Full Service Duplication

Due to recent demand in local duplication services, GLMT is stepping up with increased capacity for any duplication work. VHS, CD-R, DVD-R; we are a full-service provider of duplication services. While many companies run a "9 to 5" shift, our duplication department runs all shifts, ensuring that you'll get your project done right and before your deadline. Whether you need 1 copy or 1 million, our duplication department delivers.

Using the best equipment available, we also cut and shell our own VHS tape, which means you don't pay for extra stock footage on each tape you have duplicated. This reduces your shipping costs as well. If you need CD-R or DVD-R, we have a wide range of media options available, including silver or white top, both of which we can print your info on. We also offer a full range of stock and custom VHS, CD-R, and DVD-R packaging options to house your finished product.

GLMT WAVES and New Web Site

We look forward to continuing to bring you the latest news from GLMT and the digital media industry with our new monthly announcement, called GLMT Waves. Sign up to receive this monthly newsletter at our site: www.glmt.com.

Speaking of, we've redesigned and restructured www.glmt.com. Take some time to explore, and discover many more features since our previous site, including online quote submission, an expanded portfolio section, more info about the benefits of our products and services, and expanded technical information on how we do what we do.

Canadian Brass Teams With GLMT for Holiday CD

We've recently completed our yearly tradition of producing a holiday CD, which is then distributed freely to our customers. For this year's music, world-renowned brass quintet, Canadian Brass, has provided a selection of popular holiday recordings.

Canadian Brass, now in its 35th season, has performed with symphonies throughout the U.S., Canada, Europe, and Japan. The quintet consists of new members Justin Emerich, trumpet, and Bernhard Scully, horn, alongside original members Stuart Laughton, trumpet, Gene Watts, trombone, and Chuck Daellenbach on tuba. The group is well known for recording classical repertoire; having a special affinity for Baroque music, which requires the brilliance and musical structure that has become the Canadian Brass' trademark. More information on the quintet can be found at their Web site: www.canbrass.com

Developed as a CD-ROM, the disc not only contains a selection of holiday themed recordings, but also a holiday screensaver, and a link to receive a special offer from Great Lakes Media Technology, which can be viewed by playing the disc in any computer.

The CD is sent out to each of our customers as a gift of thanks for doing business with us throughout the year. Limited copies are also available by requesting one through our Web site at www.glmt.com

What Are Your DVD Cases Made Of?

As prices for plastic cases are increasing due to the rise in oil costs, some replicators are looking for alternate packaging vendors. What they're finding is that many cases manufactured offshore are being offered at extremely low prices. Is it a good solution? Research shows that the material that's being found in some of the plastic is certainly not worth the cost savings.

Recently, concerns are rising and much testing is being done on offshore manufactured DVD cases. The results are surprising. Tests reveal impurities in reground plastic used to make DVD cases, resulting in the cases sometimes giving off an unpleasant odor (from recycled food containers and discarded batteries), to further potential toxic risks; impurities that certainly should not be included in DVD cases. While awareness efforts are spreading, it is the responsibility of the supplier to be aware of such issues, and purchase only from reliable, tested sources. Since our company began, Great Lakes Media Technology has purchased only 'Grade A' manufactured packaging, and uses only virgin, non-recycled polycarbonate for our media manufacturing. While we continue to focus on offering our customers a competitive price, our focus is to also ensure that we provide the highest quality material. Don't be misled by ultra low-cost, potentially dangerous, packaging. Contact us to learn more about the quality packaging options we offer.

Piracy Concerns Covered

On October 6 2005, three California men were indicted in the largest piracy bust in the history of disc media. In their possession, law enforcement officials found over 2,000 stampers (the molds used to replicate discs) of CDs and DVDs. The Recording Industry Association of America says these devices are worth as much as $25,000 each. Often, criminals in these scenarios are associated with unlicensed replicators who use stampers of software it knows can be profitable. Such criminals then produce and distribute the media in large quantities throughout the world for profit. This is yet another risk of working with an unlicensed replicator. Could this happen to your master?

Without any guidelines or policies, anything could happen with the master you provide an unlicensed manufacturer. As a Philips and DVD 6C licensed, and ISO9000 compliant replicator, GLMT follows guidelines to ensure that all masters we receive are kept confidential. Our secure vault system and master release form policy ensures that any master entrusted to us will be handled appropriately during the time it is in our possession. Contact us for more information on the steps we take to keep piracy obsolete at GLMT.

DBS: The Non-Plastic Package Alternative

An environmentally friendly, 100% recyclable, totally biodegradable package that offers superior protection for your discs is now available.

