Karl Renwanz is a very smart man. He hires really smart people and makes smart decisions. His whole story was a cover story for IMAGINE last year for the month of March when he told us how to make a DVD from scratch! Now he is showing us on his own DVD released late last month - all on one DVD. "Media Replication: From Start to Finish" reveals how hundreds of thousands audio/video tapes and CD/DVDs are made 24 hours a day; 7 days per week, at speeds that have to be seen to be believed.
I believe Renwanz knew about the future of the DVD when he founded High Speed Video in 1996 and recently expanded its Southborough plant from 20,000 to 43,000 square feet. Industrially automated, High Speed now employees over 100 employees and produces over 200,000 replications each 24-hours.
Did you know that DVD sales of major theatrical releases and of Direct-to-video releases to the end user in the past year have surpassed the retail box office? (Read Paul Boghosian's story in this issue about AFM for details).
Yes, it's true, Direct-to-video, presented to the market on VHS and DVD is not the stepchild, but the ONE that is conceived by Disney, independent filmmakers, and others as video on demand before Comcast, and is available everywhere anyone has playback capabilities. Libraries of the future will consist of DVDs.
High Speed's DVD carefully shows how CDs/DVDs are molded from melted polycarbonate crystals and then metalized. The DVD gives an in-depth look at an ultra high-speed duplication process of audio and videotapes, and how discs are silk-screened with six colors - all at one time.
The tour disc offers a never-done-before opportunity for clients, consumers and prospective clientele to see how tapes and CDs, and DVDs are made - from the comfort of their own monitor.
High Speed produces over 200,000 tapes/discs per day for international and local publishers, record labels, feature film firms, software companies and more such as Houghton Mifflin, Christian Science Publishing, Fidelity Investments, Palm Pictures and Philips Medical Systems. Feature film companies from NY and LA use High Speed for their DVD replication.
Some of the expanded space at High Speed will allow for pick/pack order fulfillment for record label distributors and software companies.
"Media Replication: From Start to Finish" DVD reveals how tapes and discs are made. The DVD takes you behind the scenes-from raw material to shelf-ready product. Discs and tapes are made one at a time and record high speeds. The viewer is taken up close to tape loading and disc molding machinery, all to the tune of an industrial musical.
CD/DVD replication is portrayed in four fascinating steps: 1. Optical grade polycarbonate resin is dried and conveyed to injection molding machines. 2. The polycarbonate is melted and injected under high pressure into a mold containing a stamper that transfers the pit structure and produces a clear disc. 3. The disc goes to a metalization chamber where it is coated with a thin layer of aluminum. 4. After metalization, the disc travels to a lacquering station where a protective layer of lacquer is applied and then cured. After curing, the disc is inspected, both top and bottom, and then stacked on a spindle to await printing.
Sales/marketing manager Howard Davidson states that the Tour DVD was inspired by client reaction to touring the Southborough facility. "Clients are always extremely impressed when they see a CD or DVD being molded. They are often surprised to see that the discs are made from polycarbonate and actually molded. "One of greatest delights is to show off what we do and how we do it. The Tour DVD allows for people to see just how discs/tapes are made --- without leaving their home/office!"
Tape and disc replication is done in class 1000 clean rooms. The walls are vinyl clad to minimize dust generation. The ceiling is made of special vinyl clad tiles, secured into place with interlocking gaskets. A HEPA filtration system removes foreign matter from the air that can cause "hits" and imperfections. The air conditioning in the rooms go through special filtration units, capable of eliminating more the 99 percent of dust particles as small as .12 microns. The return air is then recycled back through these filters, effectively cleaning the "clean" air over and over again 2-3 times per minute.
Approximately 200,000 CD/DVD discs are made every day -- 24/7! WOW! You can ask for your virtual tour by email: hdavidson@vtiboston.com.