“I’ve always been a musician with a love of technology…”

At an early age, Brian Brodeur performed music while also learning to program his Apple II+ home computer. He studied Music Technology at Berklee College of Music in Boston. Over the years, he has run a recording studio and participated in countless musical performances in many styles, formats, and on various instruments. Before long, he was producing critically acclaimed indie-label recordings and developing audio for CD-ROM games, including Blizzard Entertainment’s “Warcraft” franchise and Davidson Software’s “Magic Tales” series.

In 2001, Brodeur created NewYorkDVD. “My business transitioned over many years from a service provider who produces to a producing company with a service business. I pitched leaders in the music education space and obtained producing contracts for music education titles that taught viewers how to play guitar, for example. We also produced music instruction (MI) discs featuring major talent.” Brodeur and the NewYorkDVD team have developed hundreds of interactive projects, including the worldwide DVD release of Rod Stewart’s “One Night Only- Live from Royal Albert Hall”. Other recent projects have included the #1 Billboard DVD, Phish’s ‘Walnut Creek’, as well as DVD development for Mike Keneally, The Producers Guild of America, KINO International, Empire Pictures, UBS, Columbia/TriStar, USA Television, ABC/Disney, Barnes & Noble, J-Records, Ciao Italia (PBS) and Frank Zappa’s “DubRoom Special” & “Classic Albums” titles. Brodeur’s web site address is BrianBrodeur.com .

In 2006, NewYorkDVD was awarded the DVD Association’s Excellence Award for the Music DVD development of Neil Peart’s “Anatomy of a Drum Solo” educational title. NewYorkDVD releases have received dozens of industry awards and topped magazine readers’ polls, including #1 sales ratings at Amazon, DVDUniverse and Billboard Magazine.

These days, Brodeur runs NewYorkDVD from both a New York office and an edit suite in New Jersey. One current project, a title focused on NYC jazz musician Peter Mazza, is a series of discs designed as high-end music education and a quasi-documentary about Peter and the NYC jazz scene. There’s also a Cuban music project – a box set with licensed footage that he’ll re- edit for release. It’s an educational series focused on each traditional Cuban instruments as played by musicians in Cuba. “Some products are heavy on DVD and use the web for trailer-based marketing. Others, like Peter Mazza’s releases, will have more of a combination of DVD and online consumer base.” On the web, he’s talking about launching a series yet to be named that would be an educational monthly music release. “We develop many of our productions for release within profitable niche markets where a success is measured by selling far fewer than blockbuster ‘Hollywood’ numbers.”

Brodeur is a recently-elected member of the Board of Delegates of the PGA East Chapter. “Post-production services are not the majority of what I do now and the PGA allows me to learn from other producers. I also have knowledge to contribute. The DVD market has become much more commoditized and competitive, but it’s not dead – and looking forward to new technology, I’ll be leading a Blu-ray panel for the PGA in 2009 as well.

Question of the Month: What’s exciting you the most about your business?

It’s two sides of one coin. One side of the coin is producing content within the fast-paced New Media industry – utilizing new formats and emerging business. The other side of the coin is successfully applying my existing music and technology experience to producing New Media content.

“I come from the music industry, which is very competitive, and the PGA is much more collaborative and open. I’m learning a lot about broader markets and what’s happening in other segments of the business.”

‘2006 Salon Series’ Disc Present Leading New York New Media Monthly Event Series Featuring Execs from MySpace; Brightcove; AOL; ESPN; Activision, and FremantleMedia

NEW YORK — NewYorkDVD, a leading DVD development, design and authoring firm, today announced that it has provided the authoring and menu design services for a premium DVD for the Producers Guild of America (PGA) New Media Council (NMC) East. The ‘2006 Salon Series: From Podcasting to User-Generated Content’ disc is a compilation of the first season of the acclaimed monthly event series held in New York by the PGA NMC East. The event series presents panel events and one-one-one conversations that touch on a variety of relevant new media topics – from podcasting to mobile video to gaming and broadband production – for producers, and featuring luminaries from a broad spectrum of the new media industry.

Produced by Chris Pfaff, the co-chairman of the PGA NMC East, the ‘2006 Salon Series’ DVD is a compilation of webcasts produced by Scribe Media’s Mike Faulhaber and Peter Cervieri. Pfaff and Brian Brodeur, principal of NewYorkDVD, created the disc as a promotional tool for the PGA NMC East, and as an industry recruitment tool for PGA NMC members. Work on the disc was conducted in the winter of 2007, and was unveiled at a PGA East event at TriBeCa Studios in May, 2007, with David Picker, vice chairman of the PGA East, and Vance van Petten, executive director of the PGA.

