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Studio B
provides professional
video-to-web and video-to-DVD
services. Think of us as your
bridge between technology and
storytelling, between traditional
media and future platforms.
Today our
clients expert more than just
simply laying their final shows
back to tape. In the digital age,
clients want the convenience of
presenting their work on DVD, CD,
or the web. Getting your
project into new formats doesn't
have to be an added headache.
Studio B can easily remaster your
project onto disc or into
electronic format for the
Internet.
When it comes to compression for
web video, we're the experts.
We know how to maintain the
best possible image quality while
allowing for fast downloads, so
your web movies not only look
great, but play easily over the
web.
We can
encode in QuickTime, Real Player,
MPEG, or just about any other
format you desire. We have
state-of-the-art equipment to
transfer your material to digital
format, and our expert video
engineers make sure everything
goes smoothly.
We also
handle all aspects of DVD
authoring and encoding. Our DVD
authoring service includes the
creation of beautiful interactive
menus and other interface
elements, according to your
needs. Please check out
some of our web and DVD designers
in the portfolio
section.
Our DVD production
capabilities include, but are not
limited to:
- Dolby Digital audio
encoding, customized to
your home stereo or surround
sound system; in many cases
right down to the number and
placement of your
speakers.
- Motion Menus. Seen
all the time in Hollywood DVDs
of feature films, these menus
are created using composite
video and picture layers.
- Still Menus. These
are simpler menus that consist
of a background image, such as
a photo or graphic, with
icons, or thumbnail pictures
overlaid to create buttons for
navigation.
- Slide Shows. As the
name implies, still images are
incorporated into a background
and set to advance to the next
slide automatically, or
manually. Music can be added
and synchronized to your
slides. Ideal as a
supplemental program on a
wedding DVD, or for
presentations.
- Subtitles. Either
as an aid to the hearing
impaired, to provide foreign
language translation, or
simply to help punctuate key
scenes or slides, subtitles
can add versatility and access
to your DVD.
- Multi-Angle Tracks.
Also seen in many
Hollywood productions, this
feature can provide a change
of perspective to a story, or
provide a way for your viewer
to explore your presentation
in a nonlinear way.
- Multi-Language
Tracks. With advantages
similar to those of subtitles,
you can increase the value of
your DVD by providing an
alternative language for your
viewers to listen to.
Why
should you use Studio B to create
your DVD?
Project Management
We work with you to
conceptualize and manage your
project. From the flow-chart,
to the menu design, to the
on-disc artwork, we team-up
with our clients to create a
DVD that you will be proud of.
In-house production and
editing
We can work with you
at any stage in the process.
We often hook up with
our clients starting from
scratch; collaborating on the
production and post production
of their projects, leading up
to the final DVD. At other
times we just produce the DVD
of a completed show, either
way we make sure that the look
and feel of the show is
consistent with design of the
DVD.
High-Quality Compression
and Encoding
In order to put your
program on a DVD it needs to
be compressed or encoded.
Studio B utilizes high quality
real-time encoding. To do this
right, Studio B starts with
the best quality possible.
If you mastered your
show on Digital Betacam, we
can bring your program in
serial digitally, directly
from that master. Studio
B also employees expert
compression engineers to
insure that the quality you
put into your video is
maintained throughout the
process of producing the DVD.
DVD Authoring and
Design
The process of
programming a DVD is called
authoring. Our DVD authors do
it all: from a straight
transfer to a complex project
containing multiple chapters,
motion menus, subtitles,
alternate audio tracks,
multiple camera angles, and
support for 16x9 widescreen
format. Studio B works
with some very talented
graphic designers to create
the interface and cover art.
To see their work please
check out the portfolio
section of our website.
Replication
If you need less than
50 copies, we replicate the
DVDs in-house. If you
need hundreds or even
thousands of copies, Studio B
has the expertise and industry
contacts to guide you through
this process, helping you stay
on schedule and on budget for
your DVD production needs.
DVD
FAQ - Frequently Asked
Questions
What
is DVD?
DVD, which once stood for
Digital Video Disc or Digital
Versatile Disc, is the next
generation of optical disc
storage technology. It's
essentially a bigger, faster CD
that can hold video as well as
audio and computer data. DVD aims
to encompass home entertainment,
computers, and business
information with a single digital
format, eventually replacing
audio CD, videotape, laserdisc,
CD-ROM, and perhaps even video
game cartridges. DVD has
widespread support from all major
electronics companies, all major
computer hardware companies, and
major movie and music
studios.
What are the advantages of
releasing in DVD over tape?
- Superior Quality - A DVD
holds over 2 hours of
high-quality digital video.
VHS has only 250 lines of
resolution while DVD has 525
lines of resolution, producing
a sharper, cleaner image.
- Instant Access ˆ DVD
is both non-linear and
interactive. You can
access any point in the
program instantly without the
"rewinding" or
"fast-forwarding" of a video
tape, while allowing access to
menus, graphics, multiple
angles, subtitles, and
alternate audio tracks all
with the push of a
button.
- Unsurpassed Longevity (no
wear from playing, only from
physical damage).
