CD duplication and DVD duplication from Dischromatics!

Dischro Creative Explains the Different Types of Films and Videos Available for Advertising and Marketing.

With the advent of short films being used for company marketing and advertising purposes, there is confusion about what some of the standard terms actually means. In this article you will find a short explanation to help you decide on what is best for your business. 

Teaser:

A Video Teaser is for an advertising campaign, which typically consists of a series of short, cryptic snippets, which anticipate a larger campaign for a product or event launch etc. Teasers are usually used in the build-up to a product or event launch.

Teasers usually last between 20 and 60 seconds, largely depending on what the product or event is and what the client is hoping to achieve from their campaign. These can also be placed on the specific company page of Facebook or YouTube. 

Trailer or Promotional Video:

A trailer or promotional video is used in a more traditional advertising campaign for a product or event. This usually anticipates some feature or reflects on the quality and success of an occasion. It is ordinarily a more straightforward and to-the-point account of what a product or event is hoping to achieve or what it has achieved. 

Trailers typically last between 90 – 210 seconds; again depending on what the product or event is and what the client is hoping to achieve from the campaign.  Once again, these are ideal for social network site business pages.

 Showreel:

A Business or Company Showreel is designed to cast a spotlight on the best items in your portfolio of services and products, through telling the story of how the results are achieved in a polished and engaging video-format.  A Showreel typically lasts anywhere between 3 and 6 minutes depending upon the amount of footage available which could include archive shots or newly filmed imagery and interviews.  This type of video can also be useful in gaining potential customers trust in allowing them to put names to faces and to understand your company ethos and work ethic.  It could also be used as a customer testimonial video for the website or again on Facebook and YouTube giving companies an ideal marketing tool.

Feature:

A feature is a video lasting anything from five minutes to an hour or more. It could document a recent success story surrounding a product or event.  A Video production is often published to websites or supplied on DVD duplication production as a promotional product. It provides an opportunity to include in-depth demonstrations as well as interviews and additional content that would not usually be included in shorter videos like Teasers, Trailers and Showreels. They are additionally useful to be added to tenders.

How to:

A how to video is an instructional aid used to demonstrate the functionality of a product; and/or to provide information to customers. Popular uses of this type of video are to deliver health and safety information or to create a presentation about the features of a product. This ensures that staff can continue to assist customers in the most effective manner without the pressure of performing a live demonstration. Additional benefits of this type of video include; no over-reliance on a single staff member, especially when that person is unavailable, the ability to show the same scenario from multiple angles simultaneously and the facility to play the instructions more than once - ensuring customers are able to move at their own pace.

The duration of a’ how to’ video is entirely dependent on the complexity of the topic in question.

Design Tips from Dischro Creative to Achieve the Best Results and Save Money in the Process.

In these difficult financial times, small companies and individuals in particular are trying to save money by doing their own graphic design without knowing enough to be able to present an acceptable image to their printers. Sometimes this proves to be a false economy due to changes that are necessary in order to have their job printed.

Here you will find a number of helpful tips to enable you to present your artwork which is print ready and eliminate expensive mistakes which many printers will charge for:

1.       Check the specifications before starting the artwork creation. Set up the canvas, which is simply the area you are using for the design, ensuring you are using the correct dimensions to the specification supplied. This will show the length of each edge or a ‘to scale’ template which will enable you to lay out your graphics. It is most important that you follow the exact requirements of the printer you are going to use as many use different parameters. Although some products such as CD Jewel Case Booklets vary little it is still advisable to stick to the script. Even with an A4 Poster which is unlikely to cause any confusion.

2.       Bleeding Out is one of the most likely problems that people get wrong. All artwork for print must include an extra 3mm of the background on all outer edges. Therefore, if the total finished size is 210mm x 148mm which is the size of an A5 Booklet for instance. You need to add 3mm extra background on each edge resulting in the full dimensions of the artwork being 216mm x 154mm. Also include crop marks indicating where the actual cut line is. This always true whether using Digital Printing or any other form of printing.

3.       Keep relevant data away from the edge by ensuring it is at least 3mm away from the actual cutting line within a safety margin. So a total of at least 6mm away from the very edge of the graphic design. This is because there is always the possibility of small shifts when printing which is why the bleed area is necessary. Furthermore, this could affect both edges so you could find that some of the area inside the cut on one side will be lost as more bleed zone comes onto the finished unit. It doesn’t matter if it is design of brochures, booklets, leaflets, CD packaging or whatever always stick to these principles.