Each of the 2006 season’s eight events is featured on the disc, in capsule form, and panelist information and PGA NMC information is included in the overall menu. Events were held at such New York venues as The New School for Social Research, The Core Club, and SoHo Cantina East and were produced by the PGA NMC East executive committee.

“The New York new media industry has enjoyed a tremendous resurgence in recent years, and the ‘2006 Salon Series’ DVD is a way to promote, in an appropriate way, the thought leadership of the PGA NMC East in its work with some of the leading creative and technical figures in this market,” said Pfaff. “We are pleased that we could capture a jewel-box snapshot of a pivotal time in the new media industry, and deliver a quality calling card for professionals who wish to join the PGA NMC and become part of the ongoing dialogue around new media production.”

The ‘2006 Salon Series’ disc replication was provided by CDS Digital, and sleeve art was provided by Matthew C. Davis.

“The definition of ‘what is a new media producer’ is constantly changing, and linear producers need to see the full spectrum of new media production options to understand where our industry is heading,” said Brodeur. “This DVD is a first-hand look at the players and the technologies involved in making today’s new media industry, and we wanted to produce this as an inside look at the industry, particularly for those who aren’t as familiar with the topics and the individuals.”

The ‘2006 Salon Series’ disc includes such panel highlights as ‘Podcasting: The Next Big Broadcast Phenomenon?,’ with Weblogs, Inc. founder Jason McCabe Calacanis and ABC ‘Guiding Light’ executive producer Ellen Wheeler; ‘Mobile Video and Photography,’ with ESPN’s Vladimir Edelman and FremantleMedia’s Keith Hindle; ‘Science in Hollywood: Content and Communication,’ featuring Neil Gershenfeld, Director for MIT’s Center for Bits and Atoms; ‘Console, Internet, and Handheld Gaming: Hollywood Killer or Savior?,’ featuring Bernie Yee, from Activision, Adeo Ressi, founder and CEO Gametrust, and Mike Sepso, CEO, Major League Gaming; ‘Death of the Producer? The Rise of User Generated Content & Community,’ with Brightcove’s Jeremy Allaire and MySpace’s Shawn Gold, and ‘Internet Advertising: How Can I Advertise My Work Online?,’ with Simon Assaad, CEO of Heavy.com and Mitch Davis, CEO of Massive Incorporated. In addition, one-one-one conversations are included with Alan Patricof, technology venture capital legend (‘The Art of the Start: Funding and Launching New Media’s Next Big Thing’), and with Herb Granath, chairman emeritus of ESPN (‘Broadband Media – From Network to Networked’).

NewYorkDVD operates a turnkey studio for expert-level DVD authoring, menu design, and replication. The company offers clients “a true creative partner in the conception, production, design, and authoring of high-quality DVD titles.” The company won the 2006 “Excellence in Music” Award from the DVD Association for its work on the Hudson Music title ‘Anatomy of a Drum Solo,’ featuring legendary drummer Neil Peart.

Under Brodeur’s leadership, NewYorkDVD has developed several innovative concepts for DVDs, including the first integration of ACID loops into an instructional music DVD, as well as early work with Web-connected DVD functionality.

NewYorkDVD maintains several complete authoring suites, including several Sonic Solutions workstations, Surround-sound Pro Tools mixing and 1:1 Final Cut Pro motion graphics/editing stations.

About NewYorkDVD
NewYorkDVD’s principal, Brian Brodeur, has been producing music and multimedia for more than 15 years. He has created award-winning DVDs for the corporate, entertainment and instructional markets, including discs for Pfizer, Columbia/Tristar, KINO International, and Fender Guitars. Mr. Brodeur is an expert in all stages of DVD production; from audio/video compression to creative interactive design and stable DVD functionality programming that enhances the user experience. He is a sought-after DVD consultant for leading vendors, including Video Technologies Group and Sonic Solutions. NewYorkDVD’s extensive capabilities include expert-level encoding and authoring with Sonic Solutions systems, Final Cut Pro, comprehensive graphic design and motion menu development, surround sound mixing, multi-language translation/subtitling, DVD packaging, Adobe Flash development, and full-scale production and post-production services. NewYorkDVD provides competitively priced disc replication services, in small or large quantities, and offers comprehensive warehousing/fulfillment and e-commerce distribution solutions. For more information, visit the Web site at www.NewYorkDVD.com.
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EDITOR’s NOTE: For a color photograph of screenshots on the PGA NMC East ‘2006 Salon Series’ DVD; PGA NMC East co-chairman Chris Pfaff, or NewYorkDVD’s Brian Brodeur, please contact Chris Pfaff at 201-218-0262 or c.pfaff@att.net