- Support for widescreen
movies on standard or
widescreen TVs (4:3 and 16:9
aspect ratios).
- Up to 8 tracks of digital
audio (for multiple languages,
DVS, etc.), each with as many
as 8 channels.
- Up to 32 subtitle/karaoke
tracks.
- Automatic "seamless"
branching of video (for
multiple story lines or
ratings on one disc).
- Up to 9 camera angles
(different viewpoints can be
selected during
playback).
- Menus and simple
interactive features (for
games, quizzes, etc.).
- Multilingual identifying
text for title name, album
name, song name, cast, crew,
etc.
- Instant rewind and fast
forward (no "be kind, rewind"
stickers and threats on rental
discs)
- Instant search to title,
chapter, music track, and
timecode.
- Not susceptible to
magnetic fields. Resistant to
heat.
- Compact size (easy to
handle, store, and ship;
players can be portable;
replication is cheaper than
tapes or laserdiscs).
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Noncomedogenic.
What's the difference
between a DVD movie and computer
DVD?
It's important to
understand the difference
between DVD-Video and DVD-ROM.
DVD-Video (often simply called
DVD) holds video programs and
is played in a DVD player
hooked up to a TV. DVD-ROM
holds computer data and is
read by a DVD-ROM drive hooked
up to a computer. The
difference is similar to that
between Audio CD and CD-ROM.
DVD-ROM also includes
recordable variations.
What is the quality of DVD
Video?
DVD has the
capability to produce
near-studio-quality video and
better-than-CD-quality audio.
DVD is vastly superior to
consumer videotape and
generally better than
laserdisc. However,
quality depends on many
production factors. As
compression experience and
technology improves we will
see increasing quality, but as
production costs decrease we
will also see more shoddily
produced discs. A few
low-budget DVDs will even use
MPEG-1 encoding (which is no
better than VHS) instead of
higher-quality MPEG-2.
DVD video is usually
encoded from digital studio
master tapes to MPEG-2 format.
The encoding process uses
lossy compression that removes
redundant information (such as
areas of the picture that
don't change) and information
that's not readily perceptible
by the human eye. The
resulting video, especially
when it is complex or changing
quickly, may sometimes contain
visual flaws, depending on the
processing quality and amount
of compression. At average
video data rates of 3.5 to 5
Mbps (million bits/second),
compression artifacts may be
occasionally noticeable.
Higher data rates can result
in higher quality, with almost
no perceptible difference from
the master at rates above 6
Mbps. As MPEG compression
technology improves, better
quality is being achieved at
lower rates.
Video from DVD sometimes
contains visible artifacts
such as color banding,
blurriness, blockiness, fuzzy
dots, shimmering, missing
detail, and even effects such
as a face that "floats" behind
the rest of the moving
picture. It's important to
understand that the term
"artifact" refers to anything
that was not originally
present in the picture.
Artifacts are sometimes caused
by poor MPEG encoding, but
artifacts are more often
caused by a poorly adjusted
TV, bad cables, electrical
interference, sloppy digital
noise reduction, improper
picture enhancement, poor
film-to-video transfer, film
grain, player faults, disc
read errors, etc. Most DVDs
exhibit few visible MPEG
compression artifacts on a
properly configured system..
If you think otherwise, you
are misinterpreting what you
see.
Some early DVD demos were
not very good, but this is
simply an indication of how
bad DVD can be if not properly
processed and correctly
reproduced. Many demo discs
were rushed through the
encoding process in order to
be distributed as quickly as
possible. Contrary to common
opinion, and as stupid as it
may seem, these demos were not
carefully "tweaked" to show
DVD at its best. In-store
demos should be viewed with a
grain of salt, since most
salespeople are incapable of
properly adjusting a
television set.
Most TVs have the sharpness
set too high for the clarity
of DVD. This exaggerates
high-frequency video and
causes distortion, just as the
treble control set too high
for a CD causes it to sound
harsh. Many DVD players output
video with a black-level setup
of 0 IRE (Japanese standard)
rather than 7.5 IRE (US
standard). On TVs that are not
properly adjusted this can
cause some blotchiness in dark
scenes. DVD video has
exceptional color fidelity, so
muddy or washed-out colors are
almost always a problem in the
display (or the original
source), not in the DVD player
or disc.
DVD audio quality is
superb. DVD includes the
option of PCM (pulse code
modulation) digital audio with
sampling sizes and rates
higher than audio CD.
Alternatively, audio for most
movies is stored as discrete,
multi-channel surround sound
using Dolby Digital or DTS
audio compression similar to
the digital surround sound
formats used in theaters. As
with video, audio quality
depends on how well the
processing and encoding was
done. In spite of compression,
Dolby Digital and DTS can be
close to or better than CD
quality.
The final assessment of DVD
quality is in the hands of
consumers. Most viewers
consistently rate it better
than laserdisc, but no one can
guarantee the quality of DVD,
just as no one should dismiss
it based on demos or hearsay.
In the end it's a matter of
individual perception and the
level of quality delivered by
the playback system.
Give us a call at
510.848.6026 or email us
at
and we'll be happy to discus your
project.
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