Hey all...

So i did a small 5min. video clip for a small local business (kitchen cabinetry). The owner of the business would like to distribute the CD business cards personally to his clients..

Since they are CD's, and not DVD's, what are my delivery format options?
The clients are all running PC's, for now. I don't mind making a set for Macs.
If so, what would be the preferred format of encode for either PC and/or Mac??

Importance should be pointed to guaranteed playback.

Please advise.

Hi Peter

I used to do stacks of CD Business cards a few years ago .. they have some interesting shapes too!!

Probably your best bet is to run the video inside an authoring program that does video so it produces an autorun EXE program ... I used a program called Multimedia Builder which worked well but I see my wife uses Proshow Producer to make slideshows and she often adds video clips and it's output options include a autorun exe file so you can distribute on CD.

You do need the CD to be able to be dropped into a drive and it will auto play on a computer so the viewer has no issues .... they want to close the CD tray and watch it without touching anything!

Chris

Are people still using CDs?

Hi Dmitri

I haven't supplied them for years now ..demand just fell away but they are still available it seems, here away!

DiskBank - Mini, Rounded Edge and Rectangular Business Card CDs and DVDs - Perth, Sydney (http://www.diskbank.com.au/Mini-CD-DVD-duplication-and-replication/)

Chris

Are people still using CDs?
This.

Give the guy a unique url, i.e. PetesKitchenCabinets.com/video, then re-direct that url to the video.

I don't think modern cd-drives will play the business card cds anymore - I'm not sure anyone ever played one when they were all the rage.

people don't play cd, DVD or blu-ray, they play discs and don't care where they are supposed to play it.
Small CDcards have 2 drawbacks.
First they are very small in capacity (about 150Mb) .
Second, the shape is not really player friendly, especially in high speed drives like DVD players.

Since youtube, the space problem should not be a limitation, you can provide a video in very small size (320x240).
If you want to be sure people can play the disk everywhwre, you need to create a mixed format.
You make a DVD on a CD and before burning it, you add the necessary files for playing on a pc/mac.

Hi Mike

They should play mini DVD's or CD's with no issue. My current drive which I replaced just a month ago has the 80mm recess in the tray for the smaller disk and they play perfectly OK for me.

I guess if the clients asks for Busicard CD's then you should be able to supply them, whether they are the best thing for the client or not. Business is business and the client is always right

Chris

I guess if the clients asks for Busicard CD's then you should be able to supply them, whether they are the best thing for the client or not. Business is business and the client is always right
No.

If you went into a camera store looking for a 35mm camera, and they sold you one, they would be derelict for not asking you, "have you heard about digital cameras?". It would still be your choice, of course, and maybe you have a legitimate reason for buying a film camera - but would you rather go to the store who would sell you antiquated equipment, no questions asked, or the store who would listen to your needs, and suggest what fulfills your needs?

No cell phone, iPad, tablet, laptop, or Mac computer will use those business card CDs. You are providing something to a client that won't reach 75% of his market.

Educate him.

Use personalized thumb drives and throw the video on that.

All of these are interesting ideas... but what if you have your client send out regular business cards with a link to the video already online? The link can be both alphabetical: "http://website.com/video" and/or a QR code that links to the video automagically

in my opinion, using a QR code would open up the clients to using their smartphones to view the video as well. This would increase viewership not decrease it. Just a thought.

BTW, this QR code goes to my latest 48 Hour Film Project entry on Vimeo if you scan it...

I have heard of business cards not mounting on slot loading drives and damaging the player mechanism. There is not enough physical material for auto-load and the card gets stuck on some computers. Most people won't bother using them and they end up in a drawer until they are thrown out.
It's not a viable tool now.

I agree with the others here that it's your responsibility to try to steer the client towards a more successful way to promote this video. Ultimately, if the client cannot be persuaded, then fine, I would deliver what was asked. But I do think you should at least offer some helpful perspective.

I was actually quite surprised that suppliers still are offering the blank discs. I bought some hardware a few years back and the install disk was a round 80mm mini CD and it seemed to run fine but yes, CD business cards are pretty old technology I would say and yes, they will end up in a desk drawer more than likely.

Probably you could get a Smart Phone app nowdays that would be an electronic business card and provide a bit of text and images as well.

I think the last time I actually made a CD business card for a client was back in 2001 and then demand simply died off.

Chris