]]> http://newyorkdvd.com/site/2007/09/newyorkdvd-develops-producers-guild-of-america-new-media-council-east-event-series-disc/feed/ 0 http://newyorkdvd.com/site/2004/07/mix-magazine-new-york-metro-feature/ http://newyorkdvd.com/site/2004/07/mix-magazine-new-york-metro-feature/#comments Thu, 01 Jul 2004 12:00:28 +0000 bbrodeur http://newyorkdvd.com/news_events/?p=18

New York Metro

By David Weiss

Jul 1, 2004 12:00 PM

…A few blocks away at NYDVD (www.newyorkdvd.com), the focus is squarely on the wonders of the digital versatile disc. “I’ve always gravitated toward the role of producer,” explains Brian Brodeur, NYDVD founder, on establishing his company back in 2001. “DVD has always been thought of as the truer multimedia format, and my skill set as a musician lends itself to developing creative products. The advent of DVD and its obvious embrace by the consumer is an important point, not only for the large institutional companies, but also producers like me.”

Brodeur’s company, which is located within the large Manhattan Center Productions facility, focuses its services — DVD project management, encoding/authoring, static and motion menu design, and audio/video production — around two full-blown Sonic Solutions DVD Creator systems. “Those are desktop systems, but because of my background, I have them set up much like recording studios,” he says. “Manhattan Center is a perfect fit for us, with three complete Avid editing systems and two Neve VR recording rooms with surround capabilities. We are in a great position to provide DVD services to Manhattan Center.”

NYDVD can see how music in particular is relating to DVD. “There’s basically two products out there that are serving the music industry: the concert product and the bonus/behind-the-scenes product,” Brodeur says. “Independent artists are going to start embracing DVD because of its enormous power as a promotional tool and ability to deliver a wide variety of content, including multichannel audio and multilanguage capabilities. We’ve developed some wonderful surround mixes for the Dave Weckl Band and Steve Gadd, where we actually mix the band around the listener as if you were the drummer. There’s been no increase yet in DVD-A. That’s a function of the format wars and the installed base of players.”

DVD facilities have their own challenges with production increasingly available to in-house and home users. “People can spend very little money and have functional DVD systems — it’s only natural,” he continues. “We’ve begun shifting our business toward a service side, providing superior design and extensive quality control: making sure that discs are functionally compliant and error-free. NYDVD is not competing with the entry-level DVD producer who just hangs a shingle — we’re collaborating with clients to create content specifically for DVD.”

FOR RELEASE: THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2003

NEW YORK DVD BRINGS KINO INTERNATIONAL’S AMERICAN FILM THEATRE DVD SERIES TO LIFE

Classic 1970’s Film Adaptations of Great Plays Packaged for DVD With Extensive Bonus Material

NEW YORK, NY — NewYorkDVD, a leading provider of expert DVD authoring services, has assisted in a theatrical comeback that hasn’t been seen in New York since Carol Channing’s celebrated return to ‘Hello, Dolly.’

The recent DVD release of Kino International’s ‘American Film Theatre’ series, a three-part series of 14 film adaptations of classic plays — produced in the 1970’s by Ely Landau and featuring such renowned actors and directors as Lee Marvin, Katherine Hepburn, Glenda Jackson, Ian Holm, Tony Richardson, and John Frankenheimer — is a boon for both theatre-on-film and DVD fans alike. The films, originally released in a limited screening, subscription-ticket-only fashion, have not been seen for almost 30 years, with previously limited releases on VHS. NewYorkDVD provided encoding, authoring, and overall technical direction work for 9 of the 14 titles, including ‘The Maids,’ with Glenda Jackson and Susannah York; ‘The Iceman Cometh,’ with Lee Marvin and Jeff Bridges; ‘The Man in the Glass Booth,’ with Maximillian Schell; ‘Luther,’ with Stacy Keach, and ‘The Homecoming,’ with Ian Holm.

Best known for its collection of classic silent films, including those of Charlie Chaplin and D.W. Griffith, Kino has discovered a rich market for specialty DVDs, with extra features packaged in a way that documents the entire production experience.

