Anyone deliver on USB Drives?

[Victor Boyko]

Does anybody deliver HD copies of wedding videos on media other than DVDs? Im getting sick of the low quality DVD's have to offer and don't want to switch to expensive blu-ray. Does anyone here use USB drives. The problem I have is that my weddings are much larger than the 4GB FAT32 file size limit. If I want to put a 30 gb hd wedding video on a usb drive, How do I do it? Thanks.

[Dave Blackhurst]

BR drives have come down - well under $100 advertised at Fry's (west coast geek toy store)... and disks are also down to around/under $1 (I picked up 25 printable ones for $30 not to long ago)...

Might be time to re-evaluate, since BR players are ALSO well sub $100, meaning they WILL be adopted by a buyer far more readily. Not sure DVD players will be market viable too much longer as BR comes down into the "reasonable" price range most consumers will consider when upgrading/replacing/purchasing.

[Kyle Root]

Funny you mention it, because a few weeks ago, I modified all my packages to come with USB drives with the final video on there.

It's a whole lot easier than having to deal with on-disc printing and printing DVD case inserts. Plus with the advent of all the new TV technologies, I think most clients will love having it solid state.

They can literally take it with them where ever they go. On their phone, tablet, etc.

[Chris Harding]

Hi Kyle

That's my 2012 Resolution...give the bride her wedding on USB!! However their is one nagging question on my side!! Do you compile the files into a menu based structure or just supply one huge wedding clip??

All my weddings are broken up into one clip per event so I usually have 16 odd clips for a wedding which makes it less stressful to watch and is easily organised with DVD Lab so they can watch what they want.

I don't really want to just supply them a bunch of MP4 files on the USB drive although they would be easy to handle if they were intelligently named!!! Is there any software out there that can "organise" a batch of MP4 clips and autorun them so they come up the same as I do on my DVD's with a menu????

Chris

[Tariq Peter]

You could try the latest version of Toast. From the feature list "Combines multiple videos into a single DVD or Blu-ray disc."

[Jordan Nash]

You could embed VLC onto the thumb drive as a portable app. An autorun script should be able to load VLC and play a playlist.

[Kyle Root]

Chris,

As far as handling a bunch of individual clips, I'm not sure how that would work really. ..

In the past, I've always done my wedding edits as essentially one long project.

My initial idea is to deliver that single exported file, which is usually about an hour or less (depending).

The reason I decided to offer USB was because, over Black Friday, I picked up two of the Wal Mart special $49 LG Blu Ray players. They have a USB port and can play movies off a thumb drive. Additionally, I'm looking at new TVs and they all seem to come with USB ports too. Additionally, when I look at all the people I know with tablet devices, they all can watch movies on them and pretty much take them wherever they go. Same thing with the 4"+ cell phones.

I'm thinking that now is really the time to start the move away from discs and into solid state.

Originally Posted by Chris Harding

Hi Kyle

That's my 2012 Resolution...give the bride her wedding on USB!! However their is one nagging question on my side!! Do you compile the files into a menu based structure or just supply one huge wedding clip??

All my weddings are broken up into one clip per event so I usually have 16 odd clips for a wedding which makes it less stressful to watch and is easily organised with DVD Lab so they can watch what they want.

I don't really want to just supply them a bunch of MP4 files on the USB drive although they would be easy to handle if they were intelligently named!!! Is there any software out there that can "organise" a batch of MP4 clips and autorun them so they come up the same as I do on my DVD's with a menu????

Chris

[Corey Graham]

Originally Posted by Kyle Root

I'm thinking that now is really the time to start the move away from discs and into solid state.

I would like nothing more than for this to happen, but I think it's going to be a long process, and may never fully get to the point where we just deliver tiny thumb drives and nothing else more substantial.

In my experience, couples (and their families) put a lot of value on the physical aspect (packaging and design, disc, etc.), as another piece of wedding memorabilia.

And to me, it just cheapens the end product. "We paid a couple grand and all we get is THIS?"

[Taky Cheung]

BluRay isn't as expensive as it was used to be. Burner is less than $100. Player is less than $70. Blank disk is just a few dollars each.

To me I would still prefer deliver in DVD and BluRay. Customers love to have something tangible to hold in their hands. With DVD and Bluray cover design and disk label, it certainly makes it look like a hollywood movie disk. I always give my clients more copies so they can distribute to their friends and family, at the same time, help promote my business.

what if the B&G wants to give a copy of their DVD to their grandparents. USB delivery will not be possible.

IMO I would say USB delivery or Online stream would be an add-on option.

[Chris Harding]

Thanks Kyle

Yeah I must admit solid state will eventually be the media of the future ... sure Granpa will not be able to play a USB drive BUT also bear in mind Taky, that he won't be able to play a BD either!! I have grandparents who still have a VHS player and a CRT TV...what will you do about that situation where even an SD DVD is no use to them??? At least you can take a drive easier around with you and pop it into your tablet/laptop etc etc. I really think brides would love the idea of being able to pop their wedding video into a tiny purse to watch at their girlfriend's house.

Presentation is the key to making this a "value for money" item ..maybe a nice silk lined presentation box with the drives also in their own fancy case. I do see the point about a tiny item costing thousands so probably packing is the key to that (plus once you add your DVD Set and BD Set to the end presentation it will look quite smart.... I have yet to see some really nice looking "wedding USB drives" Sure there are metal finish ones there and also the novelty ones too but has anyone see "classy" drives that LOOK expensive??

Chris

[Taky Cheung]

Victor, the quality of DVD output highly depends on which encoder and the type of encoding involved. I am using Procoder, running 2-pass VBR. Even at 3mbps, I got very high quality output. Procoder isn't cheap tho.

Not many people have a computer hook up to a TV set.. There're more people have set top DVD hooked up to TV. I would agree solid state or online delivery will be popular in the future. Right now, it would be an attractive add on to what you are already offering.

[David Schuurman]

I offer a DVD and thumb drive with the HD finals on it. Its broken down into highlight, feature, ceremony, speeches. It helps future proof the videos while also giving them the DVD's that most of them watch anyways.

[Chris Harding]

Hi David

That sounds sensible..I currently give a DVD as the first line of defence as all brides will have a DVD player, unlikely to have a BluRay player and all seem to own their own laptop or Tablet so the idea of having the DVD for "the family to watch" and then show off the HD USB version to her girlfriends is not only good for the bride but the girlfriends (with a high rate of being eligible as future brides) will watch the video in HD and be suitably impressed. We all need future business and referal business is good cos the new client has already watched her best friend's wedding and knows what to expect !!

Chris

[Victor Boyko]

I really need an answer to this question please: all USB drives are fat32. That has a file size limit of 4gb. How do you deliver a wedding well over the 4gb limit on a USB? Or is there a way to convert to ntsc that I am unaware of?

I will look into procoder. I need something that will take a 3-4 hour video and convert into a 'pro' or watchable wedding video on a dual layer dvd. Premiere does a horrible job.
thanks.

[Nigel Barker]

As I just posted in another thread we have taken our lead from the Hollywood studios:-) & now supply a Triple-pack of Blu-ray, DVD & a digital copy. The latter used to be on a USB stick but now we burn to a disc so we can use 3-disk cases for presentation. We haven't found any nice cases for 2xdisc & 1xUSB plus you can print a nice picture onto discs whereas it's more difficult to personalise a USB stick. You can get them printed with your address for runs of 50 but there is no way of getting one or two just for a particular couple. We post online for download too. Anyone who is tech-savvy enough to play the HD copy off a USB stick can also copy the file from the disc or download it.