4.       If in doubt create a PDF rather than saving to JPEG to save your work as most programmes are capable of outputting files of this type. This, along with the quality aspect makes it much easier to get your crop marks added prior to production. If the whole process can be designed inside Adobe Acrobat for instance, this is most likely to save you money too. There are many software packages around that are used for graphic design but not all are truly suitable. Some will not let you add crop marks or registration marks showing the cut line but you can overcome this by ensuring you have compensated for the bleed and keeping all elements far enough away from the edge as stated earlier.

One thing to remember is that it is impossible for any printer to help you improve your images if it is presented in poor quality and using an unreliable or inadequate software package like freeware. Sometimes it is worth getting the design professionally completed, especially if there are branding issues and particularly for a logo design. In the long run, if you do not have sufficient creative design skills and are conversant with the software you are using you will finish up with more problems which will result in additional costs and time wasted.

Dischro Creative Welcomes Jobe Bruzas as Senior Creative Executive.

As the Creative arm of Dischromatics, Dischro Creative has been formed to enable the innovative elements of the business to be brought together with their forward thinking personnel to work together in one section to the benefit of our existing and potential customers.

Jobe Bruzas, who has joined Dischro Creative and is a graduate of Carmarthen University in Digital Media and the Arts, has also worked as a Journalist, Producer and Editor. Whilst still at university, he worked with an ITV current affairs programme. Since graduation he has continued working with ITV but also produced programmes for both TV and Radio for the BBC, adding S4C/Avanti to his impressive portfolio, he is a fluent Welsh speaker.

Whilst working for these major broadcasters Jobe has worked in some capacity or other on many well-known TV and Radio programmes. He has a passion for the media, enjoying trips to the theatre in between his busy schedule when he also produced news programmes, he just loves being at the sharp end expressing his artistry to the full. However, to be completely fulfilled he needed a new challenge where he could be more involved in the decision making process and  in a challenging commercial environment. As a true expert in his field, he joins a young management team of like-minded forward thinking individuals whose total commitment is to achieve absolute customer satisfaction. 

With many opportunities presenting themselves, Jobe decided to accept an offer from Dischro Creative to develop their creative business and with his already invaluable experience and skill base it was a natural step explaining “I needed more opportunities to be able to express my talents and ideas, somewhere I could build something I could be proud of which was unique and would offer companies and organisations a marketing opportunity they couldn’t get anywhere else. Dischro Creative gives me what nobody else could, a free hand to push the barriers and mould the creative business around me. ”

Dischro Creative already offers a range of creative services like Graphic Design with branding opportunities and logo design, DVD and Blu-ray Authoring and now Filming and Editing producing Company Showreels, Music Videos for groups and bands as well as promotional and event videos, even wedding videos and YouTube videos. With App Development, 3D Animations, Motion Graphics and Mobile Websites.  Their Web site design service includes SEO. They believe they are the only company around with the ability in-house to offer a complete marketing package along with printing services including direct mail variable data printing and digital and optical media duplication. 

Dischromatics the well-known CD and DVD Duplication company which was formed in 1989 and holds ISO accreditations in both quality and the environment has a vast customer base who are already starting to tap into the talents and services offered by Dischro Creative and reaping the rewards. With new state of the art camera equipment just delivered thanks to a grant from the very pro-active Caerphilly Borough Council, it is expected that more personnel of the standard of Jobe Bruzas will be needed to keep up with demand.

 

Dischromatics Passes New Barrier

 

News Release

July  2012

Abercarn manufacturer Dischromatics hits four million disc milestone

An Abercarn manufacturer which specialises in CD, DVD and Blu-ray duplication has produced its four millionth Compact Disc.

Family-owned firm Dischromatics, based on Abercarn Industrial Estate, recently passed the landmark figure with an order from a company in Malta

If stacked vertically, the tower of four million CDs would stretch three miles into the sky and be almost six times as high as the Burj Khalifa in Dubai - the world's tallest building.

Gareth Spencer, managing director of Dischromatics, said: “It's amazing to think that we have produced four million pre-recorded CDs since 2003.

“The total number of discs produced – if you include blank ones – is closer to five million.

“The types of CDs we produce can be computer data discs or music CDs for local bands  and record labels.”

