Cost effective Editing and Authoring Tips for CDs and DVDs

Once you have completed principal photography for your new CD or DVD, the next step in the production process is editing and authoring.

Executive Vice President Asheesh Barman provides a great deal of information about these final two steps before the mastering and manufacturing of your DVD in a podcast here.

Or following are some quick tips. Barman's quick definition of editing and authoring is that it's almost like cooking. Editing is when you take the raw content, trim it and garnish it with transitions and special effects, and then polish it with music to tell your story.

On the other hand, authoring is taking the final edited product and adding flavors and spices, such as navigation, multiple sound tracks, titles, added footage, and outtakes or commentary from directors or producers.

There is a difference between authoring home movies, versus professional level quality for small businesses, who need the proper knowledge and resources to author DVDs to the expectation of their users. Acutrack handles jobs from small to Fortune 500 companies.

One of the most important things to remember in terms of advice, is to plan your project. Make sure before you even start endcoding audio video, you have the disk designed. Think about what the end user will see. Draw out a design. Do you want the logos first? A main menu. Will it have sound in the background or special effects? Do you need subtitles? Is the video for the US market? Is it NTSC standard? Is the frame rate right? 29.7 frames per second. Have you organized title cards or an info screen prior to the clip - for smooth transitions. Is the navigation fun and easy?

There are many challenges that can cause issues with DVD authoring. For instance, the proper resolution, design issues and sizing for monitors, or audio problems due to various channels. Fonts and colors can often be wrong causing flickering on the screen.

Acutrack makes it easier for customers because they can take over from any part of the process -- editing, transitions, adding sound bytes, corrections of sound, etc. They also offer editing studios, and can recommend professional editors and producers.

Just-In-Time Delivery Fulfillment

Many of you have not thought about the cost advantages of letting a fulfillment house like Acutrack, Inc. mail or deliver your products for you. From delivering software to documentation to DVD covers to CD authoring and delivery, a just-in-time delivery service can easily be integrated with most supply chains.

Once an order is received, items are quickly packed, shipped and the resulting inventory is posted and tracked online for your review. You can check on inventory, trace shipments, manually enter orders and download your data from anywhere in the world, any time.

Acutrack offers same-day order processing and bar-coded shipping to residential, commercial and re-seller accounts, both domestic and international, and volume discount pricing with shipping vendors is passed on to you.

You have to be careful because some other companies often require minimums or extras Acutrack seamlessly adds shipping as a "back-end" to your existing shopping cart or accounting systems.

It's easy, as you can continue to deposit your sale proceeds directly to your own bank account. You would just send Acutrack the fulfillment shipping instructions. Most shopping cart systems can do this for you automatically.

Here are some of the other benefits of Just-In-Time delivery.

- Pick 'n' pull distribution of retail packaged CDs or DVDs from the warehouse
- Inventory control and real-time online inventory
- Established re-orders
- No minimums, receiving fees, stock moving fees sliding scales, hidden charges or tricky terms

Short run CDS and DVDs are popular and cost effective

On Demand Short Run CD/DVD Production basically enables our customers to order smaller batches of CDs and DVDs in real time online 24/7 and ship to theircustomers, one at a time. This service provides lots of different packaging choices, retail finish quality, quick turnaround and no order minimums, so the entire process including shipping is automated.

With traditional CD/DVD replication services, customers are forced to make larger quantity orders and customers need a method to distribute them to the end user. Acutrack’s On Demand CD and DVD service is a revolutionary new way to produce products that are published on CD and DVD media. This service manufactures packages and distributes products on an order by order basis, eliminating the problems associated with inventory management and up-front cash flow.

"Here's the best thing about Acutrack's On Demand DVD Production model: When we pick up a new film, we never know how quickly demand will ramp up. Acutrack's On Demand offers us 100 percent risk free DVD sales without any capital layout, and plugs into our existing online store. It's a dream come true!" said Joe Boutros, product manager, B-Side Entertainment in Austin, Texas.

Acutrack links its versatile On Demand Production engine to a customer’s shopping cart. The customer supplies the master disc along with any cover or disc art and then Acutrack creates labels and jacket covers using in-house editing and authoring services. When the site generates an order, Acutrack will manufacture the product and ship it to the customer worldwide. Billing at the end of each month provides customers with a positive cash flow.

Here are a couple of examples: A musician can send his latest composition directly to a radio station without having to produce thousands of copies. Recently a client needed presentation videos ion four different versions. They wanted 20 copies shipped to New York of one version, and for now, only five of another version of the DVD, sent to Beverly Hills. All of this is possble using on demand short run production.This is the only way people can avoid the hassles of inventory, packaging and fulfillment.

Also it can add value to a product via custom branding each disc with unique content or artwork, delivering personalized or custom content when and where customers want it. This helps eliminate inventory and obsolescence costs because sometimes pre-produced inventory gets out of date, and the DVDs go to waste. Last, the service automates and tracks order processing.

