Delivery format

[Dave Partington]

Originally Posted by Aindreas Lynch

I know nobody my age (30's) who has either a DVD or a BR player, I don't even have one myself!! I stream or download everything I watch at home. .

My daughter (28) has DVD player and never rents or downloads movies.

My sons (25 & 27) both have Blu-ray players AND BUY movies on Blu-ray. The don't rent, ever, not do they download their movies.

They do download their games, because it's cheaper then buying physical discs.

Maybe when they all get to your age (30) there'll instantly sell them ;)

[Robert Benda]

I'm 36 and we converted to digital only, though we use my PS3 which has a blu-ray/DVD player. I'm smart enough to know that you never assume you'll always have internet :) So even though most new movie purchases are via streaming, I still have some DVDs, just in case.

That's why I prefer to simply provide both for clients, so they can decide which suits them best.
*Online is great for instant delivery, and for them sharing with family/friends
*digital allows them copies of their material and can be used (almost) anywhere
* DVD/blu-ray is established and accessible, so that traditional only folks, especially parents, can still see everything.

I'm in no hurry to quit DVDs, but am willing to believe that in 10 years or so, it will have diminished. Just remember how slow this conversion can take. For instance, DVD became a legitimate consumer format in 1998. 2002 was the first time DVD outsold VHS and they still made stand along VCRs until 2008! They STILL make DVD/VCR combos because so many people don't want to give up their old stuff.

[Steven Digges]

This conversation has taken place before. My answer is still the same as it was then. Unless you want to loose out on business it is not for us to decide how the client should receive the product. It is up to us to provide it in the format THEY want.

Yes, we are once again in a transitional phase. These are not overnight transitions. Nothing to get excited about here. I have been through many of these.

Steve

[Aindreas Lynch]

Newspapers are how we like our news delivered................ :)

Nobody is forcing anyone to change how they do their business but as far as I am concerned you can either do as you always did and hope it will be ok or you can embrace the present and future proof your business.

[Noa Put]

Originally Posted by Randy Johnson

I dont mind delivering on a thumbdrive but I cant see the clients being into that.

I offer dvd as standard as usually one copy goes to either the parents or grandparents and I don't see that changing soon but I have been pushing HD file delivery on a thumbdrive for the couple (they are now from a ipad/iphone generation) and to my surprise that's about all I have been selling lately, just a very small percentage requests blu-ray.

[Aindreas Lynch]

Originally Posted by Robert Benda

That's why I prefer to simply provide both for clients, so they can decide which suits them best.

I offer both as well however I don't ask which they would prefer, I simply deliver digitally. If they then ask for a DVD then I will provide it but I have never been asked for one since I stopped providing them. I'm pretty sure if I was still providing chaptered DVD's my clients would be happy with them too.

I never mention the word DVD during the initial sales meet and only explain the benefits of digital download and how they can use it on their digital devices. When they realise they will be able to watch it on their phone and tablet in HD, stream to their 42" TV in HD and copy it to their PC etc they are amazed at the technology!

It costs me nothing to do this and in actual fact is cheaper for me to deliver this way. It is the future so why not embrace it now?

[Noa Put]

For those who offer digital download, in what way do you send the files to them? Something like dropbox or?

[Arthur Gannis]

I must say that many of my customers here are tech savy and most demand that their wedding is on BluRay. The majority have 47 inch LCD/LED screens and larger. DVD shown on those large panel displays look like mush and displays like a 2rd generation VHS copy., DVD's looked good on the tube teles of 32 inch and smaller, now they have 80" LED displays and soon will go to 4K.
I always clinch the sale when I let them see and compare the quality between a 2 hour DVD and the SAME wedding on a 2 hour BluRay disc. It is an eye opener and that is my "edge" that makes them sign. I believe one has to be up to date on what the client wants as the best possible quality or else the competition will offer it. Delivery on a thumb drive and similar runs the risk of corrupted files, loss, and accidental erasure and other possible ways to "lose" the files. I make a BluRay master, give 2 BluRay copies to the client and have the project file stored on a hard drive. The price of hard drives being as they are makes it feasable to archive 15 weddings on a 3TB drive that costs $150, costing only $10 to store away the wedding. I did just that back in 1999 when all of a sudden everyone wanted their wedding on DVD instead of the VHS they received. As soon as a DVD burner was available, I charged $250 for the DVD copy per client. Keeping them project files really paid off and would you believe it, I have some customers that got married in 2003-2006 and now asking for a BluRay copy. Sure, I can do that,,, just pay $250.