The company's work has even strayed into the glamorous world of Formula 1 Grand Prix racing with an order for the Lotus GP team earlier this year.

New York-based record company MBM, part of Universal Music, was commissioned by the F1 team to produce a CD of rock tracks for the Australian Grand Prix.

Knowing the tight turnaround time of the order, the American company turned to Dischromatics to get the CD – complete with F1 artwork – manufactured and printed.

Gareth and his team worked around the clock to successfully meet the strict ?? hour deadline.

And it was from F1 to Grand Slam as company staff had to pull another all-nighter to complete an order for a WRU charity record.

'The Voice of the Nation' – produced by Music Wales – was on the shelves of Tesco the day after Wales secured the 2012 Grand Slam. The CD included the chorus of Cwm Rhondda sung by Paul Childs accompanied by the fans during half-time at Wales' final Six Nations match against France.

The fast-moving worlds of Formula 1 and international rugby union are all a far cry from when Dischromatics was first established in 1989 by Gareth's father Stewart Spencer.

Head-hunted to South Wales to work at the now defunct Parrot Corporation in Cwmbran, Stewart moved the family from Cambridgeshire. Disaster almost ensued when Parrot folded and Stewart was made redundant, but salvation came when he founded Dischromatics with a business partner.

The company was set up in 1989 and specialised in old floppy computer discs. At the time, Dischromatics was the only company in the world with the ability to print and perfect the UV drying process using on 5.25in floppy discs – which meant discs could be printed up to photographic quality without smudging.

From there the company moved onto the smaller 3.5in floppy computer discs – today a rare sight – and eventually on to CDs, DVDs and Blu-Ray discs. In 2003, Sony DADC, the largest manufacturer of CD, DVD and Blu-ray Replication in Europe approached the company to form a UK partner agreement. Since that time the partnership has blossomed and Dischromatics is now the only Welsh based company working with Sony DADC.

The company also specialises in graphic design and digital printing, producing leaflets, flyers and brochures for a diverse range of public and private sector organisations. An exciting new development is the production of company Showreels for its customers. Dischromatics has recently concluded the filming, editing and final production of its own Showreel which is on display on the website.

Gareth who is fluent in French having lived in France for two years following graduation from Cardiff University in French and Economics joined the company in 2004 and moved into the managing director's position in 2006 with Stewart moving on as chairman.

The process and decision of handing over the company to his son was a simple one, according to Stewart.

He said: “If you're going to make fundamental changes, you have to be committed. It was therefore important that Gareth took that role on with me no longer on the scene – otherwise staff would continue to report to me.

“We still work together of course, that's the main thing. We converse every day and I still go to various meetings. I like to be involved and if Gareth and his young management team can convince me a change has a business case, which most often is the case, then there's no problem.”

With Gareth's younger brother Alex working in sales for the company, it's certainly a family affair, but what's it like working with close relatives?

Gareth answered: “It's usually fun, but there are flash points as there are with any business and we do have our moments, but we always conclude with a consensus view to the benefit of ourselves and the company. We are a close family and we get on very well which allows us to have open discussions without any fear of protracted problems sometimes in evidence in other environments”.

“We are lucky with the amount of time we get to spend together and we trust each other with the decisions we make.

 

Dischromatics Sponsors The Charlie Sloth Music Competition at the Riverfront Newport.

 

The legendary Wu-Tang Clan will be performing live during the Big Splash weekend in Newport. With Charlie Sloth the BBC One DJ also performing and other personalities on hand, it promises to be a memorable event. 

The Charlie Sloth Music Competition which is part of the Urban Edge zone at this year’s Big Splash at the Riverfront in Newport, is open to all groups and artists that wishes to enter. Once the finalists have been selected they will have the opportunity to perform their track at Urban Edge to a live audience and more importantly a panel of guest judges. This panel will include Charlie Sloth one of BBC One’s top DJ’s. The groups and artists who are interested in entering must upload a video or audio of themselves performing their track to the Pentalk Lab Recording Studio Presents page.

Five of the uploaded tracks will be selected and announced as finalists. They will then have the opportunity to perform live at the Urban Edge on two occasions.  The first performance will be in front of a live audience followed by a second in front of Charlie Sloth and the rest of the guest panel who will consequently choose the winner. The winner(s) of the competition will gain a fantastic opportunity to record an EP at the Pentalk Lab Recording Studio, at the Riverfront in Newport over two days with their resident DJ and Producer Jamie Winchester.

