Last season I had a good number of wedding edits that amounted to near 2 and a half hours which meant juggling quality vs file size for DVD delivery which is a faff and a compromise. One option I'm looking at is delivering on 2 discs with the wedding film on one disc (normally about 30 minutes) and the ceremony/speeches/first dance on the other.

Downside of this is 2 discs to author, although I suppose the disc with the wedding film can simply play without a menu?

Thoughts?

Hi Pete

Apart from the slight hassle of dual authoring, the cost of a 2nd blank is minimal but the perceived value by the bride is way higher than a single disc! Offering a dual DVD set means she is getting much more product for her outlay and really only a tiny extra amount of effort from you.

I supply all brides a dual DVD set ..regardless of their wedding size. Normally disk 1 has the prep, ceremony and photoshoot on it and disk 2 is the reception. The only time I give a single disk is when I do the odd ceremony only shoot so 90% of my deliveries are always dual DVD's ... I use the same menu temple for both and just change the menu wording

I've filmed a few weddings this year that needed to go on two discs, usually when the ceremony is very long.

I edit as one complete length on the time line, then when editing is finished, just split at an appropriate point and save as two files. I use the same menu style for both with part one or two on the main menu page. Rendering two shorter files to disc is only a bit longer than one longer file and I use a double case, so only the one sleeve artwork and the same disc artwork, just add part one or two. Splitting in two gives less compression and a better overall quality than one longer file.

Roger

..near 2 and a half hours
Thoughts?

Peter, my wedding DVDs run 2hrs + my last wedding ran 2.25mins and I only used the one DVD.
The picture quality looked really good to my eyes.
I use Edius 8.1

2 disks, with full length on 1 and bonus videos on the 2nd. Occasionally I'm doing a 3rd with Guestcam and video booth uncut included.

2.5 hours fits fine at full quality on a dual layer disc. If we cannot afford dual layer discs then we need to raise our prices.

Most sophisitcated brides here see multiple discs as a hassle, as I do, but in other parts it might be seen differently. My one friend who provides multiple discs is on the way out, he is a dinosaur who cannot change his ways of doing buisness, he stil shoots in SD and does not offer BR. I've been doing bluray for years, it's expected in these parts. All the younger, newer operators here offer BR and digital copies, some won't evenn provide DVDs anymore.

I think it all depends on where you are.

Hi Jeff

We are obliged to supply DVD's simply cos the brides ask for them. I don't like the idea of laying down rules to clients as to what they can have and can't have. If my brides want DVD's they get DVD's... not many here have a BD player so we normally supply 3 x DVD sets, then a USB drive for the HD video and finally our 7" video eBook with the high light video on it.

That way we cover all requirements. You have to realise that the grandparents might still have a CRT TV and a 20 year old DVD player so a BluRay is useless to them and just shows you up in a bad light and the poor old dears probably have never seen a USB flash drive either.

One of the best business decisions I've ever made was to include a custom engraved USB drive instead of DVDs with each wedding. I was really concerned that brides would complain that they weren't getting a DVD but over the past year none of them have even asked about it. I've also gotten compliments on the USB drive which is wooden and has their wedding date engraved on it.

Instead of having to author a DVD, design the cover, and get it printed, now I just copy the MP4 files on the USB and ship it to the bride. It's saved a ton of time and also the bride can watch their final videos in HD rather than SD. I still offer DVDs but they are a paid option which some brides have purchased.

I was pretty shocked that not a single bride has flinched at the idea of getting a USB instead of a DVD but I've been really glad that I made the switch because I really dislike authoring DVDs.

HI Michael

I'm thinking of going this route too..can I ask where you get these custom made usb keys?

Thanks

I use USB Memory Direct and here's a link to the drives I've been using:

https://www.usbmemorydirect.com/products/wdr7.htm

The person I spoke with recommended the "pine" drives because pine is apparently a more solid wood than some of the others so it can handle the stress of being engraved without cracking.

I've also heard that Flashbay is a good company but I haven't worked with them myself.

