Delivery format

[Randy Johnson]

Now that it looks like DVD and Bluray are kinda being pushed away has anyone come up with a plan for wedding delivery formats? I dont mind delivering on a thumbdrive but I cant see the clients being into that.

[Steve Bleasdale]

Give my clients their wedding on a thumb drive randy and I will go under. Is that what's happening in the states?

[Randy Johnson]

No but the market is going away from DVD and BR the new version of Adobe CC doesnt even come with Encore anymore. the broadcast world is changing to file based delivery and consumers are moving towards downloadable content for movies etc. I used Edius they havent improved on their authoring app since they were bought by GVG because they are all file based delivery. the question for us wedding guys is: If glass goes away what do we deliver on?

[Steve Bleasdale]

Mmm see what you mean. England in the dark ages still though for wedding dvd delivery, I have trouble giving them a link for their trailer!!!

[Adrian Tan]

Randy, there's already people doing delivery by online download only. And I've started offering a discount if the couple doesn't want DVD or BluRay (none has yet taken me up).

Depends on your end product. 6 hour video? 5 minute highlights? If it's two hours or less, you can probably Vimeo or file transfer it. USB is easiest though, to save on upload time.

There's a variety of expensive and elegant USB sticks and boxes for USB sticks out there, so your presentation can still be good.

[Randy Johnson]

Well personally id rather stick with BR I just see the times changing and we have a industry that may get lost in the dust. I guess having a thumbdrive option wouldnt be a bad idea IF you can make menus work with it. I mean it would be a lot simpler if you think about it, more reliable, re-writable, durable. I dont know I am hoping someone comes up with a standard for weddings before BR becomes a dinosaur.

[Nigel Barker]

Blu-ray or DVD disc is a proper mechanism for delivering video to the client. The client takes the disc & pops it in their player. iTunes is a proper mechanism for delivering video to the client.

A USB stick is just a means for transferring the video files about as it's left as an exercise for the reader as to what on earth they do with those files. You can play those video files on a variety of devices but it's not clean transparent or foolproof.

If you really want to deliver the basic video files without menus then you can deliver them in a nice case on a data DVD so at least they cannot be over-written.

[Randy Johnson]

I think you are missing the point its not that I want to use a thumbdrive its that I am trying to see what we as wedding videographers are going to deliver on if DVD/BR goes away and I believe it will. If you really think about in the present to the near future our industry is the only one that needs glass. Movies are downloadable and streamable TV shows are recorded on DVR. Do you think Sony and Samsung are going to make BR players just for Wedding jocks?:)

[Nigel Barker]

Originally Posted by Randy Johnson

I think you are missing the point its not that I want to use a thumbdrive its that I am trying to see what we as wedding videographers are going to deliver on if DVD/BR goes away and I believe it will. If you really think about in the present to the near future our industry is the only one that needs glass. Movies are downloadable and streamable TV shows are recorded on DVR. Do you think Sony and Samsung are going to make BR players just for Wedding jocks?:)

DVD is NOT going away. There is still a vast market in DVD discs. I was just down our local Garden Centre & they have loads of cheap DVDs on all manner of subjects like cookery & Formula One. It's the same at the local garage & grocery store they sell DVDs as impulse buys in rotating racks like greetings cards. Just think of all the special interest videos that used to be on VHS they are now all on DVD. Local tourist attractions have a DVD about their history. There are DVDs on Shire Horses & Spinning. There is no way that all this stuff will be on iTunes in the near future & even if it was it will still be on DVD because all the old folk have replaced their VHS player with a DVD player & don't have access to streaming videos. The profit margins on DVD & Blu-ray discs are enormous so the studios will continue to sell them as people still like to have a physical product.

Blu-ray discs are another matter but the players are barely more expensive than a DVD player & as they play both don't see why the players shouldn't be on sale for many years to come.

[Don Bloom]

I just bought a BD player that wirelessly hooks up to my edit computer so I can view clips on my big TV and has Netflix, Hulu+, and about 5 other movie sites as well as FB for $65.00. How can you beat that!?
I don't think DVD or BD is going away anytime soon. DVD will certainly go before BD and by the time all of that happens, some of us simply won't care anymore.

[Ray Allan]

Randy, I'm with you on this one - I was trying to think of a delivery method just yesterday with your same thoughts in mind. DVD and BR will disappear because the driving force for these is the consumer and the consumer now mainly consumes content through 'on-demand' services -Netflix, iplayer, iTunes, 4OD etc.

Yes, there are people who will still buy DVDs but they will be limited to the older generation who are not willing to move with the times and that is why you're finding these being offered in places such as garden centres, petrol stations etc, because this is places they visit.

The demographic that the technology industry are interested in and are willing to provide products for are the 21-45 because these are the ones with the disposable income and this is the generation that grew up with modern technology, and most importantly - that's our market.

I'm not really sure what the answer is here - I thought about dumping the complete edit onto an Apple TV or something similar but not really sure if that's possible, and it only gives one copy. You could possibly create a web-based menu/interface that could link to individual movies on the USB stick. I think it's a good discussion to have because I believe that within a couple of years we won't be sending out discs.

[Don Bloom]

I'm one of those older generation people and trust me, I move along with tech pretty well. I think that's an over generalization. People move from one tech to another dependent on their needs, wants and disposable income. If they don't need it but can afford it they might buy it but if they want it and can't afford it they'll find a way to get it.
I've seen this before, maybe before some here were out of diapers. Not to mention out of all the weddings I've done, I've never had a bride say to me, "oh please, give me a little USB drive so I can show everyone my wedding" or "send me the link to my wedding so I can watch it on my 22 inch monitor". They want to feel as if they got something for their money and I think that's going to be Blu-Ray for a while yet.
Of course being of that older generation I could be wrong. Either way I don't care since I'm retiring at the end of the year so I'll leave these discussions to the younger generations. ;-)

[Donald McPherson]

XBOX ONE Blue ray. Microsoft now believes it's here to stay. Well for a few years anyway. But I must admit digital cloud will most likely be here when you want to watch your wedding on your golden anniversary. Will Blue ray ?

[Christian Nachtrieb]

I think you're being a little too far-sighted if next year you think there won't be a demand for DVDs or Blu-rays. This is what we do… by default we only offer a digital download of the wedding film, if they want to order DVD's or Blu-rays for grandma and grandpa, or their parents, great, we charge extra for those, $250 for the first, $50 extra for each additional. Don't assume people are paying $5k and up for a wedding film just to sit and watch it on their laptop. I've spoken to my clients for next year and most are planning to purchase discs, while one younger couple is going to stick to the digital download only.

[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.

I used to deliver chaptered DVD's that I would test on my PC as I don't have a DVD player but I stopped doing them about a year ago and no client has ever come back to me afterwards asking for one. The videos I supply they can play on their phones and tablets which is what people have with them nowadays. My mother is in her 60's and watches missed episodes of her soaps on her iPad for crying out loud!!

I personally think the DVD is a dead duck. People will still take them if they are offered but if you don't offer them then they will be happy with what you give them as it's what younger people are used to. Even the USB will have a short shelf life I think and Online Delivery is the future.