By BOB EICHOLZ
Two months ago, Eric Bonniot, CEO of 525 Studios, asked me if I wanted to produce the studio’s first DVD house reel. "Absolutely!" I responded. "With my media and software background, the project will be a no-brainer-and great fun."
Well, yes and no. Last week, we received 350 copies of the 525 Studios DVD. First, the good news: Viewers have given us rave reviews. They compliment the ease-of-use, random access to content and razor-sharp DVD picture quality, which at least one reviewer thought was high-definition. Beyond the traditional house reel, our DVD includes an artist gallery, which showcases 525 artists using full-screen images of their best work; extensive credits that recognize agencies, directors, editors and 525 staff, and that promote networking in the industry; and 525 information, including available equipment, a map and contacts.
Overall, we couldn’t be happier with the end result. Version 2.0 is already on the drawing board.
Now the bad news: Producing a successful DVD wasn’t as easy as I had anticipated. Along the way, we learned many lessons, some of them quite painful. Below are the most important insights. If a DVD is in your future, read on and benefit from our experience.
Lesson 1: DVD technologies are relatively new. As such, they display many of the symptoms of new technologies, including incompatibilities, evolving standards and things that just don’t work the way you think they should. We encountered several challenges, and you probably will too.
For one, not all DVD players are created equal. DVDs that play correctly on your home entertainment center may not play on your PC. DVD-Rs-the media you will use to "proof" your prototypes-have the most significant cross-platform issues. In fact, we never could get our Macs and PCs to play them all the way through, even after many hours of vendor phone support. That said, DVD-Rs are still a useful "prototyping" medium, and our final 525 DVD functions perfectly on most (but not all) PCs and entertainment centers.
We also discovered that advanced DVD authoring tools are labor-intensive. Seemingly minor revisions can result in major "reimporting" and "rebuilding" costs. For example, minor changes to a menu on our DVD created the need to re-import the Adobe Photoshop images, reestablish all the navigation links, and retest to make sure it all worked. Over time, the authoring tools will get better, but for now, make every effort to limit revisions by planning ahead.
"Point and Click" Web links don’t work on DVDs. Include your Web address, but don’t expect users to be able to "click" and navigate to it, even on a PC.
DVDs don’t handle long text passages well. In fact, most DVD players cannot print, except through a complicated "screen capture" procedure.
Finally, we learned that DVD "standards" aren’t universally followed. For example, when allowing a user to select a menu option, some DVD remotes use "Select." Some use "Enter." Others use "Return." Still others use only a graphic arrow. Therefore, reconsider any screen designs that refer to specific remote buttons by name. Include them, and you risk confusing your users.
Lesson 2: Treat DVD development as a full-blown project. A DVD project needs a producer and a workplan with dates and accountabilities. Without these, you will encounter unnecessary delays and cost overruns. Keep it simple; one to two pages is enough for the plan. Use e-mail to keep everyone informed, and include two frequently overlooked items-contingency and credits-in your timeline. Build in three weeks or more of contingency into your first DVD workplan; you will need them. As for credits, start collecting them on day one. If you accidentally leave out key clients, you risk alienating them rather than selling them additional work. We used much of our contingency time collecting credits.
Lesson 3: Creating an easy-to-use DVD is an art. Don’t assume you can rely on your software authoring tools to automatically create user-friendly menus and navigation paths. Instead, first build a limited prototype DVD-R. In this version, focus only on menu appearance and navigation paths. Then let lots of people try it. You will be surprised at what you discover. We had to simplify and refine our menus when we found that many users were "getting lost."
And here’s the ultimate "ease of use" suggestion: Label your DVD as a DVD. Remember, DVDs look exactly like CD-ROMs. One of our testers couldn’t figure out why the DVD didn’t work in his CD-ROM drive!
Lesson 4: Either hire experienced DVD staff, or find a DVD business partner. The DVD learning curve is steep. Unless you have an experienced DVD staff with design and technical experience, you need help. Find someone who can not only execute your designs, but partner with you during the entire production process. We worked with Bitmax in Hollywood. They served not just as "note takers," but as our production partner, giving us direction and options at every step. Among other things, their role included translating our Web images to DVD, compressing video footage, suggesting menu and navigation design alternatives, authoring and providing packaging advice. Make sure your staff or DVD business partner can cover all of these bases.
Lesson 5: Include at least five days in your plan for reviewing and testing. No one will enjoy repeatedly reviewing and testing the DVD. But skip this step, or do it carelessly, and you risk complete failure. Remember, a DVD copy is forever. You can’t change it after you make the copies.
During our reviews, we uncovered subtle defects, such as missing credits or navigation buttons that didn’t work. If we hadn’t discovered these defects, we would have had to discard all 350 DVD copies. Most importantly, do a full test of all menus, navigation paths, and text proofing before you approve the final pressing.
Lesson 6: Consider using your web designs as the design foundation for your DVD. If you have a well-designed Web site, consider reusing the graphic designs on your DVD. If appropriate, check to see whether or not the backgrounds and the menu images can be reused. Using Adobe Photoshop-based Web designs by Karen Kamberg Design in Los Angeles, we were able to maintain a consistent look, and avoid additional design costs. Do check with your DVD author on this one, though. Depending on your specific situation, it may be more cost-effective to start with new images.
There you have it. These lessons aside, we are very happy with our DVD. For me, there’s nothing like sitting back with my remote and navigating through crystal-clear videos, stills and information about our company. The DVD experience gave us a sense of accomplishment and a great tool to showcase our work to current and potential clients. If you decide to undertake a similar project, take our six lessons into account. You’ll be a step ahead of the game.
Endeavor Group Sells Professional Bull Riders, On Location and IMG To Parent of WWE and UFC
The parent company of WWE and UFC is buying Professional Bull Riders, On Location, and IMG from Endeavor Group in an all-stock deal valued at $3.25 billion.
The deal is part of Endeavor's efforts to shed some of its assets as it looks to be taken private in a proposed transaction with private equity firm Silver Lake, which was announced in April. Ariel Emanuel, who serves as CEO of Endeavor, is also executive chair and CEO of TKO.
Professional Bull Riders is a bull riding league that has more than 200 annual live events, approximately 1.25 million fans, and reaches more than 285 million households in more than 65 territories. On Location is live event company for more than 1,200 sporting events, such as the Super Bowl, Ryder Cup and NCAA Final Four. IMG is a distributor and producer of sports content, packages and sells media rights and brand partnerships, and provides consulting, digital services and event management to clients such as the National Football League and National Hockey League.
Parent company TKO Group said Thursday that the acquisition from Endeavor Group will complement its existing businesses as well as broaden its reach in the premium sports market.
"PBR, On Location, and IMG are industry-leading assets that meaningfully enhance TKO's portfolio and strengthen our position in premium sports globally," TKO Chief Operating Officer Mark Shapiro said in a statement. "Within TKO, they will help power the growth of our revenue streams and position us to capture even more upside from some of the most attractive parts of our sports ecosystem: media rights, live events, ticket sales, premium experiences, brand partnerships, and site fees."
As part of the deal, Endeavor will receive about 26.14 million common units of TKO... Read More