Self Help Businesses Flourish with CD and DVD On Demand Technology

People in self help businesses like hypnotherapist Richard McFall of United Hypnotherapy used to provide audio cassette tapes to his clients, until they began to tell him that they would like CDs since they didn’t have tape players any more.

McFall knew he needed to upgrade to a new cd replication service. He needed someone to handle the audio cd mastering, package and ship them, and track the orders. After looking online, he originally set up an account with one of the Acutrack’s competitors, but it ended up being too much work. The challenge was that he was getting orders on his website, www.Unitedhypno.com), but he was the human back end, taking all the orders and then typing the data into their online program, and then he even had to ship the items his customers.

Then he heard about Acutrack’s On Demand Production model for CD manufacturing, giving McFall the ability to produce and ship custom packaged CDs or DVDs one at a time. On Demand includes a back-end to each customer’s own website which they can manage. The custom artwork, designed by Acutrack’s graphics department on labels and cd covers adds branded value.

Here’s how it works. If a self help professional offers more than 150 CD titles that had to be manufactured, stocked, inventoried and shipped, it would be virtually impossible – because most places would require minimum orders of 1000 for cost efficiencies. That means there would be some 150,000 CDs sitting in a warehouse somewhere.

With Acutrack, customers just upload their content online, and then On Demand processes the
oorders.

“The ease of how this cd duplication service all works is truly something I can't stress enough. I can add several product titles each and every day and I never have to worry about how I'm going to stock it, pay for it, or produce it,” said McFall.

Simple Star's PhotoShow Uses Acutrack On Demand

Here's another example of how businesses are using Acutrack's On Demand solution
Simple Star, Inc. develops software products and services that help consumers share their memories in new entertaining ways through PhotoShow, an easy-to-use photo platform.

Simple Star’s software is distributed primarily through partners -- cable providers, digital media software providers, online photo services, retailers, etc. PhotoShows turns digital photos and videos into rich multimedia experiences. They have broadcast quality credits, captions, transitions, special effects and animations with a great musical soundtrack. It is very easy to create and can be viewed from almost anywhere, anytime.

Simple Star started working with Acutrack three years ago, and distribution is very important for their corporate clients. Their business-to-consumer (B2C) products are distributed by a variety of business partners, and the orders can come from several different directions from desktop software, partner sites, and the PhotoShow site.

SimpleStar primarily uses Acutrack for its PhotoShow DVD service, which enables fulfillment of online slide shows that people want to share with others. Customers are creators and/or recipients who view the slide show and then they can select custom packaging for CD or DVD labels and cases. They preview the show and order it, and through a series of technology events that have been set up with Acutrack -- essentially are the back end for manufacturing services -- the Simple Star customers are serviced. The quality of Acutrack’s printing and fulfillment services is an integral part of their business model.

Now millions of new users every month are finding out how easy it is to create, share and view PhotoShows. Across multiple business sectors PhotoShow is emerging as an industry standard.

"We work with Acutrack at some levels of communication, at least a few times a week, and during the holidays, it can be as often as several times a day, " said David McKie, Simple Star's vice president of business development.

In essence Simple Star does the rendering, while Acutrack burns, prints, and handles packaging including, labels, covers, cases and shipping.

"We give the highest marks to Acutrack for their DVD On Demand solution."

USB Flash Drives: Fast Eco-Friendly Brand Recognition

USB Flash Drive production is ideal for businesses and marketing professionals to use as promotional gifts. Businesses can imprint their company logos on a variety of USB products for brand recognition, sending custom content to anyone, anywhere. An eco-friendly replacement to paper marketing materials, USB flash drives also store more data in a small space, and they are rewritable.

Memory data storage devices integrated with a Universal Serial Bus (USB), USB flash drive devices have changed the way people work with data. Robust, lightweight and easy to carry, these small memory sticks have become indispensable.

"As gifts and giveaways, USB flash drives are a great way to promote brands and business as they are personal, highly visible, long-lasting and extremely useful," said Raj Barman, president and chief executive officer, Acutrack, Inc. "Today's USB with a holiday greeting, can be reused tomorrow for another purpose."

Acutrack's USB Flash Drive production service enables logo branding so businesses can imprint their company logos on a variety of USB products for brand recognition. Content mastering provides an innovative way to go beyond simple file preloading. Plus data can be customized. Acutrack can also load user's content and help them auto-run an application.

On Demand Aids Self Help Market

On demand publishing is gaining ground among influencers in specific industries these days. For one, the self help market. The concept in which books, documents, CDs or even music and films, are not printed until after an order for them has been received, is a relatively new idea. It's only been available since the development of digital printing in the '90s.

Acutrack’s On Demand model has been working well for one customer, Richard McFall of United Hypnotherapy in California. His goal is to be the largest hypnotherapy website in the world.