“DVD has been great for us; we’ve done bigger and better every step of the way, and it now comprises the majority of our business. It is the perfect format for us,” said Brian Shirey, director of operations for DVD and video, for Kino. “NewYorkDVD was able to work closely with us on all aspects of the DVDs, from how much content to place on each disk, to the compression rate and interactivity. NewYorkDVD was able to provide the kind of service that we needed in order to ensure the highest levels of quality on strict budgets and schedules.”

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With the American Film Theatre series, Shirey worked closely with Ely Landau’s son-in-law, Michael Kantor, a producer with flagship New York PBS affiliate Thirteen WNET-TV, to capture the essence of the series as an entity, including film trailers on 12 of the 14 discs. Shirey also produced interviews on several discs (for example, separate interviews with playwright Edward Albee and cinematographer David Watkins appear on disc for ‘A Delicate Balance’), and several discs feature a promotional film made for American Film Theatre, featuring Ely Landau, from 1974. Each disc features a stills gallery, the “American Film Theatre scrapbook,” an “AFT Cinebill” for each film, and an essay on each film by Michael Feingold, chief theater critic of the Village Voice.

NewYorkDVD’s president, Brian Brodeur, encoded the Kino American Film Theatre titles using a Sonic Solutions Creator system, working from Digital Betacam master tapes. A Berklee College of Music-trained musician, Brodeur worked in the Boston theater circuit for several years before venturing into video production, so his sense of theatrical presentation lended itself well to the Kino American Film Theatre project.

“The Kino series exemplifies what DVD is all about; they had all the elements of a jewel-box presentation. In the case of the American Film Theatre series, it was almost as if you were packaging the material for first viewing. They really understand how to present film on DVD, just as if you were receiving reels of film, with promotional materials, at a cinema,” said Brodeur. “We were able to get a quality level on DVD that is pretty stunning, and Kino’s attention to detail is impeccable. The fact that I’m several blocks away from their office certainly helped during this process. This is a benchmark project for so-called ‘lost films.’”
The Kino American Film Theatre series has been released in three volumes, as box sets and individual titles. The American Film Theatre Box 1, released in May, 2003, includes ‘The Iceman Cometh;’ ‘Rhinoceros;’ ‘Butley;’ ‘The Maids,’ and ‘Luther.’ The American Film Theatre Box 2, released in July, 2003, includes ‘A Delicate Balance;’ ‘The Man in the Glass Booth;’ ‘In Celebration;’ ‘Three Sisters,’ and ‘The Homecoming.’ In September, American Film Theatre Box 3 will be released, which will include ‘Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris;’ ‘Lost in the Stars;’ ‘Galileo,’ and ‘Philadelphia, Here I Come.’

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About Kino International

Kino International was founded in 1977, as a theatrical distribution company specializing in classics and foreign language art films. The company focuses on the distribution of high-quality contemporary world cinema, American independents, and documentaries – usually by up-and-coming directors. Kino began operation with a license to handle theatrical distribution of the Janus Collection, a library containing over 100 important European and Asian art films of the 40s, 50s and 60s, including ‘La Strada,’ ‘The Rules Of The Game,’ and ‘Rashomon.’ Chaplin films, including ‘Modern Times’ and ‘City Lights,’ The Killiam Shows Library, including ‘Son Of The Sheik’ and ‘It,’ The David O. Selznick collection, including ‘Rebecca’ and ‘Notorious,’ the Alexander Korda London Films library including ‘Things To Come’ and ‘The Thief Of Bagdad’ (1940), the Walter Wanger Collection including ‘Stagecoach,’ ‘To Be Or Not To Be’ and even some wide screen epics like ‘El Cid’ and George Stevens’s ‘Giant.’

Kino has more recently released offerings from the CIFEX, Corinth and Mosfilm libraries, enjoying many theatrical reissue successes. Among these were ‘Wages Of Fear’ (with forty minutes of restored material), Tarkovsky’s ‘Solaris,’ Fellini’s ‘La Strada’ and his brilliant ‘8 1/2,’ Fritz Lang’s ‘M’ (with ten minutes of restored material), Volker Schlöndorff’s multi-prize-winning ‘The Tin Drum’ and, most recently, a 50th anniversary reissue of Vittorio De Sica’s ‘The Bicycle Thief.’

