Blu-ray Replication for Independent Filmmakers
Blu-ray Logo
Despite the debate over how long Blu-ray will last continues, we cannot ignore the fact that the number of households with Blu-ray players continues to rise and the cost of Blu-ray players has dropped to the consumers’ comfort level. On top of that, the price of high-definition TVs is sliding. Like it or not, the demand for high-definition video such as Blu-ray is there.
But who will buy a Blu-ray disc instead of streaming from the Internet? Based on the titles we have helped replicate, we found that contents targeting the baby boomers account for most of the titles. Bill Matson, an independent filmmaker and producer for Fight to the Wall, told us that most buyers of his movies have Blu-ray players at home and prefer Blu-ray to DVD. They won’t mind paying a few bucks more for Blu-ray. In fact, these few bucks are good enough to cover the higher replication cost.
I hope I have convinced you on the finance side that releasing a Blu-ray title is not as expensive as you might have thought. True, there is AACS license and other minor fees. But once diluted by the volume they will become insignificant. Your few bucks from the customers will be more than enough to cover that. What deters you from having a Blu-ray release may be technical and the cumbrous procedure of getting the AACS license. Fortunately, we have all the solutions.
Getting the right format for replication
Most Blu-ray authoring software can only output authoring results in BD-MV format. BD-MV is good for duplication and it is good for you to burn the content onto a Blu-ray recordable. But if you need replication, i.e. making a glass master and stamper to stamp the disc from raw plastic, then BD-MV is useless. The acceptable format is called BD-CMF. There are only a few expensive pieces of software on the market that can output BD-CMF, Roxio DVDit ProHD, and Scenarist BD Studio for example.
To get over this obstacle, New Cyberian will accept Blu-ray replication orders in BD-MV format. We will convert the BD-MV format into BD-CMF format for you. Now you can use your Final Cut Pro X, Adobe Encore, and any other authoring software to create your Blu-ray title and don’t have to worry about the technical nuance.
Getting the AACS license
To make Blu-ray replication process even easier, we will help you apply for the AACS license. Forget about filling up all the forms and the delay in getting approval from the AACS, New Cyberian will make the application for you on your behalf.
Contact for Blu-ray Replication
Contact New Cyberian if you need Blu-ray replication. We are the only independent filmmakers-friendly company that understands your difficulties and have solutions for you. Please find out more pricing and production information from our website at www.newcyberian.com.
I am about to press 15,000 blu-rays and I am glad that I found you. I have sub-title on my blu-ray. Do you think converting BD-MV to BD-CMF will destory the sub-title?
I have contacted few replicators before seeing your post. To my surprised, all the people I’ve spoken were ignorant on the technical. One company told me they could take my BD-MV master but once I sent them the master they changed their story. I have no way to come up with a BD-CMF master now. Please help!
Hi Angel,
Welcome to New Cyberian!
Let me assure you that converting from bd-mv to bd-cmf will not destroy the sub-title and other features. We have done this so many times. We can give you references if you need.
Hi Issac,
I am glad that I called you and I have the peace of mind now. You did sound much more knowledgeable than the other people I have talked. Thanks for all the info and suggestions.
Hi Angel,
This is Jet from New Cyberian. One reminder is the region code. When you author the blu-ray, try not to set the region code unless you absolutely want to limit the audience by region. We had a customer accidentally set the region code to US only and since they are selling the blu-rays at a tourist site, European buyers of their blu-rays would have a hard time watching the video. When we convert your bd-mv to bd-cmf the region code will be carried over. So please watch out!
hi,
can i send you the master on usb hard drive or thumb drive? i was told writing data on bd-r is not as reliable as writing on hdd or thurmb drive. Can you verify that?
Dear whitepass
New Cyberian accepts all digital format as master as long as we can read and verify the data. I recommend you create a MD5 checksum for all the files so we can verify them for data integrity.
If you choose to use BD-R, please send us two copies so in case one copy got scratched or broken we can have another copy as backup. You can also upload the data to file sharing sites such as Dropbox, Sendspace, etc. Make sure to zip the files using winzip or winrar and split the compressed file into chunks of 200MB. Otherwise uploading a 25GB file will take forever and in case there is uploading error you will waste all the data that have been uploaded.
Regarding whether USB is better then BD-R,.my take is whatever is convenient, use it. I found the claim that one format is better than the other is groundless.
i have the same problem. i used adobe encore on the authoring and now the replicator, discmakers, says they can not use bd-mv unless i pay them to convert. i don’t mind paying as long as it works. so if i send you the bdmv files you will be able to make a glass master?
i got a stupid question. can i just buy the glass master from you?
