but not sure where to start?

Then you need

Now available for easy online purchase & download.

View promo and read what others are saying about “Synchronize or Sink: Develop an Online Media Strategy that Works”

Leslye and I are psyched launching our eBook . . . Buy ”Synch or Sink” and you will be too!

One of my most popular posts over past 3 years: “Why can’t I just drag mpeg2 files from my DVD?”

Featured Blog Post: You know you need to market online, but not sure where to start?  My eBook, Synchronize or Sink: Develop an Online Marketing Strategy that Works, co-authored with Leslye Reaves, releases this Thurs Aug 26.  Watch for brief eMail that day with easy purchase/download details.

Here’s what nationally-syndicated columnist Nick Corcodilos ( www.AskTheHeadhunter.com ) says about “Synchronize or Sink: Develop an Online Marketing Strategy that Works”

“This gem of a book shows you why and how you must synchronize your marketing across all these e-channels to boost your presence, expand your referral businsess and sell more stuff! Think of David as the friend you wish you had, who keeps up with the technology and is ready to help you use it. When you finish reading this book, you’ll know what to do next online to build your business!”

Check out video promo for “Synchronize or Sink”.

Who is “Mindy the Cat?”  Mindy looks back over the past 3 years . . .

Mindy Discount : 9% off disc authoring services (click video for details)  What is an authored disc?

Salesperson Rx

Marketing Standouts and well, those not-so-much-so

On Tues evening, Sept. 14, I’ll be speaking at the Baltimore Videographers Assoc. about DVD and Blu-ray options & my online marketing strategies.  Looking forward to it!  (I will also be offering prizes & exclusive discounts as well.)

Whoo-eee!

And I remain convinced that my online marketing is a major reason why I, amdist the challenges within our media field these days, remain a viable sales player.  

Many of you have observed and provided supportive feedback over the years as I have tweaked and honed my online marketing process.  Many thanks again for that.

A few months ago I decided to share my experiences in developing an online marketing strategy by writing an eBook, which is now available for easy online purchase and download: 

The title is “Synchronize or Sink: Develop an Online Marketing Strategy that Works.”

I wrote the eBook with my long-time business colleague, Leslye PJ Reaves, who designed this DavidRyanMediaSolutions.com website, and whose multimedia expertise is second to none.

The 60+ page eBook begins by discussing the proper mindset toward marketing.   I then write about the importance of having a good blog, and I describe which social media platforms are best for promoting that blog.

I also write about the pitfalls to avoid.

Throughout the eBook, Leslye provides insights (in layperson terms) on some of the important tech aspects behind online marketing – information you need to know.

We just concluded our “name the eBook title” contest.  Read the announcement of the three winners.

On the Online Media Workshops sales page, you can check out what others are saying about “Synch or Sink,” and take a look at the video promo.

And since we bet that after reading the eBook you will want to tell others about it, why not consider earning some easy extra $$ doing just that by joining our affiliate marketing program.   For those not familiar with that, this will allow you to earn a commission on each eBook sale that originates from your linked website, blog or email.  

A final word of thanks to Video Labs CEO Mike Weiss and my colleagues who have been most supportive of this eBook effort and provided me a great deal of insight and feedback.

As always, I invite you to follow me on Twitter for more media news and info and exclusive quick-turn steep discounts.

My contact info:  240-268-3504  dryan@videolabs.net

I was not getting replies to my eMails regarding proposals and orders.

You know us sales types.  A few hours of quasi-silence and our worst insecure fears  take over.   “Ah, it’s finally happened, I knew it . . . any economic recovery is like the Emperor’s new clothes!  We’re doomed!”

We also have a tendency to displace anxiety.  So I went to our IT person, “Randy, I am sure there is something wrong with the network.  Can you please check it out?” (Randy is used to these episodes of mine and calmly replies, “No problem, David.”)

Or maybe it’s those thunderstorms outside.  “Yeah, must have knocked something out with the phones.”

Then as I headed to my desk, one of our customer service folks shouted out off-handedly, “Gosh, it seems like everyone is at the beach.”

“Oh no!,” I say to myself, ”It’s a pandemic!”

OK, how do I not let these moments push me over the edge?