"This is a huge goal and I could not accomplish it as fast without Acutrack. My competitors are still doing content management in-house while I have eliminated inventory and obsolescence costs of pre-produced inventory," said McFall. "As an example, I offer my customers more than 150 CD titles. If these had to be manufactured, stocked, inventoried and shipped, it would be virtually impossible – because most places would require minimum orders of 1000 for cost efficiencies. That means I would have 150,000 CDs sitting in a warehouse somewhere."

Without Acutrack's On Demand Production it would be extremely difficult and costly for Richard to set up the kind of business he now has. The logistics, inventory costs, personnel, facility and equipment costs to duplicate what Acutrack does would have made starting a business of this magnitude nearly impossible.

On Demand Production enables the creation, printing and distribution of custom DVDs and CDs, and takes care of inventory, packaging and fulfillment. Product packages are manufactured and distributed on an order-by-order basis, eliminating the challenges associated with inventory management and up-front cash flow, such as excess stock, or wasted money. Users can even track costs more effectively with a monthly billing process

Futurists are predicting that on demand production may be the answer to assist people in making lots of money online. According to the U.S.Census Bureau, the second quarter 2007 e-commerce estimate increased 20.8 percent from Q2 2006 while total retail sales increased 3.8 percent in the same period.

And if you dont think that ecommerce is important enough to the global economy, according to the PriceWaterhouseCoopers Global Entertainment and Media Outlook 2006-2010, spend predictions for online advertising may reach $26 billion by 2010.

Content generated by people like McFall will continue to grow exponentially, and companies with on demand technology will remain at the forefront.

A Decade of Developments Lead to Authoring on Demand

New developments in technology over the last decade have enabled processes that produce fast and inexpensive on-demand production. The invention of CD-ROM technology enabled widespread commercialization of multimedia content. On Demand production is a revolutionary new way to produce products that are published on CD and DVD media, enabling the creation, printing and distribution of custom CDs and DVDs.

During the Digital Revolution in the 1990s there was a rapid drop in costs and expanded power of digital devices such as computers and mobile telephones. However, the invention of CD-ROM technology enabled widespread commercialization of multimedia content and today this has translated into fast and inexpensive on demand production and distribution.

On demand publishing is a concept in which books, documents, CDs or even music and films, are not printed until after an order for them has been received, and it came about only after the development of digital printing. If there is any accuracy to predictions from the futurists, then on demand production may be the answer to assist people in making lots of money online. According to the U.S.Census Bureau, the second quarter 2007 e-commerce estimate increased 20.8 percent from Q2 2006 while total retail sales increased 3.8 percent in the same period.

A revolutionary new way to produce products that are published on CD and DVD media, On Demand Production enables the creation, printing and distribution of custom DVDs and CDs. The On Demand business model takes care of inventory, packaging and fulfillment. Product packages are manufactured and distributed on an order-by-order basis, eliminating the challenges associated with inventory management and up-front cash flow, such as excess stock, or wasted money. Users can even track costs more effectively with a monthly billing process, and workforce efficiency improves.

For example, if a training company requires their information to be distributed on a CDor DVD, and they have no concept of how many students will be attending their class, then On Demand Poduction is the answer," said Raj Barman, founder and chief executive officer of Acutrack, Inc.

This technology can also be used to create a physical CD or DVD of any downloadable content providing a new revenue stream and giving people a great opportunity to customize content or artwork. Self service pages enable customers to create and manage everything online as well as place new or reorder in seconds.

Statistics Reveal How we View Digital Content

In August of 2007 ABI Research released a new study showing that while a large proportion of digital content is consumed by a small but influential group of digital media super-users, the mainstream user is increasingly looking for new ways to access and manage content.

Consumers are fast becoming more comfortable with new digital media experiences as well as the Internet. The report outlines nicknames for the market from “Digital Laggards,” to “Mainstream Users” along with “Digital Enthusiasts” and “Digital Super-Users.” It shows how all will evolve over time and the impact they will have on digital media consumption.

One of the outcomes of this new research trend is the on demand production engine technology, and how companies are seeing its value. Acutrack is already meeting the needs of a variety of clients ranging from recording artists to hypnotherapists, to film and photo content creators.

On demand also creates physical CD/DVD downloadable content, offering a new revenue stream or an opportunity to customize content or artwork. Acutrack’s self service site (http://ondemand.acutrack.com/) enables customers to create and manage everything online as well as place new or reorder in seconds. With no minimums or up-front costs, customers get the best retail quality for short run discs.

As one example, Acutrack’s record label customer, ASR Records Chairman and Co-founder Alaadeen said, “My goal for starting ‘ASR Records was to provide a label to host my CDs and bring them in front of the public. But I soon ran into problems. In order to get a good rate to manufacture the CDs, I had to manufacture large quantities. This led to excessive inventory, and there was the distribution issue. Then came Acutrack with an appealing feature for artists and one determining factor in their signing with the label.”

