Duplication Centre - CD & DVD Duplication News Blog

Tips to choosing a good CD/DVD duplication company

March 1st, 2010

Choosing a good CD duplication company will help ensure a good quality disc

In today’s world, we are constantly offered a choice of products: From the 27 different kinds of jam in the supermarket to the thousands of cars on the market. And it is no less true that there are many CD and DVD duplication companies to choose from. So, how can you choose one that is right for you?

Well, to begin with, make sure you know what your needs are: Do you need duplication or replication? Do you need CDs or DVDs? How many discs will you require? Do you want artwork? What kind of casing and packaging do you want? All these are very important things to take into consideration alongside how high you want the quality to be and whether or not you are willing to compromise on this to get a lower price. It is important to know exactly what you want before you look at which companies to use.

Next, do the obvious: Shop around. Make sure you are getting the best price for your needs! Companies are constantly giving promotions and keeping their prices competitive so that you can get the best deal possible. Within this it is also important to only look at companies which will offer you what you need: It will save you a lot of time and effort if you stick to the guidelines you initially set yourself.

Once you have found a price you are happy with, it generally a good idea to request for a sample of the company’s previous work to ensure that you are content with the product they are going to be offering you: Is the quality to price ratio fair?

It is also a good idea to discuss deadlines and shipping with someone at the company, to make sure they can deliver your discs when and where you need them.

If you are happy with this, then you have basically found your duplication or replication company, and all that remains for you is to place your order and wait for the discs to start arriving!

Posted in Helping You Decide, How To...! | No Comments »

The Fight Against Illegal Pirate Videos and Music

March 1st, 2010

We should fight CD and DVD piracy

In today’s society everything is done by internet: Emails whizz from company to client, children do their homework via the web, people illegally download music and video from the internet… This last, the pirating of music and film, is becoming an ever-growing problem in our technological world. But it doesn’t just occur on the internet: Pirated discs can be bought as well! But what effect is this having on our music and film industries and is it such a big problem that we need to worry about its effect on the CD and DVD manufacturing world?

The answer, unfortunately, is yes! We do need to worry about it: The music and film industry is an expensive business to run: With hiring actors and musicians, studio fees, pre- and post-production costs, disc duplication, advertising and distribution of the product there is a lot of money being sunk into making the product in the first place. There is a delicate balance between the money being sunk into films and music and the money being made from these to produce more films and music and if we as the public begin to pirate the products, there will not be enough money going into the cycle to make CD and DVD manufacturing continue.

Of course occasionally you get a film such as Lord of the Rings or Titanic which makes an absolute mint but for the most part films just about make back what was spent on them in the first place, if not even making a loss. The same can be said about music: Michael Jackson and Madonna may be incredibly wealthy but there are literally thousands of bands who every year scrape by. Is it really fair to pirate the work of these people?

Piracy has become a serious offence in many countries now, with the media recording cases of suing up to and over £60,000 pounds - a lot of money in anyone’s books! And yet it is still happening: Loop-holes are being found or people are simply taking the risk so that they can save money in the short term. But the effect this is having on our music and film industries is palpable and soon the cycle of money going in and out could get so broken that both industries will collapse entirely and there will be no more CD or DVD manufacturing!

So what can we do to help? Well, the answer is simple: Don’t use pirated goods! Don’t download illegally off the internet! Whether you use pirated goods or simply buy them, you are still enjoying the same product (nearly always at a higher quality if you buy it, as well!) So why not support the industries so that they can produce more music and film while you’re at it? Get a higher quality product and keep film and music alive by buying legitimately rather than pirating!

Posted in Helping You Decide, History | No Comments »

How important is it to have a good quality disc?

March 1st, 2010

A good quality disc is necessary for a good first impression

It is all very well distributing a demo CD for your band or a DVD advertisement for your company, but if it isn’t high quality it was not get played, will not get looked at, or may not work at all! It is therefore very important that you ensure you get a high quality disc when you duplicate or replicate.

