How to get to replicator?

bullshark wrote on 11/12/2005, 6:02 AM

I am about ready to send a project to a replication service.

The question is how? DLT, at about $6 000 a pop for a machine, is NOT a solution, period. And Ebay is not a solution to buy one either, those that are cheap don't come with cables, SCSI card or drivers, basically they are just a useless heap of plastic.

I was thinking that I could buy about 60 hard drive for the price of one DLT units, could I just send a hard drive over?

What have you used to send file over to replication?

Thanks.

Comments

farss wrote on 11/12/2005, 6:10 AM

A good quality DVD-R burnt straight from DVD-A.

Only once had a problem and of course it was a rush job and the error didn't get found until the master made it to Thailand.
To avoid my little drama, after you've burnt the DVD master don't just check that it plays fine, drag the files on it into a temp folder to verify that there's no unrecoverable CRC errors, it seems DVD players just cope but the replicators gear had a dummy spit understandably.

The other thing though that they have mentioned and more than once, is the chapter markers not hitting "I" frames.

The cheapo DLT drives on eBay are usually OK, SCSI boards and cables are easy to come by and the new higher spec DLT drives I believe write in a format that the replicators will not accept.

Bob.

bullshark wrote on 11/12/2005, 6:27 AM

"A good quality DVD-R burnt straight from DVD-A."

I was warned that it wasn't totally reliable... Still cheaper to redo the master than to buy a brand new DLT unit. What's the very best media to use if I were to go that route? +R or -R and what brand you feel would be best?

"The other thing though that they have mentioned and more than once, is the chapter markers not hitting "I" frames."

Not a problem for this particular project, there is no chapter at all.

"The cheapo DLT drives on eBay are usually OK, SCSI boards and cables are easy to come by"

I know nothing about this technology, apart from the totally insane prices, and the idea of spending the next few months learning and trying to find all the right parts gives me nightmare at night.

"and the new higher spec DLT drives I believe write in a format that the replicators will not accept."

Good to know.

Thanks.

farss wrote on 11/12/2005, 1:35 PM

I've used the Taiyo Yuden DVD-Rs and they work just fine for replication. All the master that you're sending them is, is a disk full of data files, so long as they can read the files you're set. Much less to panic about than a audio CD master.

You can also send a real DVD master, that needs special media and a burner that costs the earth, largely not used today due to very high cost.

I've seen near new DLT drives for $125 on eBay, only reason I didn't snap one up is I've never been asked for a DLT tape. Even Dual Layer can be sent to the replicators out of DVDA by sending two ISO image single layer DVDs.

Bob.

richard-courtney wrote on 11/12/2005, 5:48 PM

Also check if they accept removable hard drives. Not worth it unless
you are doing double sided or multiple discs.

They will check for errors in reading the DVD-R general
but you may ask for a sample stamping. Will not have
silk screening and may delay your production run a few weeks
but could save you a grand or more.

donp wrote on 11/13/2005, 6:50 PM

I got a DLT 2000 XT refurbished unit from the Sunstar Co. for $287 including shipping and it included the SCSI cable too, it uses DLT III tapes. These tapes are quite common and are accepted by nearly all replicator houses. If you are going with a pristine DVD-R the call the potential replacor house and ask them if they accept DVD-r's.