[Gabe Strong]

I always love these conversations. All kinds of people from different parts of our great melting
pot of a world, trying to tell others in much different circumstances what they should be delivering on.
Some markets will have more of an uptake of streaming video, others may want Blu Ray or DVD.
It's really not a huge deal, I can give them any of the above. Most often, my clients actually will
pay extra to get all three (Yup, I imitate the movie industry and give them a Blu Ray, DVD, and
digital copy). Plenty of my clients still want normal DVD's....probably over half. They could care less
'it is tech of the past'. And lots of these clients are not only brides, but also business owners and
lots of them under 30. I don't know why anyone wouldn't just tell the client
"I can deliver in any format you want!"

[David Barnett]

Originally Posted by Robert Benda

I'm smart enough to know that you never assume you'll always have internet :)

Out of curiosity, what do you mean by this?? Do you mean just not simply posting the 10 minute highlight trailer to Youtube as a means of delivery? Or are you saying in 10-20-30 years there just won't even be an internet anymore? I kinda think it's like TV, radio, or the Telephone. It'll probably always be there. At least for 100-200 years.


ANYWAY, as for DVD & Blu-Ray, it's a transition phase, tho early on imho. I'm surprised people are already not supplying them & going digital only, but hey good for you since it obvi works. As for us still selling physical discs, it'll be around a while. I guarantee in 5 years quite a few of us will still be supplying couples with them, tho DVD's will probably be really on their way out. 10 years, probably be more like digital only. Anyway, as with anything, transitions are typically slow but inevitable. I'm 40 & have seen the rise of cassettes, cd's replace them over time, DVD's replace VHS, and HDTV go from early adopters only to being in nearly every single household. To say DVDs & BR won't go away is nearsighted, to say they're worthless now is farsighted. We're somewhere in the middle, exactly where I don't know.

[Arthur Gannis]

I remember when in the early 70's I knew a friend up in Canada who did weddings with a Super 8 film camera that also recorded audio. That was a big thing back there. All he did was splice the 15 or so small 3 minute reels together and offered the client a big reel or two. That's it, no editing whatsoever. He would charge $1500
for the job back then and have the client pay extra for the film. There was no question about format delivery.
There was one original and no copies. Easy as pie and he bought a 71 Corvette convertible fully paid with only shooting 5 jobs. How come we can't do that today and charge $10,000 a job and get a 2014 Corvette convertible also. ?

[Robert Benda]

Originally Posted by David Barnett

Out of curiosity, what do you mean by this?? Do you mean just not simply posting the 10 minute highlight trailer to Youtube as a means of delivery?

I was referring to the fact that we still own DVDs even though *most* of our new movies come streaming. I know that there will be times our internet goes out and streaming won't be an option, so we keep some DVDs around.

[Arthur Gannis]

Having a hard copy of the event wether on a DVD or BluRay is a wise decision. Imagine if the streaming servers go off-line or get corrupted or any eventuality that does not permit the client to access the files ?
Information can and will be lost up there in the "cloud" eventually, and when that happens where does one go to retrieve the files ? Hello, videographer, I cannot see my wedding anymore on the net, do you still have a copy of my wedding somewhere. please oh please find it.... I would not even trust my vacation pictures to be stored anywhere else but on an optical disc, let alone a wedding. Even a recent wedding I shot last week is stored on BluRay at another location before any editing is done. Just in case my hard drives fail, get burned in a fire, stolen, dropped etc.

[Chris Harding]

Hi Guys

Surely to goodness you must respect the client's wishes and if they want it on DVD then give it to them on DVD ..by all means offer different media but still supply what the client wants.

Imagine walking into a car dealership and ordering a brand new car in red metallic paint to be told "Sorry you can only have it in black or white now"

You have to realise that a LOT of weddings are for Grand Parents and they often have only just managed to master a DVD player never mind cloud based online content.

Chris

[Tim Bakland]

Originally Posted by Arthur Gannis

Information can and will be lost up there in the "cloud" eventually, and when that happens where does one go to retrieve the files ? Hello, videographer, I cannot see my wedding anymore on the net, do you still have a copy of my wedding somewhere. please oh please find it....

Hard to predict anything on this scale, but my feeling is that if the "cloud" and all the things "up there" suddenly get lost, there are bigger problems than clients' wedding videos.

(This coming from someone who does still deliver on those paleolithic blu-ray discs.)