On Demand Production allows manufacturing of CDs and DVDs on an as needed basis, eliminating the up-front costs of producing multiple titles normally associated with CD/DVD production. Acutrack’s On Demand engine manufactures CD/DVD products upon purchase with zero inventory, which enables customers to focus their efforts on marketing products, rather than producing and storing them.

The ABI study, “Consumer Media: The Changing Ways in Which Consumers Buy, Consume and Manage Digital Content,” explores how consumer use of traditional media is being increasingly balanced with usage of media through new consumption and distribution methods.

Independent Artists Turn to Short Run DVDs

Today, independent artists like musicians and filmmakers have started using new technologies including On Demand Short Run CD/DVD Production, which enables them to order smaller batches of CDs and DVDs, one at a time, in real time online, 24/7, and then ship to customers. This way the artist retains ownership of their music, all rights to the masters. On Demand makes it easy for muscians to sell their products without manufacturing and warehousing thousands of DVDs. This way they can focus on getting their music out to the public.

One way musicians are using the new technology is that they are sending finished products, CDs or DVDs, directly to radio stations, nicely packaged with a label on the CD and in a packaged jacket cover. The artists provide their graphics and the master to Acutrack, and CD or DVD orders can be filled from their website.

On Demand Short Run also provides a number of different packaging choices, with retail finish quality, and quick turnarounds. There are no minimum orders and the process of ordering, production, packaging and shipping is automated.

“My goal for starting my company was to provide a label to host my CDs and bring them in front of the public. But I soon ran into problems. In order to get a good rate to manufacture the CDs, I had to manufacture large quantities. This led to excessive inventory, and there was the distribution issue. Then up jumped Acutrack with CD On Demand. This was an appealing feature for artists," said Jazz Musician Alaadeen, chairman and co-founder, 'ASR Records.

With traditional CD/DVD replication services, significant quantity orders are required at one time and customers need a method to distribute them to the end user. There are many situations when this does not work. On Demand helps customers avoid the hassle of inventories, and delivers personalized content when and where customers want it.

Acutrack Celebrates 15 Year Anniversary - DVD Replication Services

Acutrack celebrates fifteen years of growth in the business of CD and DVD publishing, including CD duplication service, DVD replication services, CD manufacturing, CD packaging and the latest On Demand Short Run CD/DVD Production, enabling customers to order smaller batches of CDs and DVDs in real time online 24/7 and ship to customers, one at a time. As part of this celebration, the company is offering customers special discounts between now and December 31, 2007. Ideal for customer’s who are selling downloadable content and are not sure how many units to produce, On Demand takes care of inventory, packaging and fulfillment. Also in the blog, the link of “Self Service Site” should go to http://www.acutrack.com/onlineshortrun/

With the recent news from the DVD Copy Control Association (DVD CCA), who recently authorized companies to sell digital downloads for on demand viewing, it’s no wonder that experts are looking at this industry with projections for a ramp up in future success. Digital photography, music-on-demand and medical imaging are each large market opportunities. As noted in an article on Forbes.com entitled, “Five Stocks Expected to Soar” by Robert Maltbie, a principal of California-based Millennium Asset Management, one of the companies he talks about is Rimage (Nasdaq: RIMG), stating, "we believe the mid-sized volume customized CD/DVD duplication industry remains in the very early days of penetrating these target markets, including overseas expansion."

Rimage is one of Acutrack's strategic partners, as the company uses their equipment/technology to offer its On Demand Service.

Raj Barman founded Acutrack in his garage in 1992. Now president and chief executive officer, he says the secret to their success lies in their ability to adept to customer’s needs, and the company is constantly adding new services and value propositions.

Philip Nelson of Independent Features, one of Acutrack’s customers said, "Acutrack's On Demand production engine is absolutely essential for us. We plan to have more than 400 DVD titles selling on our site; so Acutrack's zero-inventory model is the only way for us to conduct our business in a cost effective manner. We can add several titles each and every day and never have to worry about stocking them or producing them."

Speaking of value propositions... in celebration of 15 years in business, Acutrack customers may register and use the following promotional codes which are valid until 12/31/07:

Customers may shop the Acutrack webstore for blank media and supplies: Use Promo code ACU15 and get 15 percent off of any item.

Customers may use the Self Service site to submit orders online for short run CD/DVD production. Use Promo code ACU1507 and get a 15 percent discount.

The Popularity of Blu-ray versus HD DVD

At the Sixth Annual Home Entertainment Summit, DVD & Beyond was held in Los Angeles on June 2007, Stephen Nickerson, the senior vice president of market management for WARNERHOME VIDEO presented an address entitled, “The State of the Home Entertainment Industry.” Below are some interesting numbers.

The worldwide DVD sell-through business decreased 2.6 percent to $10.4 billion as of June 2, 2007, however, the next generation DVD software market increased to $54 million. (Source: Consumer Spending). The international DVD sell-through total was $10.5 billion.