Here’s my secret:  I remind myself that I am a disciplined marketer.  Well, “disciplined” probably gives the wrong connotation — because I have too much fun with my marketing.  Let’s say I have become a “consistent” marketer.

“No one is forgetting about you, David.   You, of all people, keep in touch and add value for your customers.”  It’s a calming mantra.

So then, what’s the best Rx for a salesperson who thinks everyone in his or her network has fled to the beach?  Do a reality check and remember how consistently you’ve been marketing by “adding value” to what you provide your clients.

And if you want to improve on that, definitely check out my eBook.

Oooops, gotta run.  I see I have two eMails in my inbox, each for a large disc authoring project and copies.  Look at that.  One eMail is from a client who’s at the beach!

Ah, we’re in cruisin’ mode once again.

Your comments are most welcomed below, and don’t forget to follow me on Twitter for further media news and info and exclusive steep discounts.

Enter contest for free copy of my soon-to-be released online marketing eBook co-authored with Leslye Reaves

Surf Online Media Workshops website

Knowing when to be an Order-Taker, an Up-seller or an Advisor

Who is “Mindy the Cat?”

Mindy Discount : $50 off UPS Ground (click video for details)

Encore of my blog post on how UPS won my loyalty

Chris Vazquez’ article on anamorphic enhancement

Denver TV colleague Stuart Keene remembered

Video Labs’ Production Supervisor Stacey Flynn sent along this great example  of promoting a product with web video: Yoda’s voice-over for Tom Tom GPS?

And few things illustrate that more than the continuing confusion created by the various aspect ratios that video can be displayed in these days.

SD, HD, 4:3, 16:9, letterbox, anamorphic, wide-screen . . . all terms that you hear mixed together.

My good buddy and tech guru Chris Vazquez wrote an excellent article on this site two years ago about SD anamorphic , and it continues to be one of the most-read articles on my website, but questions still abound, especially when it comes to DVD authoring.

So let’s try to further clarify.

Some review:

4:3 means standard old-standard television viewing.

16:9 is wide screen.

SD is standard definition and is natively 4:3

HD is high definition and is natively 16:9

Now, let’s proceed, and feel free to read this slowly.  (Hey, I have to do that still with this topic, and I work with it every day!)

What options do you have if you are editing in HD 16:9 and want to lay out the finished sequence on to a SD tape, that is limited by its nature to automatically being 4:3? (e.g. BetacamSP or Digital Betacam)

You cannot maintain the HD quality of the signal, but you can keep the option open to be able to playback the video from the SD tape, in full 16:9 on a wide screen monitor.

That’s what anamorphic downconversion does.  Go back and check out the figures in Chris’ blog post.  It effect, anamorphic “squeezes in from both sides,” the 16:9 picture, like an accordion, to fit in to a 4:3 frame.

So when talking with you salesperson, you want to be sure you clearly discuss anamorphic options.

This is especially true when you are making an authored DVD project that involves using both SD and HD sources.

Let’s say you want to make a demo reel highlighting various categories, and you want to include a number of videos, some HD and some SD, in each category.  The authoring specialist needs to establish each category to playback one way, either 4:3 or 16:9 anamorphic.  (Remember, standard DVDs are automatically SD, not HD.)

Let’s say you had three HDCAM sources, two 4:3 digibeta sources, and one letterboxed Betacam source.

Well, if the category sequence is set up to playback anamorphic for wide-screen dislay, then the HDCAM clips will indeed play back in full 16:9, the two 4:3 clips will play back 4:3 in the center of the wide screen with black pillars on each side, and the 4:3 letterboxed source will play letterboxed inside a 16:9 screen, with black not only on the left and right, but also above and below.

Ugh.  that latter playback is probably not ideal.  The solution might be to see if an original HD version or a SD ananmorphic version of that clips exists.  If not, well, an aesthetic judgement needs to be made.

So taking a step back, there’s a corollary point to be made.  When transferring HD programs to SD tapes and DVDs at the end of a project, rather than doing so as a fiexed letterboxed version, you might want to strongly consider transferring those as anamorphic.  That way, as you can see above, you preserve your choices for later usage.

OK, let’s face it.  This matter will eventually become moot in the future as we gravitate toward using 16:9 HD exclusively.   But we remain in the midst of great transition.   And as long as we utilize SD footage and its inherent 4:3 aspect ratio, we will have to deal with this.

