing or Silkscreen Printing methods, which are commercial machines that require a pre-press stage involving film rip and imaging prior to the printing taking place.

Many of today's eco-friendly CD and DVD packaging solutions are completely custom made as they consist solely of printed board stock. Sheet stock is printed using CMYK Digital or CMYK Offset commercial printers which require a pre-press stage and ripping of artwork files. Depending on the type of printer being used printing plates may (or may not) have to be created. After the sheet stock has been printed and dries sufficiently the individual sheets are die-cut. Die-cutting is a process where the printed sheet stock is run through a machine that (a) cut's the individual eco-sleeves from the sheet, and (b) creates creases and fold lines as appropriate, all in one process.

After the printed eco-sleeve has been die-cut it is ready to be folded and glued into its final useable form. Depending on the size and complexity of the order, this can either take place with an automated commercial folding/gluing machine, or it can be folded and glued manually.
Now that the eco-sleeve is ready, the printed discs can be inserted into the eco-sleeves to create the finished product. It is the norm for most disc/sleeve packages to be run through an automated shrink-wrapping machine for retail-readiness. This completes the CD manufacturing process.

Sunday 25 March 2012

CD Printing for Future Use

When preserving your favourite movies or memories, the standard used to be VHS video tapes. But with the advancement of DVD technology, the advantages of DVDs proved to outweigh those of VCR tapes. Video tapes can wear out over time, becoming bent, damaged or dirty. The cassette casings are vulnerable to damage as well, rendering the tape inside useless. Storage is easier with DVDs since they take up less space than videos. Not to mention the quality of picture and sound is higher on DVDs. 

The computer savvy will use their computer to transfer their videos or optical storage disks to DVD. It requires copying the video to a digital file on the computer using an analogue converter. The file gets compressed into MPEG-2 format before being burned onto a DVD. This method takes some time, but it does allow you to make changes to the video, like special effects or music, before you burn it to the DVD. Depending on the burning software that you use, you might be able to add a menu or other special features. However, the process can be quite slow because you have to transfer the file twice - first from the video to the computer and then again from the computer to the DVD.

So in order to save time and effort you can to DVD printing or CD printing without the use of a computer. There are two ways to do this. The first involves buying a DVD recorder that allows input from another source. You simply connect your VCR by cable to the DVD recorder. Then while the video plays, it is also recording. If you choose this option, consider purchasing a video processor called a proc amp or a time base corrector. These devices stabilize and improve the quality of the analogue video as it is fed to the DVD recorder and can greatly improve the resulting images that you get on the DVD. 

The second option is to purchase a combination DVD/VCR recorder. It does the same thing as the previous option without needing to connect any cables. If you are planning to copy a lot of videos, it is worth your time and effort to find out what kind of processing the machine does to the analogue signal from the video tape before it converts it to the digital signal that gets recorded in DVD format. You want the best possible result that you can get.

If you do the conversion yourself, always follow the manufacturer's instructions to ensure you capture the video appropriately. Make sure that you have cleaned the heads of the VCR between copying videos. Old tapes carry a lot of dust or other particles that can clog up your VCR. And since you are copying directly from the video to the DVD, whatever picture quality issues you have with the video will appear on the DVD. Understand that if you have videos which are recorded at SLP (6 hours of video on a tape) you will not get the same quality of recording onto a DVD as if the video was recorded at SP (2 hours of video on a tape). If you find the quality is not acceptable for you, consider changing your method of converting videos to DVD. However, for many people, the time and energy saved in converting the videos on their own will outweigh any concerns over video quality.

Thursday 8 March 2012

Professional CD Replication Services

When it comes to CD replication, it's important to choose the right professional company to help you. Whether you need a few hundred CDs or DVDs or a few thousand, a CD replication company has all the necessary equipment to produce high quality CDs or DVDs with professional artwork to make your discs really shine. 