The shallow truth of the world is that first impressions are very important and you nearly always see a CD or DVD before playing or watching it. It is therefore highly important that your disc makes a positive first impression on the consumer: It should have an attractive cover and, if possible, on-body disc printing, so that the person receiving it is inclined to find out more about the disc and thus about the services you are offering! However, it is also good to make sure that the cover and printing on the disc are of high quality: It does not do to have poorly printed images lining your product as it will then look half-hearted and messy - not the impression you want to be giving off!

Aside from this, you want to make sure that disc itself is of a high quality. If the each disc you distribute is not properly checked for glitches, scratches or general levels of low-quality, it may not even work when the consumer tries to play it. This reflects very poorly upon the person or company who is distributing it and could put the consumer off entirely.

It is quite difficult to achieve this level of quality at home: The equipment to do it is very expensive and it is also very time consuming. It is therefore generally advisable to get a duplication or replication company to do it for you, as they will produce a high quality product which will give a good first impression and be pretty much guaranteed to play well. Aside from getting a better finish, you will also save yourself time, attract more customers and not have to spend lots of money on machinery - all this saving you a lot of money in the long run!

So, as you can see, DVD and CD quality is very important to, not only creating a good impression, but also for simply getting the disc itself to work. It even saves you time that you can spend doing something else!

Posted in Helping You Decide | No Comments »

CD Mastering

March 1st, 2010

CD Mastering is a complex technical process

CD mastering is the process of taking a song or audio file, editing out the bad bits and increasing the quality of the good bits! It is generally done by professional editors as it is a very complicated and technically advanced process involving editing each individual layer of the song. Mastering a CD can make a good song into a great one, giving you a final master CD that is ready to be sent off for duplication!

Generally, CD mastering takes place in three main stages:

Assembly Editing - This is the stage at which the layers of the track are aligned with one another. The technician will place proper spacing between the cuts and ensure that the song plays through with perfect timing. The places where you tend to get most noises, pops and clicks, the beginning and end of each cut, are generally faded so that the flaws cannot be heard, and any other unintentional sounds are also removed. The different layers can also be cross-faded, to create a marvelous disc ready for printing.

Sweetening - In this stage, the layers of the track are enhanced with special effects. You can apply echo, reverb, and many other effects to the song to make it sound just that bit better. This improving of sound, making the song sound more perfect than perhaps it really was, is known as ’sweetening’. Many famous pop artists have been criticised for the degree to which the ’sweeten’ their songs until their voices don’t actually sound like their real voices, but generally technicians only sweeten to a sensible level.

Output - Depending here on whether you are duplicating or replicating, this final process involves two different things. If duplicating, the technician produces a final CD-ROM copy of the disc which can then be played on a normal CD player. However, if replicating, a glass master disc must be created, which can be used on the replication machines almost as a stencil for further copies. The final mastered version of the song if usually ‘auditioned’ for the client to ensure they approve of the sound created.

Because of the high levels of technical knowledge involved in mastering a CD, it is generally advisable to get a professional company to do it for you. However, many disc duplication companies provide mastering as a part of their service, so you can master and duplicate all at the same time!

Posted in Helping You Decide, History, How To...! | No Comments »

Home CD and DVD Burners - what has been their effect?

March 1st, 2010

Home CD Burning has increassed creativity

Since the advent in the early noughties of the home CD Burner, their progress in technological importance has been astounding: From starting out as a simple replacement for floppy discs, being used mainly in the workplace to store data, they have become an intrinsic part of our technological lives. It used to be that they were a luxury for office men with a lot of money to spend on their computer to a regular feature in our laptops, desktops and even our CD players themselves! In fact, it would be very rare to find a computer which didn’t have a CD burning drive at all!

But what has the consequence been on, firstly commerce, and secondly, our own creativity?

In terms of business, the main issue that has arisen with the advent of the CD burner is that of copyright: We started out simply making each other mix-CDs but people quickly cottoned onto the fact that music could be illegally ripped and burnt from existing CDs and so started to share music this way! The music business has met the trend with full on force and often law suites are now heard of where people are sued enormous sums of money for illegally copying music. Even the film business is feeling the effect of home disc burners as, with the wider distribution of DVD burners, films are also being illegally copied and shared. However, the legal CD survives, first through a sense of honour and second because you will never get the same finish on a disc as you would with a professionally produced copy. The artwork and packaging can never have the same high quality finish as they do when you buy a professionally produced disc rather than using your home CD burner.