But never fear, count on me and my Video Labs sales and production colleagues to help you navigate through this.  That’s what we’re here for.

Contact me at dcryan7@videolabs.net or 240-268-3504.

And follow me on Twitter for more media news & info and special discounts.

If you found this article of interest, you may be interested in my quick-read blog post about our Blu-ray duplication capabilities.

We had the pleasure to assist Owens Media Group prep their special, “A Purse of Your Own” for air on PBS’ MPT.

Still getting lots of inquiries asking, “Why can’t I just drag mpeg2 files from my DVD?”

Who is “Mindy the Cat?”

(click Mindy above for fun, quick video)

Mindy Discount: 50% off CSS encryption

How many pages are on your website?

Kirill Romanov of alt rock group, Force Major (www.myspace.com/ForceMajor) stops by to pick up replicated copies of the band’s latest CD, “Turbulence.”

Congrats to client Chris Flaherty for obtaining such influential international distibution for his film, “A Migration of Beauty.”

View Leslye PJ Reaves’ & team’s multi-award-winning 48-Hour Film Project, “The Man From Summervale.”

Cause for alarm?  Mutual consent needed for filming police in public places? . . . a second article (Thanks to Bruce P. for forwarding)

SlateV video report on how to utilize Google TV Ads to media buy a national campaign from your laptop.

Silver Docs Festival 2010 “sneak peak” on YouTube.  (Video Labs is a sponsor)

?

In the heyday of vhs dubbing, we at Video Labs would add Macrovision encryption http://tinyurl.com/gzmrj, versions of which either added spikes in the voltage of the signal or added a “flag” in the vertical interval of the video signal . . . (that area you can’t normally see at the top of a standard def tv signal, where items like vertical interval time code, closed-captioning and SpoTTrac information is encoded.) 

As we have moved into discs, we’re now at the following point: 

For CDs, it’s basically “coming up empty.”  You can scour the internet and find products, but from our experience — and I am always open to new information if you have any — there is nothing that satisfactorily can protect the information on a CD from being copied. 

Now, keep in mind that there are features within certain software programs, like in Acrobat, that can make taking elements out of a document difficult.  The analogy would be like turning a layered Photoshop or Illustrator file into an unlayered document.  But that doesn’t prevent the document in total from being copied. 

For DVD-video discs, we do have an option  (again, not for DVD data discs.)  

The most common type of encryption, and the one we offer, is CSS, which stands for Content Scramble System. 

This is not to be confused with .css or Cascading Style Sheets http://tinyurl.com/7×56p, which is something completely different pertaining to working with HTML code in the web development arena. 

I invite you to check out this Wikipedia for more details on how CSS encryption works: http://tinyurl.com/28zo32, but in short, it involves placing a set of digital keys in a certain area of the DVD which can then be “unlocked” only by licensed DVD players. 

Is it fail safe?  Nope.  If you Google CSS, you are going to find De-CSS, abundantly available in various flavors to circumvent the encryption.  So, I always tell my clients that if someone really wants to rip off your content, they can find a way to do it. 

Still, as some clients have correctly reasoned, it still makes sense to add the encryption.  CSS may very well discourage the casual otherwise well-meaning consumer user who doesn’t see the harm in making a DVD copy of a program for a friend down the street.  Most folks like that will go no further upon seeing an initial cannot copy warning. 

Now there is one thing to keep in mind.  CSS encryption can be added only in a disc authoring process.  Read this quick-read blog for what disc authoring entails: http://tinyurl.com/5m6hga 

This means that the encryption cannot be added “after the fact.”  It has to be “cooked in” when the DVD is first created.  And it doesn’t matter whether or you have any menus or not (the usual reason for doing disc authoring).  Even if you want to CSS encrypt just a straight-play DVD, the first part of the encryption can be added only in a DVD authoring process. 

I say “first part” because the “second part” of the encryption can be added only via disc replication. (Read this to understand the difference between disc “duplication” vs. disc “replication:” http://tinyurl.com/2ox2rk 

So, to reiterate, to add CSS encryption, an authoring process is essential, and the disc copies have to be made via replication. 

And as you may know, DVD replication requires a minimum order of 1,000 DVDs. 