HI Michael,

I contacted them and although they will put my logo on the usb key they won't personalize each usb key (with the couples names or date).

Thanks

Julius, I forgot that I had another company do the actual engravings. I used a local company that's right down the street from me:

Hightech Signs: Charlottesville VA Signs, Banners, Trophies, Engraving, Scoreboards and Electrical Service (http://www.htsva.com/)

There are dozens of companies around here that do engravings so I imagine you can find one around your area pretty easily.

my last few Wedding I have only provided a BR disc and no DVD's. No complaints from anyone and it didn't really leave it as an option. just stated in my contract and to them that their wedding would be delivered on Blu-Ray and in HD. it is no so much a 1 vs 2 disc thing but more in delivering a product that was in SD. Who even has an SD TV anymore? anyways so far so good.

Personally I never went over 2 hours per DVD but this week I crammed 3H20M on a DVD at 2MB bitrate! I was pushed for time and to my surprise it didn't look as bad as I thought it would! A lot has to do with the encode process the same way a downloaded movie at 6GB looks almost identical to the retail Blu-ray of 50Gb. If you encode correctly you can push the limits. That said I am strict when it comes to quality the only reason I went as low as 2MB is because I give Blu-rays & USB's with the FullHD content. DVDs are crappy plain and simple so if you use one disc or two discs it doesn't matter it's still not HD. Save yourself the time burn it all to one disc.

Who wants to watch more than 2 hrs? I'd do dual layer but I've split reception and ceremony on separate discs. I've done theatrical performance and doing 2 discs might mean 100 instead of 50 dvds now that's a significant decision. Not wanting to burn an extra disc or use dual layer for client who paid you significant amount of money, to put as nicely as I can, ungenerous

I've had a few go 2.5-3.5 hours, and I always split onto two discs. Tried squeezing it onto one and the quality was really bad. It's already bad enough having to use ancient Mpg2 as it is, let alone with a severely crippled bitrate.

Those custom engraved USB sticks look quite good!

How do you get to put chapter markers ( menus ) on them USB sticks. I am looking into that for the year. I am presently giving BluRay discs. There are a few clients that actually want usb sticks so I have to figure out a way how. Thanks

Have a look at the TakyBox from LA Color that has HTML5 menu system

LA Color Presents the TakyBox | L.A. Color Blog | Wedding Photography, Cinematography, Photobooth, and Event Lighting Service (http://www.lacolorblog.com/?10228-LA-Color-Presents-the-TakyBox)

Pete

We also do it the simple way with a numerical header and an intelligent file name so the files appear in the correct order ..like 0001BridalPrep.mp4 then 0002Arrivals.mp4 and so on. Of course if you edit your wedding in one huge clip then it's not going to work! We have always done our weddings in "one clip per event" ..Much easier to skim over a time line that is only 4 minutes long compared to trying to handle a timeline of an hour! Also if you do encounter an error during render it's much easier to find the bug on a 4 minute clip than a 90 minute one!

I'm not a fan of splitting anybody my videos up. Although I edit sections individually, I combine them together with the tail end of the music from 1 section leading into the next. It's been ages since I've had an encode error. Chapter points would be useful for USB videos but I suppose I could include a file with timecodes of each segment, so they could jump to that rather than make random leaps.

I really cannot see any difference between having say, 20 individual clips encoded onto a DVD as opposed to one long clip with chapters. When the viewer clicks on a menu chapter it still jumps to a specific point in the video so for me there is no viewing difference ...Especially on a DVD the individual MPEG2 files are all compiled onto one VOB file that would, in my case, contain 10 clips and they play seamlessly as if they are one clip with a standard cut between events. I would rather render each section out on it's own and then instead of trying to locate chapter points I just point the menu to a start of a clip and I know it will be accurate. I guess we all work differently but I have always done it that way and never had a complaint from a bride either.

Having individual clips on the USB then makes an "automatic" menu on the TV or computer/media player so the bride can jump to something like "father of the bride" speech very easily. It's much the same as having a music album on a USB with 20 song tracks and you can choose what you listen to or let the player play them all.