However, in this instance the pros far outweigh the cons of home CD burning: To start, CDs are just better than floppy discs for sharing information. CDs are more reliable, store more data and are slimmer. Aside from this, they have expanded creative opportunity for artists world-wide: You can now record and burn your own album at home or produce an amateur film! The opportunities presented to us on a musical and film-making front are now almost limitless! And we can create personal gifts with mix-CDs. I even know someone who keeps a diary through burning a CD each month of the music they were listening to to sum up the mood!

But don’t forget that sometimes in all this creativity that if you want many copies of a disc it is still often more economically viable to get someone to professionally burn your discs in bulk for you. And you will be guaranteed to get a professional finish which would be nearly impossible to create in your own home without great personal expense!

Posted in History | No Comments »

Tips to caring for your DVDs

March 1st, 2010

Care for your DVD to make sure it doesn't get scratched

DVDs are becoming common everyday objects in this growing world of technology. VHS is a thing of the past but, though by far superior, the DVD replacement is not a problem-free solution. DVDs, like everything else, degrade over time - but there are things you can do to help keep the quality of your DVD. Though some of these tips may seem obvious and simple, they will really assist in helping you keep a quality DVD.

To start with, just always put the disc back in the case! It’s that simple! And, if the case has a central pop-button to release the disc without scratching it, make sure you use it. And when it is out of the case, make sure it is always held by the edge and the middle hole and try and avoid touching the shiny side. Similarly, avoid placing the disc face-down on any hard surface - this will lower the quality of your DVD significantly through scratching! The same rule applies to stacking DVDs out of their case - just don’t do it! It’s asking for scratches!

Store DVDs out of the sun and away from heat if you can - both of these things can damage the delicate layer of chemicals which helps make up the data on the disc. Also, avoid bending the DVD because, like heat, it can make the disc warp and become more susceptible to snapping. Not only this, but the layers that make up the DVD can begin to peel apart from each other, rendering the disc useless as it cannot be read once DVD quality is lost. This problem of the DVD peeling apart or bubbling can in rare cases also be a manufacturing fault - buying discs from a reputable source helps to limit this possibility in the first place.

When it comes to cleaning, it is important to keep a quality DVD by using a special cleaning cloth to wipe them gently. Wipe it from the middle to the outer edge in one smooth stroke, slowly working your way around the disc, and your disc will last much longer than if you just wipe it down your t-shirt to get it quickly clean. You could also use compressed air to keep you disc clean.

Good luck keeping your DVD in good quality and I hope these tips help to keep your discs shiny and functional!

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Advertise with DVDs

March 1st, 2010

Advertising through DVDs can be very effective

Advertising your company, whether because its new or whether because it simply needs a new lease of life, can pose a tricky dilemma: How do you make advertising campaigns interesting for the consumer? Most companies advertise through the internet, newspaper and on television, but very rarely think to advertise through DVDs. However this can be an incredibly effective way to get your business noticed: Everybody knows of the highly successful AOL adverts where a demo-disc and information leaflet on their product are posted through your door!

Far from only advertising demos of software, however, DVD advertising can be a way to talk to your customers about what your company has to offer through a short film advertisement. It is often much cheaper to distribute your film this way rather than on television and it also allows for the advert to be much longer at no extra cost to you!

Many companies are put off DVD advertising because of the thought of having to distribute it, but companies can be hired to do the distribution for you at a relatively low cost, even some of the DVD duplication companies themselves!

There are many pluses to DVD advertising: For a start, customers will be very impressed with a good quality DVD being personally given to them than they would be a television advert. It shows a consideration for the individual and, if the disc is high quality, reflects the best in your business. It is a personal, attractive first impression to give the consumer. However this impression of quality is only heightened by the quality of the DVD itself. It is therefore advisable to use a professional company who will produce your DVD at the highest quality possible.

It is also a good idea to use professional companies as, in many cases, they can offer advice on, if not help in, the process of editing your film to its highest standard. Aside from this, they will also provide a quick and reliable service, giving each disc the necessary quality checks which you yourself may not have the machinery to be able to do.