About Kino on Video

Kino established its own label, Kino On Video, in 1987. Kino on Video has contributed significantly to the resurrection and distribution of films from the silent era,

130 silent films on video, many through our rewarding association with Film Preservation Associates, headed by film historian David Shepard.
Among the highlights of Kino’s silent catalogue are the five-part series “The Movies Begin”, consisting of 122 films made between 1894 and 1914, the ten-part series “The Art Of Buster Keaton”, released in 1995 and winner of Entertainment Weekly Magazine’s “Best Video of the Year” award, “The Slapstick Encyclopedia”, and more recently, the 1924 version of Peter Pan.

In 1999, Kino issued its first DVD release, a special edition of The Tin Drum with full audio narration by Volker Schlöndorff. Kino now has thirty-eight titles available on DVD, including the entire Buster Keaton collection. Another thirty to forty titles are scheduled for release on DVD in the next twelve months.

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About NewYorkDVD

NewYorkDVD’s principal, Brian Brodeur has been producing music and multimedia for over 15 years. He has created award-winning DVD’s for the corporate, entertainment and instructional markets, including discs for Pfizer, Hal Leonard Publishing, Music Sales Corporation, and Fender Guitars. Mr. Brodeur is an expert in all stages of DVD production from audio and video compression, to designing creative interactivity and programming stable DVD functionality that enhances the user experience.

NewYorkDVD’s extensive capabilities include motion menu design, comprehensive graphic design, expert-level multi-pass encoding, creative authoring, surround sound mixing, multi-language translations, subtitling, and multi-angle video. In addition, NewYorkDVD is capable of replicating discs in small or large quantities at competitive prices. Its alliance with Hudson Music enhances NewYorkDVD’s ability to better serve its clients by offering video post-production, comprehensive color correction, motion computer-generated graphics and effects, and creative multi-level videos.

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EDITOR’S NOTE: For a color photograph of NewYorkDVD’s Brian Brodeur, as well as Kino American Film Theatre DVD promotional shots, please contact Chris Pfaff at 201-218-0262 or chris@chrispfafftechmedia.com

In disc one of this 2-disc set, Steve explains hand and foot technique in ground-breaking detail and gets to the core of what drummers need to know in order to improve their feel and technical skills. In disc two, using examples by an all-star band, Steve explains the evolution of the drumset in U.S. Music — how the drumset was first used in all the major styles of U.S. Music and how closely related all the styles are. Special features include extensive bonus footage including alternate-take drum solos, a brilliant hi hat solo with a hi hat tutorial, alternate band takes, a multi-angle video option, running audio commentary by Steve, a music listening list, and lots more.

• Format: Color, DVD-Video, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: All Regions
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 2
• Rating:
• Studio: Hudson Music
• DVD Release Date: October 28, 2002
• Run Time: 278 minutes

New YorkDVD provided Dual Layer DVD Authoring/Development, Menu Design, MPEG2/AC3 encoding and DVD-ROM Weblink creation. Authoring completed using Sonic Solutions hardware encoding from DigiBeta masters edited by Phil Fallo

Buy Here: Steve Smith’s History of the US Beat

Interview: Brian Brodeur of New York DVD

By Jason Lindsey: Digital Entertainment Editor

Brian Brodeur and his New York DVD production team recently authored the excellent Liquid Drum Theater DVD featuring Mike Portnoy, as well as working with Hudson Music and Fender Guitars to create upcoming DVDs. Brian and his team are pioneering the use of the DVD format in the instructional video field. With their experience they have some interesting views on the where the digital video field is going and what the challenges are today. Read on…

Q: What were some of the technical challenges you encountered during the DVD creation?

A: The making of any DVD poses many technical challenges because it brings together so many diverse assets to make the final product. On any one title, you will be working with still images for menus, composited motion images used in menus, stereo and/or surround sound audio that may be compressed, different video formats and angles, as well as the complex back-end programming that often goes into the navigation and interactivity.

The foremost challenge regarding the Liquid Drum Theater titles was the use of memory on the disc. With so many elements, including multiple video angles, a commentary track, slide show, bonus performance footage, and motion menus, the memory usage and ‘bit-budgeting’ was very important.

I used the Sonic Solutions Creator multi-pass VBR encoding to sufficiently compress the video streams, as well as Dolby AC-3 for the stereo audio streams. When all was said and done, it was a very tight fit. We made the most of the ‘real estate’.

Q: Obviously a lot of fans of the DVD will be interested in what it was like working with Mike Portnoy. Any good stories?