Arthur, you can also get nice HTML video players online that you can copy to the USB and it can have thumbnail images of each section of the wedding with a description of the event but again you do need individual clips to do this.

I really cannot see any difference between having say, 20 individual clips encoded onto a DVD as opposed to one long clip with chapters.

Well it depends how your video is structured. I use music in mine and this tends to run into the next section. Do you break up the Ceremony and Speeches. I suppose there are natural fade out and in points. However to me that implies something has been cut. Or do you not fade out at the end of each clip.

It's seems as if you tackle the filming and the editing as a selection of short clips to be either played together or separately. I see my finished video as one thing to be played. The video flows from each moment to the next. Music fading out as the speeches start for example. The old J and L cuts. Sure I give chapters to allow a section to be chosen, if needed. Most I think view the video as one. To be honest I hated it when layer changes use to pause the video before carrying on, although not much of an issue these days. I rarely use the fade to black transition in the middle of the video. Just my own personal preference.

I tend to split my usb files at the same place that I put chapters on the DVD. It can vary on the type of wedding, but typically at the end of the preps, then arrivals of guests at the venue or church, arrival of bride and ceremony, photos at church or groups at venue, general reception shots, speeches, first dance etc, end credits and highlights.

The only difference with the USB being that I save each section as a separate file with a fade in and out. They are also numbered sequentially as Chris said, to allow continuous playback on USB and/or jumping to the required file depending on what the player is capable of.

Roger

Aha Steve .. I see your point if you are using music throughout the wedding video. I do use music start to end on my highlight but the main wedding video will definitely have places where I only use ambient sound. Bridal prep usually has a music backtrack and I will also use the same song faded up and down into the arrival clip ..However our video guestbook, table sequences, speeches etc etc (so most of the reception before the dancing) will only have ambient background music that the DJ might be playing.

Surely you don't put music behind the speeches and such events?? or maybe I'm wrong?? We all work in different ways and produce a different result too in various parts of the world. Very interesting!!

How do you get to put chapter markers ( menus ) on them USB sticks. I am looking into that for the year. I am presently giving BluRay discs. There are a few clients that actually want usb sticks so I have to figure out a way how. Thanks

I just copy the MP4 files directly onto the USB sticks. So far no one has requested chapter markers. I actually stopped adding chapter markers to DVDs a couple of years ago and surprisingly nobody asked about them. I think it's one of those things that are great if they're included, but if they're not then it's unlikely the bride will think anything of it. Honestly, it's saved me SOOO much time to just export as MP4, copy to USB, and ship to the bride.

Surely you don't put music behind the speeches and such events?? or maybe I'm wrong?? We all work in different ways and produce a different result too in various parts of the world. Very interesting!!

Good grief no, Speeches, Ceremony, 1st Dance all have their audio without music overlaid. Music from the previous section often merges into the start, so say the last 10 seconds of a song will be heard as the toastmaster announces the Speeches. Other sections of the day are a mix of music only and music overlaying ambient audio, such as confetti throwing, Bride and Groom entrance to the Reception and throwing the bouquet. Occasionally I'll have a small section with ambient sound, though sometimes the Bride asks to replace it with music.

I could easily split up the video into sections, but I prefer my finished video to have each section flow into the next, using the J and L cuts. Purely my preference of course.

Surely you don't put music behind the speeches and such events?? or maybe I'm wrong?? We all work in different ways and produce a different result too in various parts of the world. Very interesting!!

On my discs I give them Ceremony, Speeches and First Dance as separate chapters with ambient audio, exactly as it happened, but for the highlights film (also a separate chapter) I use edited sequences from the ceremony (vows and ring exchange) and from the speeches I just use the personal bits. Over these I very faintly dub an instrumental audio track to keep the highlights film a little cinematic compared to the other chapters that are 'as it happened'

Pete

On a side note: more discs will have them thinking they are getting more for their money. Sad yet true.

Andrew