Credit Card DVD

[vegasarian]

I am producing a video for a client who wishes to distribute them to his customers with a brochure. He tells me he has seen a DVD which is the same size and shape as a credit card. Anyone know if this is fact or fiction?.

[an1mal mother]

sure, business card dvds.

for example,
http://www.snjcd.com/mini-dvds.shtml

[vegasarian]

Fascinating! Thanks for the reply. I notice they cant be burned, only pressed. Do they play in normal DVD player or does it need to sit in some sort of adaptor?.

[Cornucopia]

They're compatible with normal tray-loading players, but NOT slot-loading players and not many tray-loaders that are vertical.

They also are more expensive and take longer to produce than standard DVD's and slightly less compatible (manufacturing tolerance of the shape cut and how it spins) and OBVIOUSLY provide a lot less available space/time on the disc. Plus there's less room for fancy graphics on the disc face (sometimes NONE).

For those reasons, I normally try to steer my clients away from them. Even 3"/8cm rounds are better.

Scott

[vegasarian]

Many Thanks

[liquid217]

You can buy business card style burnable media:
http://www.cardiscs.com/dvdbuscar.html

I'm not sure of the quality. The above link was just the first entry from a google search.

[Des]

Just as a thought, I wonder if it might be worthhile convincing the client to use mini-dvd instead of the business card style ones. It would solve both compatability and burning issues and still be small and slightly unique.

--dES

[TBoneit]

Unless your client really wants business card shape DVDs that are also printable. and thus can double as both.

[vegasarian]

A colleague of his showed him the 'Business card DVD' and gave him an idea, now he's gone all 'gimmicky'. Personally I'm not prepared to accept an inordinate amount of 'returns' just because they've been put on a gimmicky medium. Although, I have to say DES's idea (Mini DVD) is mildly appealing as a middle ground. Hopefully I can make the file soooo huge that it will only fit on a standard 4.7 DVD.

[CrayonEater]

Those non-round media can be a real problem for drives, like those silly CDs that MSN and the like were sending out a few years back. Non-round discs introduce a lot more vibration at high rotational speeds. I would suggest avoiding a "gimmick" like this. It's not just returns you have to worry about, but trashing people's drives and DVD players as well.

[vegasarian]

Thanks for all the replies. Seems like 'Business Card DVD's ' are a big NO NO then. Are they good for anything?

[ZAPPER]

First get small batch to play with and get them to work in your player if you can. Then lay it on the line with the guy. Tell him that it is going to cost more and you can't assure the playability in most players, you wont give any warranty or other conditions in his favor and advise him that a product related to his business is going to make "HIM" look bad if it has a failure, either catastrophic or minor.

By producing a few copies that work in your equipment you kind of confirm your skill at what you do for the customer. By saying that you will do whatever the customer wants reminds the customer that the decision is theirs and that it is in fact a business decision (SP?) and a binding contract. By trying your best to talk him out of a bad choice it shows your customer that you do care about their business, althought this is often resented for some reason.

Put a warning/disclaimer on the product and possibly offer a way for the end user to get a different media or format of the movie so that they can see the presentation if one type doesn't work for them.

Your business attitude will dictate wether you bend over backwards for a customer or tell them to take it or leave it. Me? I kiss their ass to their face and cuss them all the way to the bank. Money will cause things like that, it's evil stuff.

Me again, I won't even try to play one of those damn disk again, I think that it was a Marlboro music CD (I could be wrong) that got jambed up in my trucks CD player. Errrrr!

[Super Warrior]

I think the mini-DVD the others suggested are better. They are not only neat, small, and compact, but hold about a good 1.4GBs.

[TBoneit]

Actually I looked at the Credit card CDs back when it looked like I might need to look for work again. I wanted printable/labelable ones that I could put a digital version of my resume and other things such as diplomas and certifications as well as some customization aimed at the recipient that would be viewable as a web page. To attach to a written Resume, Picture and a little info on the disc and a autorun file so that putting it into a windows computer would bring it up. Back then CD burners wer not that common and I firguered it might give me a leg up over other applicants.

[stantheman1976]

I love the idea of these things even if they are a gimmick or not practical. They look cool and can possibly give you an edge in that aspect. People see something different and remember your product. I say if your guy is willing then order a small batch of recordables and see how they work. 350 megs won't hold a ton of stuff, but if you just want to put a 5 minute or less informational video then they should be fine. You'll never know until you try and as long as it's someone else's money you're spending then I say try.

[Capmaster]

We have a portable DVD player that warns against using these "non-round" discs. It voids the warranty if you use them