Tom Arnold also recapped this year's numbers in an article focusing on the popularity of Blu-ray Disc versus HD DVD in Home Media Magazine, stating, "when given the choice, consumers are going with Blu-ray." He gave the example of Warner Home Video's release for The Departed which was released the same day, Feb. 13, on both formats. "Between then and March 31, consumers bought 53,640 copies of the film on Blu-ray Disc and 31,590 units on HD DVD," according to Home Media Magazine’s market research, based on studio estimates and Nielsen VideoScan point-of-sale data.

Now, thanks to the recent news on September 20 from the Board of the DVD Copy Control Association (DVD CCA), commercial vendors and consumers will be able to legally create CSS copy-protected DVDs for playback on their own DVD players. This means vendors like Acutrack, Inc. (http://www.acutrack.com/) could create on demand protected DVDs in custom runs. Individual consumers are now also able to legally record content at home in a process that will use special blank DVD discs with CSS encryption. The copies will be compatible with millions of DVD players in businesses and homes.

Chris Cookson, Chairman of the DVD CCA Board said, “Now that the process needed to enable this exciting capability is complete, we anticipate that new products and services will quickly appear in the marketplace."

Point well said ... and just after Acutrack announced its On Demand Short Run CD/DVD Production which enables customers to order small batches of CDs and DVDs online, in real time, 24/7, and then ship to customers, one at a time. On Demand Short Run offers multiple packaging choices, retail finish quality, quick turnaround and no minimum orders. The entire process of ordering, production, packaging and shipping is automated with the company's On Demand engine, enabling the management of thousands of unique orders.

One great example is that a musician could send a finished product directly to a radio station without having to produce thousands of copies, or a marketing director could produce a PowerPoint presentation on a CD with custom printed artwork that includes their client's name and logo."

The entire process allows people to deliver personalized or custom content when, where and how they want it.

Sources:
http://www.homemediaretailing.com/news/html/breaking_article.cfm?article_id=10559
http://www.acutrack.com/onlineshortrun

New Developments in World of DVD Downloads

There is an interesting development in the world of DVD downloads. Up until now, Hollywood studios have only allowed downloaded movies to be played and viewed on computer screens or portable devices. Now, the DVD Copy Control Association (DVDCCA) has authorized companies to sell digital downloads for on demand viewing. This would also allow consumers to download the content to a physical DVD. What this means is that movies bought over the Internet can be burned onto a DVD that can play on any machine, which is a move that could dramatically change the way movies are sold.

Interestingly, back when DVDs were invented twenty years ago, nobody thought about the fact that some day there would be something called the Internet where people could download content. Standard DVD players are hardwired with the keys to unlock the digital security system built into pre-recorded DVDs, but DVD burners on computers and writeable DVD discs don't contain the locks.

Thanks to the DVD Copy Control Association, everyone finally has agreed to standards allowing the digital locks to be included in a downloaded movie file and then transferred to a protected DVD to work on current players.

The DVD CCA is an organization primarily responsible for the copy prevention of DVDs. The Content Scramble System (CSS) was devised for this purpose to make copyright infringement difficult. The association is also responsible for the much criticized regional playback control (RPC), the region encoding scheme which gives movie studios geographic control over DVD release dates to maximize their profits.

This is great news because they realized that the digital download is still having downloading issues. There is an increased revenue for studios to allow the content be available for downloads on physical medium. In the above scenario, organization such as (cinemanow.com) are offering consumers downloadable DVD content that they can burn on their CD burner. The problem is that consumers still need a fast Internet connection plus they need a DVD burner and need to keep DVD-R discs in stock. Plus they would have to hand write the title by pen.

Acutrack’s On Demand model is a perfect solution that is available today, allowing distributors to offer consumers a physical DVD without worrying about anything. As soon as the consumer requests a physical DVD, Acutrack's On Demand engine downloads the content from the distributor’s site, produces a physical DVD with a professional retail printing, package and mail.

For more information on this topic check out the press release about DVD authoring posted on MSNBC.

Acutrack, Inc. (http://www.acutrack.com ) enables customers to create, publish and deliver custom content for DVD and CD distribution worldwide. The company provides fast, high-quality CD and DVD production including video editing, DVD authoring, graphic design, photo realistic and silkscreen printing, and a variety of packaging, copy protection and fulfillment services.

Need Short Run DVD or CD Duplication?

Let's say you are a musician who wants to send a new song on a CD/DVD to just local radio stations. You don't want to have to produce 500 or 1,000 CDs. You just need six, and you want your artwork and logo on the CD cover. Where can you do this?

A new product called On Demand Short Run CD/DVD Production, enables people like this musician to order smaller batches of CDs and DVDs in real time online 24/7 and ship to customers, one at a time. On Demand offers multiple packaging choices, retail finish quality, quick turnaround and no minimum orders. The complete process -- ordering, production, packaging and shipping -- is automated. And it works because of Acutrack, Inc.'s On Demand engine. Acutrack has the ability to manage thousands of unique orders like this one.