DVD advertising is an often over-looked form of communication with the public, adding a rare personal touch and providing a good first impression through a high quality disc. It is also often much more financially viable than advertisement on the television, and can also be referred back to by the consumer if they are having trouble making up their minds.

Posted in Helping You Decide, How To...! | No Comments »

The Mp3 Vs. CD Debate

January 5th, 2010

The Mp3 v. CD Debate is about sound quality - not just expense!

Across the internet and throughout the media has been slowly growing one of the greatest debates of the digital era: Which is better Mp3 or CD? There are many aspects to this argument: The cost, the environmental impacts, the levels of illegal trade in music and, of course, the quality of the sound itself.

Mp3s are small computer files which hold audio data, which usually takes the form of music. They became public in the mid-90’s and have only been gaining attention since then. They can be uploaded and downloaded to and from the internet with great ease and this has lead to a good deal of illegal trade in music and many breached copyright laws! While the leaders of the music industry have been battling against what is basically digital theft with law suits, some companies have been cashing in on this technological advancement, beginning to sell their songs not only on CD but also as downloadable internet files. The infamous ‘iTunes’ is a perfect example. This has, in recent years, created quite a large drop in CD music duplication and for a while some people were convinced the CD would die out completely.

But it hasn’t. This is for many reasons, not least of which is that the quality of sound on a CD is generally far better than on an Mp3. This is due to the way that Mp3 files are created: The original sound file is taken, then compressed into a smaller size, compromising the range of sound that can be heard and losing much of the finer dynamics of a song. The smaller the file is compressed to, the more the quality of the sound is undermined. Indeed, it is now being seen that while Mp3s have been sold with the label ‘near-CD quality’ the reality is that most Mp3s are of FM radio quality which is a bit better than the average cassette tape. The merits of CD music duplication have a long way to go yet!

There is also some degree of satisfaction, especially to musical collectors, in having a good-looking CD collection, with their cases shiny and their covers colourful and individual. However, these collections come at a price to the environment; CDs are notoriously difficult to recycle while Mp3s make no waste at all. Having said this, many people download Mp3s simply to burn them to disc in their own homes. While this is cheaper in the short term, because one Mp3 track is less expensive than a shop brought one, even with the added cost of buying the discs, in the long term, it causes just as much environmental damage. To add to which, the disc will not last as long and, as I have already discussed, the sound quality will not be as good by far. Particularly when you take into consideration the care that CD music duplication companies take in setting up their equipment and ensuring the highest quality sound for their products.

There are further side issues discussing the fact that most people listen to their music on personal Mp3 players now so they may as well just download them in the first place. However, unless you back up your collection to a portable hard-drive, it is very easy to lose all your music through your computer crashing or getting a virus. The benefit of CDs is that you will always have a hard copy of your collection to go back to. To add to which, when you are at home, it is surely better to listen to CDs, where the sound quality will be superior to your personal Mp3 player.

In the end, the Mp3 vs. CD debate comes down to what you value. However, for most people this seems to be the quality of the sound they are listening to. If this is the case for you, then certainly CDs are a better way to go. Personally, I feel that CD music duplication has a lot of life left in it yet!

Tags: CD, Mp3, Music, Sound Editing, Sound Quality, Technical Discussion
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How to create an autorun slideshow

January 4th, 2010

You can create an Autorun Slideshow on your own computer very easily!

These days, digital cameras are a common household necessity but with their advent, the practice of printing photos has become almost obsolete. Whilst sharing photos on networking websites and duplicating them onto CDs has become the usual practice, it doesn’t quite have the same personal touch or class as a good old photo album.

So what is the remedy?
How can we make photos personal again?

One of the most popular answers at the moment is to create a slideshow and burn that to CD. The wonderful thing about slideshows is that they can contain music, special effects, annotations and even voiceovers to make a personal, fun, digital age photo album. But to get a really good finish when you duplicate them onto CD for friends, family or even as part of a business idea, it is great to have the slideshow begin automatically when the disc is inserted into the machine. This is called an AutoRun Slideshow and I will be talking about how to create one of these in this article.

