We pride ourselves at Video Labs in getting your disc duplication and replication orders turned very fast.  

We LOVE our clients, but occasionally the delays we run into are created by those same beloved clients.

Now, we almost always work through any challenges, but again, to do so often involves a delay. 

So here is a list of some of the more commonly client-created challenges that I’ve observed.  Remember, the whole purpose here is allow us to better to serve YOU!

Failure to Finalize the master:

When making a master CD or DVD, one must finalize a master disc.  This is a process that in effect “closes” a session.  Some disc encoding programs automatically do this, others have you choose that function.  The reason some programs give you a choice is if you are dealing with a rewritable or multi-session disc.  (Just fyi, we cannot use such RW-created discs as masters.)

Not thoroughly checking the master before sending it to us:

Once you finish creating your master disc, please check it out on several computers – if an audio CD also on a standalone CD player – and if a DVD video, check also on a DVD set-top box.

Haven’t cleared all the content rights:

We are a licensed replicator, and as such, we assume the content rights to the material being copied are cleared.  We ask our clients to complete a brief form affirming that.  (Yes, we actually do get audited.)  When those rights haven’t been procured, the project grinds to a halt.

Problems with the artwork:

We can provide you with online-accessible templates and specs for the disc face and packaging artwork.  When artwork is delivered to us that doesn’t match those, then inevitably the back and forth that takes place can cause delays.  Now, of course, even when we receive ideal files, we still sometimes get back to clients with some suggestions, but those are normal “tweaks,” not time-consuming overhauls.

Review/Approval Delays

For almost every job, we will send you something to approve one last time before completing the order, whether it be a check disc, a hard copy proof or .pdf scan of the artwork.  We cannot finish the order until we receive back an ok to proceed.  If the person or persons who have to approve on the client side are not accessible, the job will obviously be delayed.  So our best advice is that clients line up the “chain of approval” ahead of time and have everyone “standing by” so as to turnaround reviews quickly.

OK, that’s it for now.  Again, we are here to serve YOU.  And it is in that spirit that I present this blog. 

I appreciate your business!  As always, I welcome your comments below.

Feel free to also contact me at dryan@videolabs.net  301-217-0000 x104

P.S. If you haven’t read it before, you may also be interested in reading my blog about disc face printing: http://tinyurl.com/59psy8

Other contact info for David Ryan:

www.Twitter.com/DRMediaSolution 

http://www.linkedin.com/in/davidryanmediasolutions