Cost effective Editing and Authoring Tips for CDs and DVDs

Once you have completed principal photography for your new CD or DVD, the next step in the production process is editing and authoring.

Executive Vice President Asheesh Barman provides a great deal of information about these final two steps before the mastering and manufacturing of your DVD in a podcast here.

Or following are some quick tips. Barman's quick definition of editing and authoring is that it's almost like cooking. Editing is when you take the raw content, trim it and garnish it with transitions and special effects, and then polish it with music to tell your story.

On the other hand, authoring is taking the final edited product and adding flavors and spices, such as navigation, multiple sound tracks, titles, added footage, and outtakes or commentary from directors or producers.

There is a difference between authoring home movies, versus professional level quality for small businesses, who need the proper knowledge and resources to author DVDs to the expectation of their users. Acutrack handles jobs from small to Fortune 500 companies.

One of the most important things to remember in terms of advice, is to plan your project. Make sure before you even start endcoding audio video, you have the disk designed. Think about what the end user will see. Draw out a design. Do you want the logos first? A main menu. Will it have sound in the background or special effects? Do you need subtitles? Is the video for the US market? Is it NTSC standard? Is the frame rate right? 29.7 frames per second. Have you organized title cards or an info screen prior to the clip - for smooth transitions. Is the navigation fun and easy?

There are many challenges that can cause issues with DVD authoring. For instance, the proper resolution, design issues and sizing for monitors, or audio problems due to various channels. Fonts and colors can often be wrong causing flickering on the screen.

Acutrack makes it easier for customers because they can take over from any part of the process -- editing, transitions, adding sound bytes, corrections of sound, etc. They also offer editing studios, and can recommend professional editors and producers.