Hi,
Yes and no. Yes, you can just send us the BD-MV files and we will be able to create a glass master. No, we cannot sell you the glass master because it’s useless if you try to use it with another replicator. First of all the blu-ray disc are not coming out of the glass master. Glass mastering is only an intermediate step in the whole process. From the glass master we will have to create a aluminum stamper. The stamper is the actual plate for injection molding. Now can we sell you the stamper instead? I don’t think so. We have to keep our stampers in a temperature control room so I doubt that it can be taken out and ship to you. Besides every replicator has its own mounting requirements and a stamper works in one plant may not work in the other.
Why not just shop for the blu-ray replication from our webiste. I believe we have the most competitive pricing in the industry. When you compare prices, bare in mind that all our prices already have lump sum AACS and per disc AACS included. They also include the glass mastering fees.
I finally got all my blu-rays. They look fantastic. Thank you so much New Cyberian for turning out such great job. I’ve never thought making 15,000 blu-ray discs is such an easy task. I hope your business will thrive otherwise I don’t know who to turn to next time. I will definitely re-order when my discs are running out.
Hi Angel,
It was a pleasure and thank you for your kind words. We wish your project a great success and will come back to us soon for re-ordering.
Isaac
Hi newcyberian,
I’m about to place an order of 2,000 blu-ray’s, just want to make sure the prices on your website includes AACS. I found some websites are pretty tricky on that. Also, do I have to contact Sony to get AACS or you can do that for me? Please advise.
Brad
Dear Brad,
Yes, our prices on our website include the AACS and stamper fees already. We will apply for the AACS on your behalf. Our AACS certificate key will last forever and unlike other companies’ only for one year. I hope this information helps you and the others to make the right decision.
shoot! i hate myself without finding this first. I tried to get my bluray replicated with a seemingly reputable disc maker but got burned big time. The before/after attitude makes me sick to my stomach. Before the sales everything was promised; deadline, authoring, check disc, etc. But after the sales, I couldn’t even talk to a live person. It took me over 6 weeks to get my 1000 blurays done and the quality was mediocre at best.
I am bookmarking your site and will definite try your company next time.
Hi,
Sorry for your bad experience with your ex-vendor. Can you share what was bad about the product you have received besides the bad customer service?
Isaac
Hi Isaac,
Well, the discs do play, but the printing quality was so lousy and on some of them they were not even centered. on the reflective side of the disc i can see the sliver stain and they don’t look like a perfect mirror to me. I guess no one will be that picky to complain that but as the creator of the blu-ray myself I just don’t feel comfortable. Can you tell me what caused the silver stain and is it true that, according to them, that it is not going to affect the readability? tks!
To be fair, the stain will probably not going to affect the readability. But I don’t know how severe the situation is so I cannot predict that. If you only see very light some sort of fluid turbulence shadow then it should be ok. But if the contrast is too much then that is questionable.
The stain is caused by uneven spinning of the disc during a process called sputtering. When the disc is pressed with the bumps for data it is actually clear. A process call sputtering is to add the silver layer on top of the disc. The way to do that is by spinning the disc in high speed and a drop of silver liquid is landing on the highly spinning disc to create the silver coating. If the speed of spinning is uneven then it will create such shadow.
One thing I can guarantee that all discs replicated by New Cyberian will not have such cosmetic defect.
hi isaac,
i’m actually about to finish my next film and I want to try your service. but sorry to be skeptical since i got burned by my former supplier. may i know what brand of blu-ray do you use and what quality control you have to make sure the blu-ray i get will work on most blu-ray players?
Hi Ms/Mr. stupid_me,
Sorry I don’t have your name and sorry about the salutation. But this time you know not to go back to your ex-vendor so you are not stupid at all.
I thought I need to clarify this not only to you but to all who are interested in doing blu-ray copying. First we need to distinguish between blu-ray duplication and blu-ray replication. When you asked what brand of blu-ray disc we use you actually meant blu-ray duplication by making copies with a burner onto store-bought media. But we only do that for small quantities. For big quantity we use another process called bluray replication. There is no concept of brand in this case. The disc are made from polycarbonate in a factory setting for mass production. Just like when you buy a blu-ray Hollywood movie from Walmart the blu-ray is not burned. I hope I have answered your question. I don’t use a specific brand when do mass manufacturing.