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Do you have a protection form for clients doing replication?
Just curious if anyone else here has their clients sign
a form stating that the master disc performs to expectation
and that you in no way are held liable for any problems
encountered in replication.I do this for complex discs only.
simple single menu stuff I don’t worry about.
I decided to do that after hearing nightmares of some of you posters here having perfectly good operating masters then going to replication and having all sorts of problems that when narrowed down ended up being the replicators fault.
As it turned out 3 weeks after I made the first client sign the form, they called and said there were replication issues where the discs just didn’t work, but the master and all the recordable dvd-r copies were fine, so I reminded him of the form and also pointed out that since the recordables are obviously fine it has to be the replicator.
Later the replicator admitted to finding a problem on their equipment they didn’t catch. They were sure quick to point the finger my way though.
Just recently a friend of mine had 500 replicated at a place I won’t name (they are not cheap either)
Every single disc would not play in a set top, yet the master DVD-R was perfectly fine, so he ended up demanding a refund and doing recordables instead which had no issue.Anyone have similar stories to share?
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2 Replies
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Honestly, If the replicator found a problem on their equipment that they didn’t catch then yes it is the replicators fault. They are responsible for making sure the masters submitted meet Part 1 and Part 2 or the DVD specifications. If their equipment failed to generate an error pertaining to these parts of the spec then they should be liable. It may not have been the equipment either. Saying their equipment didn’t find the problem can also be lingo for “the Premastering Engineer didn’t catch it”. Definately their fault.
One process that we do is a bit-to-bit verify from the original DVD-R/DLT/DDP master to various replicate samples throughout the run. This ensures that what you sent in is exactly what you are getting. Also their should be physical tests throughout the run as well. If they aren’t doing these things then find another replicator.
Now if you send in a master and you accidentally set your menu to Pan and Scan instead of widescreen and it goes all the way through the process then it is your fault. Those types of errors are in part 3 of the DVD spec. Basically part 3 of the spec is everything you should check before sending it to the replicator. Trust me I still get masters from DVD authors with their DVD master on a CD-R (just happened today, from a big client).
So to answers your question I think if you are going tho have a waiver of a sort then I would waive your responsibility to Parts 1&2 of the DVD spec (replicator responsibility). If the DVD plays fine in all players but a button link doesn’t work its all on you. Programming of the DVD or the video/audio quality will never change once you send in your master. Unless the PM engineer makes unauthorized changes. Which I hope NEVER happens.
Hope that helps.
-luke
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yes thats exactly what I mean Luke.
I have heard nightmares of replication where its clearly the fault of the replicators and they refuse to take the blame even though the master discs and build are flawless.
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