Distribution formats

Should I distribute the final programme on VHS, DVD, CD or on the web?

Part of the pre-production planning we carry out involves identifying your audience and assessing the viewing environment and equipment. From this assessment, we recommend the most suitable distribution formats.

Videotape
Until a few years ago, Videotape was the standard distribution format for all productions, including motion films. However, image quality suffers considerably once the programme is copied to Videotape. Although we can still copy programmes onto any videotape format, DVD is generally now the distribution format of choice.

DVD
With DVD the image and sound quality is exceptional and DVD players are now commonplace in the home and office. A significant benefit of DVD is that the image quality remains high even when projecting the programme onto a large screen in a conference venue.

Unlike traditional videotape, where you had to shuttle backwards and forwards, DVD’s can be ‘chapterised’, allowing the viewer to instantly access pre-selected points within the programme. Also foreign language versions can easily be selected.

CD
Video can also be transferred onto CD. In this format it can be played in your PC’s Windows Media Player software and can easily be embedded in PowerPoint presentations. However, there are limitations as to the length of video that can be stored on the CD disc and the quality of the picture if viewed full screen.

A more interactive CD can be designed with graphics, animations, questionnaires, links to websites etc. These are generally known as CD-ROMS – see multimedia for more information.

Video on the Web
At Take One Productions we are able to ‘stream’ video over the Internet, or your company’s intranet, live to PC and Mac users worldwide. Alternatively, we can archive the material and stream it from our dedicated CDN video server where it can be viewed at any time, day or night, worldwide.

For a more detailed look at web video production, please refer to our web streaming section.