Supply couples with Blu-ray

[Tariq Peter]

Hi all,

My weddings are recorded in HD and I am supplying 90% of my clients with DVDs. What methods do you use to also supply them their weddings in full HD quality? I was thinking about Blu-ray but that would mean I would have to author the project in something other than DVDSP. I am using a MacPro so my options seem to be limited.

[Aaron Mayberry]

We've been offering thumb drives, and I personally love it...from a producing standpoint, and as a customer.

They're more expensive than blu-rays, but a lot easier to work with

[Chris Harding]

Hi Tariq

It is a bit sad when you have all this pristine footage that you then have to downscale to SD ! On this side of the globe BD players are a rare beast and you might find a few PS3 Playstations in use but that's about all!!

I think I might also offer brides their wedding on a thumb drive... most also seem to have a laptop/TV hookup but cannot get around to a BluRay player although they have a huge flatscreen TV!!

From a setup point of view I think that USB's will drop in price and you can easily cost them into a wedding package. probably MP4 format and 1280x720 would be more than enough to keep any bride happy and it will certainly look a lot better than DVD footage!!

Chris

[Tim Bakland]

Originally Posted by Tariq Peter

Hi all,

My weddings are recorded in HD and I am supplying 90% of my clients with DVDs. What methods do you use to also supply them their weddings in full HD quality? I was thinking about Blu-ray but that would mean I would have to author the project in something other than DVDSP. I am using a MacPro so my options seem to be limited.

I get requests for blu-ray on 75% of weddings.

So now, I've actually stopped asking. I just give them at least one blu-ray as a part of all (wedding) jobs. In the rare event that they don't own a blu-ray player, they'll still find a way to view the blu-ray.

Also -- I too have a MacPro. If you were to do a simple menu or menu-less (autoplay) disc, you could make the simple investment of burner and Toast. If you wanted to do nicer menus, then there's Adobe Encore. I went for the Encore and am very happy with it. Now -- I author both SD and the HD version of the project all in one fell swoop.

[Chad Whelan]

I include blu-ray with all of my packages too. If they want dvd then I do both. I am also on a mac and had been designing menus in dvdsp for years. When I switched over to HD a few years ago I bought a blu-ray burner, toast and did away with the menus all together. Honestly, clients never ask about menus or chapters at all so I have never gone back to it.

[Nigel Barker]

We have taken our lead from the Hollywood studios:-) & now supply a Blu-ray, DVD & digital copy. The latter used to be a USB stick but now we burn to a disc so we can use 3-disk cases for presentation. Adobe Encore make it very simple to produce both DVD & Blu-ray from the same project.

[Tariq Peter]

When you say digital copy do you mean another Blu-ray or source files etc?

[Tom Hardwick]

I've just had a bride say they have a big flat-panel TV but don't have a BD player. I asked why not as they're pretty cheap these days and of course they'd upscale (I explained this) as well as play all their CDs and DVDs.

She was completely taken aback, and had no idea that a BD player would play DVDs. And therein lies one of BDs big stumbling blocks. Unless the public know what the technology will do for them, they'll stay away.

tom.

[Chris Harding]

Hi Tariq

Nigel means instead of copying files to a USB drive you simply burn them to a DVD or BD so they can be copied onto a computer, mediaplayer drive or a USB. Burning data files to a disk simply means you have a more attractive media to present to the bride as you have more surface area to print onto and it looks more value for money if the bride gets a 3 disk set as opposed to 2 disks and a tiny drive.

I do however like the USB stick option as she can then take it with her on her travels to show all her friends.. I think I would tend to choose a DVD in this case with MP4 files on it just in case her best friend's computer isn't able to read a BD disk. I cannot see any reason though, why you couldn't do a 3 disk set and still include a really convenient USB stick as well. Then she has the 'value for money' 3 disk set and the convenience of the little USB as a bonus.

Does anyone know if any manufacturers make a USB stick with a 'generic' "Our Wedding" printed on it...As already mentioned you can get custom USB's but minimum order is usually 50!!!

Chris

[Tariq Peter]

You could try these guys Wooden Case with USB Flash Drive - Presentation Flash Drive / Cases

[Chris Harding]

Ouch!!! $65.00 for a drive and case (8GB) seems a bit expensive!!! Granted, the case is very neat but you could put the data files on a DVD is a nice case for a lot less. I think I would a lot happier paying for a silk screen and getting a local printer to just screen me 10 at a time with "Our Wedding" I wonder if any devices like a Brother Labeller can do a respectable label with a clear backing on just a simple silver USB stick. I don't want to supply the drives as the primary wedding media but purely as a bonus extra.

If you were only supplying USB drives, then the boxed drives would be nice but still costly..I always give the bride 3 sets of DVD's (for the couple and both parents) 3 sets of the above would be quite pricy at nearly $200!!!

Chris

[Danny O'Neill]

Blu-Ray is included in all our options and 90% of clients go for it even if they dont have a player. The cost to us is neglegable. Disks are around £1 each. We do all our renders over night so just tick the option in the batch render script to include an AVC version.

When we email them asking how many on each format we also tell them that Blu-ray players are cheap and can be bought from tesco's for under £80 or the groom can buy a Playstation 3. Good excuse for a new toy, wedding video for her, games for him :)

[Corey Graham]

Originally Posted by Danny O'Neill

. . . we also tell them that Blu-ray players are cheap and can be bought from tesco's for under £80 or the groom can buy a Playstation 3. Good excuse for a new toy, wedding video for her, games for him :)

Haha, I find that to be true also! Most of my clients also take Blu-ray, and the groom's eyes always light up when I tell them that a PS3 plays them.