Another example is a marketing director who wants to produce a PowerPoint presentation on a CD with custom printed artwork that includes their client’s name and logo. On Demand Short Run can accomodate this person in real-time, to meet deadlines. Or, this executive's associates could complete the job while he's in an airplace heading to the meeting, and when he arrives at the meeting the next day, his presentation is already in the hands of the new prospect.

Acutrack’s proprietary CD and DVD On Demand Production technology is a system that allows customers to manufacture CDs & DVDs, package and ship worldwide, and track orders. On Demand helps customers:

• Avoid the hassle of inventory, packaging and fulfillment.
• Add value to a product via custom branding each disc with unique content or artwork.
• Reduce the up-front cost of producing multiple copies.
• Deliver personalized or custom content when and where customers want it.
• Eliminate inventory and obsolescence costs of pre-produced inventory.
• Automate and track order processing.

Acutrack’s proprietary On Demand production gives customers the ability to produce and ship custom packaged CDs or DVDs one at a time. It takes care of inventory, packaging, and fulfillment, and is ideal for customer’s who are selling downloadable content and are not sure how many units to produce.

eCommerce Solutions

There are companies or business owners who do not want the expense and hasstle of putting up a website and running the shopping cart. When it comes to outsourcing commerce Acutrack, Inc. and Kagi are offering an integrated, turnkey managed ecommerce solution that enables customers who don’t have their own websites to sell and deliver content to a worldwide audience.

Acutrack and Kagi provide a complete, turnkey, on demand, production and Ecommerce solution so that customers can literally create a product, put it on a storefront for sale, and make profits. Content providers now have an easy, low risk way to increase the profit from their creative works through a joint product klnown as Effortless Commerce, which is managed jointly by the two companies. Setup requires no coding or technical expertise.

Customers are provided with the following features and benefits by Kagi:

• The option to offer products in downloadable formats - customers can purchase physical disks, digital downloads, or both.
• Theft protection for downloadable content - each buyer receives a unique download link that only works for a limited time.
• Instant availability to a global market - a Kagi online store will automatically display options in the local language and currency for visitors.
• Listing and promotion through the Kagi Marketplace - visit the Kagi Marketplace and discover a new way to shop.
• Fraud protection for payments - Kagi has an excellent track record for preventing bogus transactions.
• Automatic tax calculation, filing, and payment — no tax tables to decipher or complicated sales tax forms to fill out.
• Special pricing structure for content suppliers — save money with lower transaction fees.
• Editing, authoring and graphic design services — content and products become beautiful retail products with built-in profitability.
• Acutrack’s On Demand Production Engine — CD/DVD products are manufactured upon purchase with zero inventory, allowing companies to focus their efforts on marketing their products.
• Integration with a Kagi Online Store — sales through the Kagi store automatically initiate Acutrack's On Demand Production services for fulfillment.
• Automated order processing — everything, from the time of purchase until Acutrack ships products, happens automatically and on time.
• Multiple shipping methods and worldwide delivery — customers can sell and ship products throughout the globe.
• Email notifications to customers — automatically provides customers with shipping confirmations and tracking numbers.
• Positive Cash Flow — products are produced, shipped and billed later while sellers get funds credited to their account as soon as a purchase is made.
• Automatic payment for the production and fulfillment of products from Kagi to Acutrack — no bills.

Anyone who signs up for the combined Acutrack/Kagi offering by September 30, 2007, will not be charged for the On Demand production integration fee ($200 – $400 value) and Kagi will set up a store appearance and waive the setup fee which is worth $79 to $500.

Avoiding the Chance of Illegal and Pirated DVDs

In the greater Toronto area an organization known as the Peel Regional Police Service conducted an investigation into the sale and distribution of priated DVBD movies. On Sunday August 19, 2007, the execution of multiple search warrants was coordinated within the cities of Toronto, Brampton and Mississauga. Twenty-five arrests were made, which led to over seventy criminal charges. More than 40,000 pirated DVD movies and an assortment of printing and stamping equipment was siezed.

If you have a proprietary DVD -- a film, music, or even an exercize DVD -- there are companies like Livermore, California-based Acutrack, Inc. that can help you protect yourself. Established in 1992, Acutrack (http://www.acutrack.com/) enables customers to create, publish and deliver custom content on CDs and DVDs worldwide. The company provides fast, high-quality CD and DVD production including video editing, DVD authoring, graphic design, photo realistic and silkscreen printing, and a variety of packaging, copy protection and fulfillment services. Acutrack’s proprietary On Demand production service gives customers the ability to produce and ship custom packaged CD covers or DVDs one at a time.

In another top news item in July (Reuters) we learn that most of the production lines for pirated DVDs are smuggled into China, and once in the country are hard to find as the factories are carefully hidden. China's failure to protect intellectual property rights for everything from movies to handbags and car parts has been a major irritant in Sino-U.S. and Sino-European relations despite Beijing's pledges to crack down.

