#CD ROM Mastering device
6 messages in this thread
Help! I'm working on a project that will involve the production and
distribution of 1,000-2,000 CD ROM disks per month. My client would like to
bring production in house. I would greatly appreciate any information you
might have about vendors that provide CD ROM mastering devices. I don't
really have a clue as to where to start my research. Thanks for your input.
Andrew:
If each disc is different, then there are a number of one-off CD "cutters"
that can be recommended. On the other hand, if you are talking about
1-2000 replicate per month, you definitely do *not* want to consider
anything but a friendly contractor for replication.
A mastering plant requires a capital investment of $2-6 million, not to
mention the cost of personnel to run the equipment. While your volume is
certainly significant, it would be difficult to justify such an investment.
Any one of the mastering houses in North America could serve your needs for
few thousand per month.
Just as few book publishers own their presses these days, CDROM publishers
contract out their manufacturing. For what it's worth…
Rich Bowers
Andrew,
The One-Off CD Shops are both retailers for one-off CD-ROM writers &
software, a service bureau for making one-offs, and VARs for Disc
Manufacturing, Inc., a large mass-replication house. Please call
1-800-387-1633 (US & Canada) or email me your address/fax # for more
information. I'm sure we can help you!
Kathy <<– The One-Off CD Shop MidSouth, Inc.
Andrew, what your client may want to do is bring the pre-mastering work
in-house and then use an actual CD-ROM publisher to "press" the actual
disks. Pre-mastering involves re-structuring the data from the source
files into the proper data structures for CD-ROM use (ISO standard format).
Several vendors provide PC-based pre-mastering systems, including Meridian.
George,
The one-off CD process is a form of pre-mastering, and one-off CDs are used
as "image masters" by some mass replication plants to make glass masters
for manufactured CDs. The software we use to make one-off CDs can also be
used to make pre-mastered tapes for that use (Optical Media International's
Quick T TOPiX program).
Kathy <<– The One-Off CD Shop MidSouth, Inc.
Hi Andrew
We're producing about 10,000 CD-ROMS a month and do all of our replicating
with NIMBUS in Virginia. The main guy is Larry Boden at 800-782-0778 and
so far, they've been terrific. If things go well we will probably crank up
to about 100,000 discs early next year and can't picture anyone giving us
better service than NIMBUS.