Following the recording session Dischromatics, a major UK supplier of CD Duplication and DVD Duplication who are based in Abercarn, just north of Newport, will design and print 100 colour copies packed into originally designed 4 page full colour Digipaks which will be presented free of charge to the winners. This professionally produced and manufactured prize is an exclusive opportunity for local musicians and could pave the way for greater success within the music industry. The prize will be presented to the lucky winner(s) by Charlie Sloth. The event itself takes place between 17.00 and 20.00 on Saturday evening.

Dischromatics has for many years, worked closely with a multitude of groups, artists and bands from all over the UK including many locally based performers. They can help with Licencing advice including performing rights and have contacts at MCPS-PRS to make the process easier. They are also a Sony DADC UK partner being the only one in the whole of Wales. Formed in 1989 they have been in the digital media business for many years and have a vast amount of experience to help their customers. This company has recently moved into video, producing Showreels for companies and other organisations. Performing the filming, editing and mastering of the whole production process.

The Big Splash weekend promises to be a memorable time in Newport with plenty of live music, theatre performances, film screenings and fantastic street performances along with a giant Bhangra dance-off, as well as drop-in workshops, dance and music competitions, arts and craft  stalls, a sunset fire spectacular, plenty of different foods and drinks to choose from and special guests. The event takes place over a long weekend from Friday 13^th July. Why not come along and join in the fun. Monday the 16^th will have the Wu-Tang Clan minus of course ODB, performing Legend of the Wu-Tang.

Dischromatics Releases its new Company Showreel

With Dischromatics new Showreel available on their web site, showing on YouTube and elsewhere on the web, it will give people an insight into the opportunities available in a relatively short video for company promotion and other uses. It’s an ideal way to display a company’s products and services along with interaction from customers providing testimonials and positive statements to enhance reputations and act as an enticement to prospective customers. Every company is unique and this professional marketing tool will enable anyone to make the most of these attractive and unique aspects of the business. 

When an organisation creates a marketing budget, rarely does it include a Company Showreel; in fact much of the cost related to marketing is still spent on advertising and sending out literature by post. However, as most people are aware, one of the most important areas to find new business is the use of the internet and therefore websites. Unfortunately most companies paying for a website and consequently paying someone to do the SEO, expect to be found on the top pages of the search engines without knowing enough about the process themselves, moreover there is far more to getting to the first page than applying certain SEO techniques. This is critical for successful ROI.  

Companies should be wary of adopting black hat techniques for SEO as it is possible that your site could be downgraded or even sandboxed. A Showreel will not only help your marketing drive and add to the interest of a website it will actually help the SEO as search engines favour sites with video and graphics displayed on the site. There are other advantages for the Showreel, it can also be burnt to CD or DVD and sent as part of an introduction to prospective clients or for a tender process. This is much more likely to be viewed and get the message across to the recipient and is clearly more impressive than great amounts of literature which is unlikely to be fully appraised.

The process of producing a Showreel for companies and other organisations is relatively simple and there are many offering this service but the execution of filming, interviews, voice overs, background music and so on along with the final editing and authoring needs to be carried out by a professional outfit. Dischromatics was established in 1989 and has been in the digital media and creative industries sector for many of those years. They are able to work to a critical path in order to achieve all the goals and can provide all the expertise needed from their own resources. Their own Showreel lasts for just over five minutes but for most companies a length of three to four minutes will be sufficient.

The production and resulting company Showreel needn’t be overly expensive, this will depend on the length of the video and as indicated above, what inclusions there are, whether professional voice over or music is required and so on.  Some websites already feature a Showreel but unfortunately these are a real turn off and effectively detrimental, they create the exact opposite impression to what was anticipated. Typically, you see Business Owner doing it on the cheap; they themselves are featured throughout and the video is taken with a static camera with the same background and with him talking about his own company, going on in a boring manner which interests no-one but himself. Bizarrely, the video is often placed on the home page and starts automatically every time you visit the site.

Clearly Showreels produced professionally with the right balance of positive features and interesting topics along with various inputs from different and staff and customers will give any business an enormous boost. For all enquiries about Showreel video production services why not give a no obligations telephone call to 01495 243222, email sales@dischromatics.co.uk  or simply visit the site where you can request a call back.