Technology is so technical, it makes my head ache and my stomach hurt just thinking about it.     When talking with Jason Spafford, of DVDTransfer.com, he told me that he could get more technical information if I wanted it. Gee wiz, there's sure a lot of science involved in the creation of a DVD and its all Greek to me. So, I thought I would consult the experts at http://dvdtransfer.com/. I asked the only questions my limited understanding of the process could muster. After all, this stuff is, borrowing a line from a certain famous space cowboy, “not just dusting crops,” you know.

     Jason is the creative director and co-owner of DVDTransfer.com, LLC. He graduated with a communications/film degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His background has been in the film business for the past 15 years, having produced, directed and written several shorts and a feature film.

     One day two years ago, Jason and his wife took a houseboat down the Mississippi River and started DVDTransfer.com with technical director and co-owner, Dave Pfaff who currently runs the company’s Virginia office.  The business about the houseboat will have to wait for another interview. 

     Jason told me that DVDTransfer.com was the first DVD encoding/authoring company to publish prices on the internet. Within the next couple months their website will be upgraded so that professionals will be able build their own DVD projects and get immediate quotes for everything from encoding to authoring to replication to shipping the discs 3 day UPS. Now, class, lets try to learn what all those special DVD terms mean.  There may be a quiz later so listen up.

     Jason spoke with me from his Minneapolis, Minnesota, office.

     Einsiders: Which is it Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc?

     Jason: It was originally Digital Versatile Disc because there were computer companies involved in the consortium established to create the DVD specifications. However, video has become the main application for DVD.

     In one sentence tell us exactly how a film (8, 16, 35) is transferred to DVD? Of course, I'm kidding it is a complicated process, right?

     It's more complicated than one sentence, but might be contained in a really long run on sentence. Film is first transferred to a tape format. We can provide that service, but most people like to supervise the film transfer and then send us the masters. The budget usually determines what tape format the film goes to. On the DVD of Steve Soderbergh's film, "The Limey", there is a very good description of a transfer to the D5 format, then to DVD.

     We normally work from Digital Betacam masters and other digital masters such as DVCam, DVCPro and even MiniDV. We also still see a lot of Beta SP. The advantage of transferring from a digital tape source is that the information is input to the encoding system via SDI (serial digital interface). There are calculations to determine what the bit rate (rate at which information is laid to disc) can be for a particular piece of film.

     An easy way to look at the bit rate is, the more information - the lower the overall bit rate has to be. For example, a talking head uses less information than a car chase. By using a variable bit rate, a low bit rate will be allocated for a talking head and a higher bit rate will be assigned to the car chase. Once the bit rate and other equally exciting factors are determined, the piece can be encoded to the MPEG 2 format to go onto the DVD.

     Your company, DVDTransfer.com, LLC, utilizes the Spruce MPX-3000 encoder and the Spruce Maestro DVD Authoring software. What does the encoder do and what is "authoring?"

     The encoder compresses audio and video. Video is stored in MPEG-2 format and audio can be stored in a number of different formats for DVD, including Dolby Digital, DTS, PCM or MPEG-1 layer2.

     The authoring is basically all the work required to make the DVD navigate from menu screen to menu screen and between menu pages and video. Essentially it's creating all the interconnectivity of the DVD. For example, we're currently working on a project where there is a quiz in the bonus features. At the end of the quiz, the viewer is given a score or total correct answers. Menu pages with all the possible scores need to be created and programmed when to show up. Another project has a "shuffle play" function of musical selections. In this case, a small program needs to be written to create a random play of the selections. Normally, creating the actual graphics for the menus does not fall under the authoring category. Creating the buttons for menus can fall under authoring and creating the highlights for selected buttons is another part of authoring.

     All graphics that we create can be approved on-line, and menus that others create can be sent to us via our FTP site. Since our offices are in Minneapolis and Virginia and our customers are in L.A., New York, and everywhere between, the internet and Fed Ex are integral parts.

     How much will it cost to transfer an independent film to DVD complete with all the trimmings (director commentary, extra features, etc.)?

     Depending on the scope of the project, the price can vary considerably. If we can be provided with all graphic elements and everything is to specification, the price is less than if we are creating all these elements. For example, the director's commentary would be provided to us with time code matching the feature.

     A fairly straight forward DVD without motion menus, DTS or Dolby 5.1 audio, or subtitles and including a director's commentary, cast/filmmaker bio page, deleted scenes page, and a short "making of" selection can cost as low as $3000. Projects with basic menu and simple 3 to 4 pages of information can be in the $1000 range. Then, to replicate 1000 DVDs with amaray cases and shrink wrapped the cost would be under $2.00 a piece.