What are the costs?  Well, it depends on the program length.  But figure on $250 – $400 for the disc authoring time, and $250 for the adding of CSS. 

Moving forward:  One of the features of the Blu-ray disc format is that it offers a much-advanced, robust, triple-level system of disc encryption.  This includes Advanced Access Content System: http://tinyurl.com/ye3zr5

My media replication industry colleague/partner, Tim Schoonenberg, of Great Lakes Media Technology www.glmt.com, wrote a good blog on the 3-levels of Blu-ray disc encryption as well: http://tinyurl.com/29×6op2

As with DVD-video discs, to incorporate the encryption with Blu-ray, there needs to be a combination of advanced disc authoring and disc replication.  I can tell you, this ain’t cheap, hence why at this time, the creation of such Blu-ray replicated discs is limited to studios and broadcasters with deep pockets. 

But with that said, please remember that if you do not need encryption, we at Video Labs can author both DVDs and yes, Blu-ray master discs, and duplicate smaller quantities of each very cost-effectively.  

NOTE: I should qualify that by saying that the Blu-ray authoring in that case will be somewhat basic compared to the extensive BD-Live features that studio film titles may offer, but still, many of our clients find our Blu-ray disc process really suits their goal of providing high-quality video on a budget. 

Contact me for more information:  dryan@VideoLabs.net 

Follow me on Twitter:  www.Twitter.com/drmediasolution for more news & info including short-term steep discounts. 

Find out more about our Blu-ray disc duplication: http://tinyurl.com/a6jqd6

Need media support for the mid-term elections? (this also has info on National Journal Deputy Editor Patrick Pexton’s insightful blog).

What are AC-3 files?

Who is “Mindy the Cat?”

Mindy Discount: (click video above) 5% off any new CD/DVD duplication or replication order >$750 placed with me through Fri May 28.

Don’t forget that we do Blu-ray disc duplication too.

“Media buy” a national ad campaign from your laptop?

YouTube SEO

Potential rights issues with H.264 format?

. . . and a second article on the same topic (both links sent to me by Bryan Hurley)

Web TV growing with more creative programs

Fascinating sand art performance (thanks for forwarding, Jan)

Could you benefit from a Video Labs membership?  (CEO Mike Weiss comments)

?

If so, don’t forget that we here at Video Labs www.VideoLabs.net have extensive experience supporting a wide range of media efforts for political activities . . . across the ideological spectrum.

Whether it be front line direct mail support with authored CDs or DVDs http://tinyurl.com/64td2m or making compressed media files for your web efforts, or providing quick-turn cost-effective video editing services http://tinyurl.com/df5fje or mass duplication of TV spots and fulfillment, or facilitating distribution of your streaming files, you can count on us.

And we also are experienced in what I call the second level of political campaigning . . . that of assisting organizations with their advocacy efforts. 

We’ve also supported a number of ”get out the vote” campaigns.

So whether it’s the elephant, donkey or tea party, give me a call  240-268-3504, or drop me an e-mail dryan@videolabs.net

And don’t forget that we are also pretty savvy in the whole social media marketing milieu.  (Check out my video presentation to DC-based media organization, TIVA (http://www.tivadc.org/) about that: http://vimeo.com/9351746

Tambien, recuerda que hablo espanol.

And speaking of “all things DC,” . . . this is a excellent opp to give a shout-out for my good friend, Patrick Pexton, Deputy Editor of the National Journal.  http://tinyurl.com/yfb7jxv

In addition to his management responsibilities, Patrick draws upon his rich journalist background as one of the ”expert bloggers” for the publication.  http://tinyurl.com/37ab7ll 

We all have our ”go-to” resources for what’s really going on in DC, and Patrick has been that for me for over two decades.  I invite you to take advantage of Patrick’s expertise as well.  You can sign up for a RSS feed to his blog. (What is a RSS feed? http://tinyurl.com/6z7otj)

Your comments are always welcome here at www.DavidRyanMediaSolutions.com  Feel free to write in the space below.

If you’d like to be placed on the mailing list to receive my monthly e-zine, just send me an e-mail: dryan@videolabs.net  Samples of past issues can be viewed here: http://tinyurl.com/c67sn

Also, follow me on Twitter at www.twitter.com/drmediasolution