Foreign companies say they loose billions of dollars to Chinese pirates every year. Pirated DVDs of the latest Hollywood films are easily obtainable in Chinese cities, often costing little more than $1 a piece.

eCommerce is up by 20.8 % since 2006

E-Stats is the U.S. Census Bureau's Internet site devoted exclusively to "Measuring the Electronic Economy."

The Census Bureau of the Department of Commerce announced today that the estimate of U.S. retail e-commerce sales for the second quarter of 2007, adjusted for seasonal variation and holiday and trading-day differences, but not for price changes, was $33.6 billion, an increase of 6.4 percent (±0.8%) from the first quarter of 2007. Total retail sales for the second quarter of 2007 were estimated at $1,012.6 billion, an increase of 1.3 percent (±0.3%) from the first quarter of 2007. The second quarter 2007 e-commerce estimate increased 20.8 percent (±4.6%) from the second quarter of 2006 while total retail sales increased 3.8 percent (±0.5%) in the same period. E-commerce sales in the second quarter of 2007 accounted for 3.3 percent of total sales.

This is great news and all the more reason for Acutrack's new strategic partnership with Berkeley, California-based Kagi, a leader in e-commerce outsourcing worldwide, to succeed tremendously in future quarters. The two companies recently announced an integrated, turnkey managed eCommerce solution - Effortless Commerce - that enables those customers who don’t have their own websites to sell and deliver content to a worldwide audience.

Acutrack and Kagi provide a complete, turnkey, on demand, production and eCommerce solution so that customers can create a product, put it on a storefront for sale, and make profits.

Anyone who signs up for the combined Acutrack/Kagi offering by September 30, 2007, will get a waiver on their On Demand production integration fee ($200 – $400 value) and Kagi will set up a store appearance and waive the setup fee (a $79 – $500 value).

The only managed eCommerce solution for content providers, Effortless Commerce enables people with or without a website to sell content and includes these features:

-The option to offer products in downloadable formats — customers can purchase physical disks, digital downloads, or both.
-Theft protection for downloadable content — each buyer receives a unique download link that only works for a limited time.
-Instant availability to a global market — a Kagi online store will automatically display options in the local language and currency for visitors.
-Listing and promotion through the Kagi Marketplace—providing categories for a new way to shop.
-Fraud protection for payments — Kagi has an excellent track record for preventing bogus transactions
-Automatic tax calculation, filing, and payment — no tax tables to decipher or complicated sales tax forms.
- Special pricing structure for content suppliers — save money with lower transaction fees.
- Editing, authoring and graphic design services — content and products become beautiful retail products with built-in profitability.
-Acutrack’s On Demand Production Engine — CD/DVD products are manufactured upon purchase with zero inventory, allowing companies to focus their efforts on marketing their products.
-Integration with a Kagi Online Store — sales through the Kagi store automatically initiate Acutrack's On Demand Production services for fulfillment.
-Automated order processing — everything, from the time of purchase until Acutrack ships products, happens automatically and on time.
-Multiple shipping methods and worldwide delivery — customers can sell and ship products throughout the globe.
-Email notifications to customers — automatically provides customers with shipping confirmations and tracking numbers.
-Positive Cash Flow — products are produced, shipped and billed later while sellers get funds credited to their account as soon as a purchase is made.
-Automatic payment for the production and fulfillment of products from Kagi to Acutrack — no bills.

Comparing Blue-Ray, HD-DVD formats

The two competing formats for high definition DVDs are more alike than they are different.

Blu-ray and HD DVD both offer sharp, high-definition images and sound best when viewed on high-def TV screens. Both can also hold more data than a standard DVD, allowing for interactive features, games and other extras.

Both formats also require special players, which can play standard DVDs as well but not discs in the rival format.

LG Electronics and Samsung Electronics have dual-format players, but they don’t play all the special features. Both are priced at more than $1,000.

In terms of differences, Blu-ray can hold more data, about 50 GB, compared with about 30 GB for HD DVD.

HD DVD requires all players bearing its logo to support picture-in-picture capabilities and Internet connections that allow for downloading of trailers and other special features. Those capabilities are optional for Blu-ray players, though most players will support similar features eventually.

The biggest difference is the availability of content.

More studios, including Sony and Disney, support Blu-ray exclusively. Only Universal Pictures supports HD DVD exclusively. Warner Bros. and Paramount release films in both formats.

The Value of Podcasting Today

According to Arbitron, 27 million Americans have listened to a podcast, or online radio and TV. Early adopters in any category are going to benefit from this.

Internet radio has been around for awhile. One company, podcaster Big Media USA, Inc., provides this service. It's not music, it's information like being Time Warner on the Internet -- with stations that have channels on different topics. The value here is that Big Media has been around awhile, so their site has allot of content on it, and Google spiders their site daily. Podcasts are easy for others to listen to or watch online 24/7.