     “Have everything timecoded and accurately logged. DVD is the place to show clips that couldn't quite make it into the production. Don't lose track of that footage. DVD is also the place for more than one screen aspect ratio if you have the budget for it.”--Jason Spafford gives filmmakers a few basic pointers that may be important when moving a film to DVD.

     We currently have basic prices on our website, www.dvdtransfer.com, for encoding, authoring, and replication. Our new replication prices will be posted soon. For example, the cost of 1000 pressed discs on spindles, including 4 color printing will be $1.20 ea. If this price isn't currently listed, email info@dvdtransfer.com and we will send you a new price list.

     Within the next couple months we will have all of our services and prices on-line and you will be able to build your own DVD project, adding and subtracting elements, and immediately finding out the costs. It's always been very important to us to quickly get information to the client (including pricing info) to help them make an informed decision. Blah, Blah, Blah. There's my sales pitch. I'm just joking about the blah, blah, blah part, but we're very serious about helping people make the right decision regarding their DVD project.

     How is sound transferred to DVD? Since almost everything is transferred to DVD and/or Video these days, what are some of the considerations for filmmakers when making their films that will enhance the transfer process later? What is the hardest material to transfer?

     Sound is transferred digitally and there are many options when creating audio files.

     If you have a surround sound mix you can provide it to us on DA 88 or A DAT and we can encode it to Dolby Digital or DTS for use on the DVD. For stereo we can use the tracks on your master to create a stereo Dolby Digital file.

     If you don't have a professional mix and you want one, it may be worth a plane ticket (seriously) to Minneapolis to work with Denny O'Rourke of Cinesound 2, one of the best audio engineers in the country. (Jonathan, that's a shameless plug for a great guy and consumate professional who's been in the business for over 30 years.)

“The bottom line is not to worry about a DVD with regards to the esthetics of the cinematography. Make what looks right. We've been watching VHS for twenty some years and our eyes came through it fairly unscathed.”

     Knowing what you want your final audio to be and how you are going to get it there is something that is commonly put on the back burner. Have an audio plan early. Other things that enhance the process of transferring to DVD are really some of the same things that make for any smooth post production.

     Have everything timecoded and accurately logged. DVD is the place to show clips that couldn't quite make it into the production. Don't lose track of that footage. DVD is also the place for more than one screen aspect ratio if you have the budget for it. When shooting, lighting, as always, is important. Grainy images and blacks of shade take up at lot of information and are some of the most difficult things for DVD to handle.

     When reviewing DVDs we always throw around buzz-words like "pixelation" and “artifacts." How do these problems develop and how can filmmakers prevent them?

     These problems can develop from some of the things I just mentioned that suck up information space. MPEG-2 video does not store every frame of data. It may only store a full frame of information for every 15 frames in the original. The additional frames are created during playback by trying to predict what is in between. So, when there is not much change from frame to frame, it takes less data and you get a better picture.

     Things that can cause problems are lots of unpredictable motion, grainy picture, and trying to put too much information on a disc. The more video you try to squeeze on a disc, the lower the quality will be. The bottom line is not to worry about a DVD with regards to the esthetics of the cinematography. Make what looks right. We've been watching VHS for twenty some years and our eyes came through it fairly unscathed. In that sense, I'm speaking as a viewer, not from a director's point of view. Directors may have suffered more retinal damage watching their work on VHS.

Any major clients of DVDTransfer.com, LLC, that you would like to tell us about?

     It's all very hush hush. I'm just kidding. The work that we do is all over the board. We do work for independent filmmakers, home video distribution companies re-releasing older works on DVD, and we do specialized applications like DVDs used for kiosk presentations in corporate and public institutions. We are currently doing an interesting 13 part series, "Challenge of The Seas" for Tremendous Entertainment and the distributor Navarre. The documentary filmmaker Hardy Jones produced the series and Ted Danson hosted it. It's DVD release is scheduled for April. There are two programs per DVD and it has a lot of extras including bios, producers' journal, and quizzes that tally your score.

     We're also working on an independent feature that was produced a couple of years ago. The film didn't get picked up for distribution so the writer and director are going in and doing director's commentary about the making of it. They've got some great extras. They also created this whole story that happened through documentary style footage shot of the actors a year after the production and somewhat crossed over into the film. For example, they took a camera to an actor's house (a friend) and broke it to him that they had cut him out of the movie almost a year ago. They didn't have the heart to tell him, so they made a version of the film for him with his part intact. It was a funny scene. They were able to add over an hour of footage to this 85 minute feature. In a lot of ways the "extras" are becoming the main story. I think the writer came up with a very creative way to use the DVD format. It's a very exciting project to be working on.

Jonathan W. Hickman