In a previous article, I gave instructions for how to make an AutoRun CD, but creating an autorun slideshow is an almost completely different kettle of fish. To program a slideshow to autorun with computer code is actually quite complicated, so I would advise the use of a piece of software to do it for you. There are lots of products on the market at the moment, some of them very expensive and others totally free, but I would recommend AutoRun Slideshow 6.1. It is a very good program with a free three week download so that you can fully test its capabilities before paying for it (a reasonable £18.72 for personal home use).

This program allows an autorun slideshow to be programmed onto your CD at no further bother to you: All you have to do is simply create your slideshow using the software, then copy the file you have made onto the CD. It should be noted that this software only work on Windows machines which run the operating system XP or newer.

The wonderful thing is, it can also be used for professional use (at a slightly higher price) so if you were wanting to use an autorun slideshow for advertisement purposes or as part of a business idea, you can use this program on a CD which can then be duplicated.

Good luck with making your autorun slideshow and duplicating it and have fun sharing your photos around in a personal, fun way!

Tags: Autorun Slideshow, CD Duplication, CD programming, Software
Posted in How To...! | No Comments »

Music CD Digital Remastering - what is it and what are the pros and cons?

January 4th, 2010

Digital CD REmastering - is it worth it?

CD Remastering is very a very technical process...

In the current age of constantly developing digital media, it is sometimes hard to keep up with the latest trends. One of today’s most popular buzzwords is ‘digital remastering’. This is applicable to both video and audio files but in this article I shall focus on the idea of audio, or CD, remastering.

To understand what CD remastering is, it is helpful to first know what ‘mastering’ is. When you duplicate a CD, you have an original, or ‘master’ recording. This ‘master’ copy is not necessarily the first recording of the audio content, but is the final edited version of it. For instance, if you are recording a radio-play or audio book, you may wish to add sound effects from another source in after the initial recording. Or, if you are making music, you might want to edit the singer’s voice or to equalize the sound. Many adjustments of these sorts can be made and the ‘master’ copy is the final edited version made before CD duplication commences. In some circumstances there is more than one master copy, for instance many ‘masters’ might be sent out to different CD duplication plants in different regions.

So, the process of CD mastering is the process of making the ‘master’ copy of the CD. Mastering had problems, however, when it came to analogue recordings, for analogue sound loses quality every time it is re-recorded or edited. This can make the audio sound fuzzy or start to hiss. This was particularly the case with cassette tapes.

However, with the advent of digital sound, CD remastering has become the remedy to this cause. When a piece of audio is remastered, very often the original recording of the piece, sometimes taken from before the CD master was even completed, and converted into digital sound, thus the editing can take place again, with no loss to the sound quality, creating a new master which can be used to duplicate the CD and release it again.

The pros and cons of CD Remastering make for a tricky debate But there are arguments for and against CD re-mastering. Why? If a process makes an old song sound better and gives it a second chance to live, what can be the problem? Well, it depends on how well the audio has been remastered: Many classic albums from bands such as Kiss and the Beatles are now being re-released in digitally remastered form, but to modern tastes and standards. This often includes increasing the volume of a song to levels where the sound becomes distorted and starts to sound very different. this can dissuade people from listening to the music again, often without them even knowing quite why. Aside from this, many people see it simply as a marketing ploy, a way for shareholders in music labels and members of the bands to get even more money than they did the first time the song was a hit.

Despite these criticisms the point remains that, when done well by professional CD remastering technicians, digitally remastered CDs sell very well and do offer a new lease of life to the audio of the past. It also helps to preserve songs and recordings from the analogue era, as cassette tapes and vinyl discs alike become more scratched and naturally degrade in quality over time.

Tags: CD, Digital Remastering, DVD, Music, Sound Quality
Posted in Helping You Decide | No Comments »

Duplication Centre Resource Centre

Tips to choosing a good CD/DVD duplication company

The Fight Against Illegal Pirate Videos and Music

How important is it to have a good quality disc?

CD Mastering

Home CD and DVD Burners - what has been their effect?

Tips to caring for your DVDs

Advertise with DVDs

The Mp3 Vs. CD Debate

How to create an autorun slideshow

Music CD Digital Remastering - what is it and what are the pros and cons?

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