19/09/24
Digital Manufacturing Research
The plan is to produce about 50 CDs for the whole class so I'm going to be doing a bit of research on the whole process today.
Replication vs Duplication
Website: https://www.vdcgroup.com/blog/cd-duplication-vs-replication-whats-the-difference/
The main difference between the two processes are the methods used to make them. CD duplication is just like when you burn a CD at home except with these manufacturing companies it's on a much bigger scale. These discs are pre-manufactured and then your data is burned onto the discs using lasers.
Replication on the other hand is discs having your data built into the CDs itself. Unlike duplication which has the data burnt on using a pre-existing disk, replication all stems from a 'glass master' disc.
This technique, replication, is usually used in bigger orders whilst if you want 500 CDs or less, duplication would be ideal. Duplication is much less effort and quicker to make and less expensive also. The only real potential downside is the discs possibly being lower in quality compared to those manufactured with replication.
Thinking about all the differences, I think our best bet is to go with duplication as we aren't selling these CD's and are only aiming to produce around 50 copies in total.
What will we need to deliver to the companies?
To be able to work with a CD company, we will need to provide:
- A link to share the music in the highest quality possible.
- Cover artwork.
- A booklet design including photography.
- Our decision on what kind of packaging we desire.
- DDP file
What is a DDP file?
DDP stands for 'Disc Description Protocol and it's the method used to send your music to CD manufacturers. A DDP file allows you to completely customise how you want your tracks, including the space between songs and the cross fades.
What kind of packaging would be suitable for our CDs?
For this section I'm going to look into three different companies and compare their prices on digipacks versus jewel case CDs.
Digipacks:
These are all of this websites digipack options, whilst the velvet/linen cover looks very tempting, I think all we need is the basic 4-page booklet digipack. There's many options of different upgrades and additions you can have but the base cost is £3.74 per CD for 50 Cds coming to a total of £187.
Jewel Case:
These are all of the Jewel Case options. Like the digipacks, I'm just going to go with the most standard option with no add-ons. These come in as £1.99 per 50 which equals £99.50 altogether. Although, different to the digipacks versions, they don't come with cover inlays or booklets, these features must instead be added to the basket seperately. 50 of these booklets equal £45.
This is all plus the £9.95 shipping and £11 VAT, bringing the price up quite a lot.
Digipacks:
This is for everything in one I believe including up to 4 pages, as you can see in the picture I've chosen 50 copies and it estimates the price to be £190 including VAT.
Jewel Case:
As you can see here, I selected the clear option for the Jewel Case which brought my total up £10 to £230. Once again this includes VAT and up to 4 pages.
Personally, I prefer the looks of the digipaks as I think we have more creative freedom with the design as well as being slightly more environmentally friendly due to the reduced amount of plastic used.