First, understand the difference between CD replication and CD duplication. The two processes provide similar results, but differ in the quantity of CDs or DVDs you can copy and the methods used. For instance, if you need a few hundred DVDs, then DVD duplication will suffice. Duplication is the process in which the data is burned onto a recordable disc's surface. Replication, however, uses a glass master copy to stamp data onto the CDs or DVDs. Quantities for CD or DVD duplication are usually between five hundred and a thousand, while replication is used for quantities of more than a thousand. You can even make a million copies using CD replication.

If you only need a hundred or so CDs or DVDs, consider purchasing your own duplicator. Duplicators can range in price anywhere from a few hundred to two thousand dollars depending on the features, quality, and brand. This can help if you own a company or franchise and need to make copies for employees. Churches and non-profit organizations also find these to be handy for copying low-quantity items.

When choosing a CD replication company or a CD manufacturing company, be sure the company offers all the services you'll need from start to finish at a reasonable price. Some companies will do CD mastering, replication, and design for you. There are brokers that merely work as a middleman between you and the CD replication company. Brokers can be helpful if you're just starting out and have a really big project to complete. There are also manufacturers that outsource the replication work to other smaller companies. 

Probably the best solution if you want very professional service is to choose a company that specializes in CD mastering, CD design, and CD replication. A specialist can help you determine the best route for duplicating your CDs or DVDs and how to choose the proper design for your CDs and packaging. Some companies will even create artwork for you. This is a big plus because you won't have to hire a graphic artist separately. You can complete the whole process professionally using a single company.

There are several ways to find CD and DVD replication specialists. You can contact those in your own city to compare their offerings and pricing. If you live in a small town, you might have to travel a good distance to the next largest city to find a CD replication company. Or, you can benefit now from online services and never have to leave the office. Working with an online vendor can save you time and money. You can also check out what they offer and their pricing easily by surfing their website. With these simple tips you can get excellent quality CD replication services.

Tuesday 6 March 2012

Replication is an appropriate Service

 With the growth of electronic media there are a lot of people who are getting CDs and DVDs developed for their business or even entertainment purposes. It will be appropriate to say that the CD replication industry is booming. People want to make a copy of every CD. The CD can be recording a personal event or a business event it is recorded and then distributed to various friends and acquaintances. Along with CD DVDs are also a very popular form of media storage device and it not a surprise that a lot of people have loads of DVDs in their homes. These days, DVD packaging is just as important as the actual DVDs themselves. Since you can store practically all of your digital files on it, your music, playlists, photo images, home videos, not to mention all your DVD movies and data files, it is very important to keep your entire DVD collection neatly arranged and always protected.

To start, there are standard DVD packaging styles and several other product designs. These products and designs are widely recognized and equally recommended by the audio and corporate industry. There are also new DVD packaging designs that are made from recycled materials which are being widely promoted as people and corporations have become more and more concerned for the environment. These earth friendly packaging designs are composed of paper and paper made boards that come from sustained forests. Creative packaging ideas using recyclable materials are often introduced in regular manufacturer's board meetings. CD or DVD packaging types can be made of anything from card and paper based products that are either gloss or matt Laminated, sealed with varnish, or embossed. There are also the plastic based designs and ideas which are able to store up to hundreds of DVDs and optical storage disks.

There are certainly a lot of DVD packaging ideas and solutions that the consumer can choose from. The standard types are C-Shell - a plastic case that opens in the front where the disc is enclosed rather securely. Adhesive hubs are plastic rounds that have a strip of adhesive in the centre ring where the disc is secured. A digipack which is folded cardboard packaging containing a plastic tray to hold the DVD securely. These are usually printed with custom designs and is not an off the shelf solution. Kick out or ejector cases made of plastic are secure and an easy way to store a DVD or CD. The cheapest type of DVD packaging is the sleeves which often use soft plastic or paper as the material. Jewel cases are clear; three piece plastic that can be bought with or without a black or white tray t hold the disc inside. The most common form of DVD packaging which is the standard DVD case usually supplied in black. Other colours are available such as white, red, blue and clear. You can even go out and buy a slim version of these standard cases for more space efficiency.