Here is one of Acutrack most recent podcasts about the company's DVD On Demand Production. It is the second episode (On Demand CD/DVD Production), and explains the answer to a common question we’ve received from several new customers and listeners: “How do I add all the electronic commerce components needed to my website so I can handle my On Demand orders?” Find the answers by listening to Acutrack's Executive Vice President Asheesh Barman and Frank Patchel, President of Kagi, Acutrack’s preferred provider of online store solutions.

One stop Fulfillment including HD DVD Authoring

It can be challenging for a marketing person to manage all the items necessary to produce a direct mailing to a customer these days. In the past you had to get different vendors to do each job separately.

Many businesses are sending out DVDs these days, as part of their press or sales kits. First there is the DVD production, DVD video editing, DVD replication, then printing DVD labels, then choosing the case, etc. And most people have sales brochures, or sales and press kits that they would also like to add to their mailings to customers. That means using a Xerox place like Kinko’s to copy, collate and stuff the press kits, which are typically designed by a graphic artist, then printed by a printer. Next, envelopes, labels, stamps or bulk mail stickers are required. And you need the space to keep all of this.

After years of doing marketing and public relations for numerous clients, I finally got wise to the fact that no matter how big or how small the mailing – a fulfillment house is critical to keeping things running smoothly.

Acutrack can do it all. Printing. Duplicating CDs or DVDs. Collating. Stuffing. The cost saving and convenience of delivering these products directly to a customer list are substantial. A premiere source for business card production services, Acutrack offers 3 inch mini disc or business card disc production for both CD and DVD. If needed, Acutrack’s creative engineering team can encode and pre-master a video presentation, can add PDF documents, templates, images and hyperlinks from a client’s website allowing for a dynamic marketing or trade show presentation.

Using Acutrack’s in-house direct mail services team, they can start the fulfillment process the second a project is complete. As experts on postal rules and regulations, presorting, and postage discounts, Acutrack assures the best possible mailing rates using USPS-certified CASS address standardization software to provide significant postal rate discounts and maximize delivery efficiency. Mailing pieces are assembled and addressed professionally; inkjet printed with bar codes and Zip+4, and then bundled according to postal requirements. Post Office paperwork is completed and samples are sent to the client. The finished product is delivered to the post office for seamless, automated mailing.

Can your PC play a DVD-Video movie?

Having a DVD-ROM or DVD-RW drive in your computer is not good enough to play a DVD movie. You also need to have the following application installed.

• Install a free media player program. VLC Media player (VLC) plays DVDs and almost all other videos out of the box. You can also use Windows Media Player, which comes installed on most PCs and is simple for beginner users, but requires extra software to play DVDs and many other video formats.
• If you are using Windows Media Player, upgrade to the latest version. Go to the help menu to find a link to the latest upgrade, currently version 11.
• Install an MPEG 2 codec. This is the file you need for Windows Media Player to know how to interpret the files on the DVD. Download a free MPEG 2 codec. While there are several versions, including Stinkycodec that are purportedly functional and free.

At Acutrack, we offer DVD replication and packaging services so if you have content, we will store it, handle the DVD duplication, and ship out to your customers as they request DVDs, ione at a time.

What is Acutrack's On Demand Service?

Acutrack’s proprietary On Demand Production technology is a system that allows customers to manufacture CDs & DVDs on an as needed basis, eliminating the up-front costs normally associated with CD/DVD production. Acutrack creates custom CDs and DVDs one at a time and ships them worldwide directly to its customer’s clients. Three packages are available including: Download-Archived CD or DVD, Production on Demand, and Customized Production.

Established in 1992, Acutrack, Inc. (http://www.acutrack.com/) enables customers to create, publish and deliver custom content on CDs and DVDs worldwide. The company provides fast, high-quality CD and DVD production including video editing, DVD authoring, graphic design, photo realistic and silkscreen printing, and a variety of packaging, copy protection and fulfillment services.

Acutrack’s proprietary On Demand production gives customers the ability to produce and ship custom packaged CDs or DVDs one at a time. Ideal for customer’s who are selling downloadable content and are not sure how many units to produce, On Demand allows as needed manufacturing of CDs and DVDs, eliminates the up-front costs of producing multiple titles normally associated with CD/DVD production, and takes care of inventory, packaging and fulfillment.

Clients can choose from three flexible On Demand packages: 1) Download Archived CD or DVD, the option to get a backup CD or DVD of download-able content; 2) Production On Demand, a complete retail package with production and fulfillment of content on CDs or DVDs with zero inventory; and 3) Customized Production, with the option and freedom of creating custom CDs or DVDs. Acutrack’s On Demand provides an easy, rapid method to publish and fulfill content. It’s the perfect way for Acutrack’s clients to monetize ALL their content rapidly. Since Acutrack produces and ships products on an order-by- order basis, clients only pay for product that they sell.