A: Mike is a very nice guy… and a very hard worker. During our time recording his audio commentary, he was busy planning artwork for the most recent Dream Theater release as well as a clinic tour in the Pacific Rim.

People should know that he cares a lot about what he does, and appreciates his fans very much. He is very detailed and knows what he wants. I definitely look forward to the opportunity of working with him again.

Q: What do you see as the future of instructional DVDs? Specifically, what DVD technologies have just been touched upon?

A: Well, the DVD medium (in my opinion) is perfect for the instructional format. Not only can DVDs hold hours of material, but they can present it in very creative, engaging, and intuitive ways. Also, you have the option of multi-language capabilities, which makes it easier to produce one product that can train or inform all over the world.

I foresee DVDs being used to teach medical procedures and mechanical assembly. Using the multi-angle features, a trainee could instantly view an operation or instructional model from any angle. Also, DVDs can be programmed in such a way to rate your training, or at least be modular, so you don’t have to sit through 60 minutes of lecture just to get to the part you need. Using a menu structure, trainees could jump right to the part they need.

I also see surround sound coming into its own soon. I think DVD-Audio will flourish in car stereos, and many producers will start utilizing the advanced features of DVD to entertain their audience to a higher degree.

Q: Obviously there are really two types of formats for DVD : being played through a conventional TV/DVD setup and DVD-ROM on computers. Do you think about DVD-ROM when making DVDs or is that still in its infancy?

A: I definitely think of DVD_ROM functionality when designing DVDs. Most DVDs that we (NewYorkDVD) produce utilize web connectivity. I do NOT use the Interactual Player ‘hot-links’ that many Hollywood titles use. I prefer to use a back-end Flash player that works on many more platforms, including Macintosh, and guarantees more solid functionality.

I think DVD-ROM functionality within DVDs will increase, and eventually we’ll see MPEG2 video streamed right through our browsers. It’s happening now, but it’s just the beginning.

Q: Recently there has been some hi-profile double-sided DVDs released(Terminator Special Edition). What are your thoughts on doing a 2 DVD set or a single DVD that is double-sided? Is it a cost consideration or something else?

A: I often prefer to produce TWO single sided discs rather than ONE double sided disc…. mainly for two reasons. First, I like the label art. The disc looks nicer, and people won’t be confused about which side goes ‘down’ in their player. Second, people may get lazy and not put the disc in the case. We all are guilty of doing that once in a while… and the double sided disc will get scratched very easily, and then you lose a side. This very thing happened to my Blade Runner disc.. I had to go buy a new one to watch the Widescreen version. Price, is usually not the determining factor.

Q: What are some recently released DVDs that you think “Got it right”?

A: There are many factors that go into a classification such as ‘got it right’. The technology and budgets keep getting better and bigger, so many of the most recent popular Hollywood releases look very good. Some of my favorites are Taxi Driver (nice encode), The Graduate (great menu), Last Temptation of Christ (great menu), The Godfather series (nice encode). The list goes on and on. I think Pearl Harbor looked very good also.

I worked on a corporate DVD a few years ago for a company called Meritor. It was used for corporate presentation, and it looked wonderful… a lot of high-end 3D graphics and motion menus. The options for creativity are very wide. I could name many discs that were disappointing… but I won’t name names. You know who you are.

Q: The Comdex trade show this year highlighted several entry level DVD authoring kits designed for the home user. What are your thoughts on DVD authoring in the home and current copy protection technology?

A: I have worked on pro-sumer and consumer authoring packages with companies such as Zapex Technologies and Intec America from as far back as 1998. I think it’s inevitable that DVD technology will arrive in the consumer’s hands, but right now, the level of sophistication available with a $150,000 suite is not available to the average user. BUT, you can count on very very creative things coming from home users.

So far, the home systems I have used (DVDit, Apple DVD Studio Pro, IA DVDAuthorQuick, etc) offer limited functionality and/or utilize only a part of DVD’s full functionality. Eventually, products will arrive that rival the professional authoring systems that we currently use, but by then… we’ll be on to something else. BTW, watch what Apple will be doing.. they recently bought Spruce Technologies – one of the biggest makers of Authoring software.

Q: What upcoming projects can we look forward to?

A: There will be several more titles NewYorkDVD will be producing with Hudson Music, and currently I’m finishing four discs for Music Sales entitled ‘Absolute Beginners’. This series, adapted from the successful British video series, features entry level instruction on Bass, Guitar, Keyboard, and Drums.

Liquid Drum Theater Review featuring Mike Portnoy