The First Installment in a new collection…
About a month ago, while watching TV one evening, I saw a commercial for Disney’s release of “Sleeping Beauty” digitally restored on Blu-ray Disc. Like any young girl growing up, I idolized Aurora, Ariel, Belle, and all the Disney Princesses. I had to mention, “Hey, maybe it’s time to start a collection of Disney animated movies on Blu-ray.”
According to Disney’s website, they don’t take big jumps in technology lightly:
“‘Sleeping Beauty’ will be the first animated Platinum title available on Blu-ray Disc. This release will mark a major milestone for Blue-ray, as Platinum titles are only released on a new format after it has proven to be technologically sound and popular with customers.”
Much to my surprise, my boyfriend actually remembered my musings that evening, and on my birthday appeared the brand new Sleeping Beauty Blu-ray Disc! Within minutes the wrapper was crumpled on the ground and the new title was in the Playstation 3. The quality of the restoration is breathtaking! It maintains the integrity of the classic Disney animation, and enhances it to a whole new level with the bright colors and crisp lines. It was even better than I had remembered.
Aside from the greatness of the movie itself, the new format adds so much more to the entire experience. Like DVD, there are plenty of special features such as deleted scenes and new songs, but BD takes it a step further. If your Blu-ray player is hooked up to the internet, you can access the Disney BD-Live Network where you can chat online with friends while watching the movie. There’s also lots interactive games to play, and the capability to download new features at any time.
I can’t wait for my niece to come over so we can check it all out together. Next on the list: Pinocchio (March 2009)
Chicago Band Wilco Testing Out New Downloadable Technologies
Wilco seems to be on the front lines of a lot of media technology developments lately. Last month Wilco told its fans that the Blu-ray version of their black and white documentary with a single audio track was a “waste of money“. Many have taken this to be a knock on Blu-ray, but I understand it to be a knock on the nessesity of the medium for such a project. This belief is backed up by their touring mate Neil Young, releasing an audio-visual collection on Blu-ray describing the merits of the audio/visual quality supported by Blu-ray as AMAZING.
In light of this quasi-controversy, Wilco is partnering with Warner Music Group to release a MP3/JPEG music application called “PlayApp”. According to WSJ.com, “PlayApps are single file, custom multimedia programs that can contain music, pictures, lyrics, and video. The songs in the “More Like The Moon EP” Wilco music playapp are extractable as 192 kbps MP3 files while the pictures are extractable as high resolution JPG files. PlayApps can be created for any computer system, but are initially being developed for the Windows platform, XP/Vista or greater.”
MP3′s have long got a lot of publicity, rightly so with the hype surrounding MP3 players, but has long struggled with the business model of marketing the music. Without “packaging” a major component of the marketing of an album is lost. So does “PlayApp” take a step in bridging this gap? Post your comments!
Do you think Blu-ray Players will be the iPod of Christmas Past?
With Blu-ray players as the “front page” seller for most black friday advertisements, does this mean that the blu-ray player is the must have gadget of 2008. This probably isn’t going to be the best retail Christmas but it is good news to a company like Great Lakes Media Technology whose business model is likely to profit from continued use of tangible media.
My honest opinion: I’m buying!
How Important Is Customer Service To You?
The duplication industry has seen significant changes over the past decade. Technological advancements from VHS and cassette tapes – to CD and DVD – and now high definition blu-ray. Replication companies implementing automated customer service is another trend that seems to be growing. As more and more companies move in this direction we feel that it is important to separate ourselves from this trend and maintain the “human” side of our customer support. In a recent survey, almost 79% of all customers will press “0″ to bypass automated support to talk to a real person (BusinessWeek 2008).
For every single customer at Great Lakes Media there is an assigned Account Manager and Customer Service Representative. It is important for us to understand exactly what it is the customer is looking for and to be able to customize each order to the very last detail. Our team takes pride in developing relationships and really getting to know our customers whether they order from us once a year or every day! That is why Great Lakes Media Technology will always use real people and real service when answering our phones.
Vectors Versus Pixels
Our goal is to have your disc print perfect. While perfection is certainly not always possible, we can strive for it and keep a few things in mind. There are 2 types of art to be aware of when printing on a disc: vector-based and pixel-based. Each is unique and serves a special purpose. It is important to understand the different formats for various types of art to achieve our ultimate goal of the perfect disc.
Vector-based art is perfect for all text and line illustrations. Vector art uses mathematical equations to create the lines and points that make up your design. Each of the lines will be crisp and clear at any size you choose. This art is ideal for those occasions you would like to type out text, place your simple logo on a print piece, and especially when you would like to print in spot colors. One of the preferred programs used to create vector graphics is Adobe Illustrator
Pixel-based art is made up of little dots of color. Pixel art is ideal for photographs. Many different color dots (pixels) make up an image. Pixel art, though, is meant to stay at a certain size so it is important to create usable art at the size you intend to print. The larger you re-size your image the worse the quality gets. A visual inspection prior to sending them off is crucial for these types of files to make sure everything is crisp enough. Adobe Photoshop is the program most commonly used when working with photographs.
These two programs can work together and create a variety of art. Images can be placed in Illustrator and text can be created in Photoshop but the limitations of each program must be kept in mind. In the end it is best to use each program for what it is intended.