The Disc Box Slider, or DBS, is a lightweight, compact package that holds the disc within a unique sliding paperboard drawer surrounded by an outer paperboard case. The DBS can hold up to two discs and a booklet, and offers enhanced protection due to the elimination of any plastic components, which can crack or break. It also offers 50% more printable space than jewel case packaging, allowing more opportunity for design concepts to bring attention to your disc. Having won the World Star Award for Best Package Design, the DBS is already hugely popular in Europe, and is making strides in the U.S. market today. Contact us to learn more about how this package can work for your next project.

MetalFX¨: A New Era In Package Printing

Many eyes have been captured by the metallic printing process. While stunning in appearance, the process was often cost prohibitive on many packaging projects.

Giving your packaging new life without an outrageous additional expense is no longer a concern.

Great Lakes Media Technology now offers MetalFX¨ Technology in their package printing. MetalFX¨ Technology is a Universal Process and Spot Metallic Color System that allows millions of metallic colors to be printed, all by adding only the one MetalFX¨ base silver ink to the usual CMYK mix. Previously, if a client required more than one metallic color in their print job, the corresponding amount of spot color inks would have to take up an extra color pass each (one for gold, one for silver, one for metallic blue and so on). Due to the added expense, printers would often have to compromise or disappoint clients that wanted to use multiple metallic colors.

MetalFX¨, however, enables an unlimited amount of metallic colors to be printed all at once and at no extra cost compared to multiple metallic ink printing.

If you would like to make your media packaging stand out from the rest, speak to an Account Manager at Great Lakes Media Technology about incorporating this process into your project.

How Does Digital Media Address Your Business Objectives?

"Your team has developed an outstanding method of packaging and presenting sales and marketing information."

That is what one of our clients (a major national manufacturing company) emailed us after receiving the final product on a project we worked closely with them to develop, program, manufacture, and deliver.

The benefit really lies in the combination of physical and virtual elements that come into play. For their particular project, a very large 3-ring binder full of products, descriptions, and technical info, needed to be converted to DVD so that their national sales force had all the info they needed, yet could navigate more efficiently to precisely the content they needed to present. Their corporate site, already a behemoth, wouldn't need to carry the burden of this additional content through the use of DVD. Also, in some circumstances, an Internet connection would not be available in the field, so a Web based application alone could hinder the sales presentation.

Once all the files that were used in the print catalog were transferred to a digital layout, a system of organization needed to be implemented. It took many hours and trials to develop a solution for thousands of files that would be used by hundreds of people that would be easy-to-use, customizable, and most importantly, impact their sales effort. The effort was well worth it, as the solution increased their sales, streamlined the sales process, and saved the company a substantial amount of money over printing the original 3-ring binder.

This is one example of digital media being put to its full potential for a company. How is digital media addressing your objectives? Call us today to discuss how we can help make it even more effective for you.

GLMT and Film WI

As Film WI continues to develop after the demise of the state funded Wisconsin Film Office, Great Lakes Media Technology continues to be involved in helping re-establish a vital visual media resource in Wisconsin. How vital? Simply put:

Film Wisconsin will represent the interests of the visual media industry in Wisconsin through one, unified voice. Our members include video artists and filmmakers, governmental, educational, professional organizations; talent and craft unions; equipment, facility, service providers, production and post-production companies that use emerging technologies. Our primary goal is to identify, sustain, leverage, create and increase the production of visual media products in Wisconsin. - From the Film WI Mission Statement.

As a sponsor and task force member, we will be involved in various stages of the organization's planning and marketing efforts, and hope we can help identify Wisconsin on a national level as a valid and strong resource for film and video location and production.

GLMT at EMX

GLMT attended the annual Entertainment Media Expo in Hollywood, CA. This high profile 2-day event featured lectures and workshops lead by some of the top media experts in the industry from Sony, Apple, Universal, Warner, New Line, and many others. This conference provided GLMT with a wealth of information regarding next generation discs, new packaging developments, and much more. Visit the EMX site at: www.entertainmentmediaexpo.com for more info on the conference. We look forward to using this learned information as an additional resource for our clients.

Maximize Your Message

Have you spent a lot of time and energy putting together material for your CD or DVD project? Quality content is essential, but no matter how interesting the content on your media is, no one will see it if the packaging doesn't grab your audiences' attention. With a nearly endless variety of packaging options available, how do you decide which one will truly make people excited about your media?

How can your message and identity be applied to meet your marketing objectives? Great Lakes Media Technology can handle all components of graphic design, DVD/CD authoring, and Web development/eCommerce services to give your identity and message high impact and a lasting impression. Our goal with New Media is to save you expenses while helping strengthen your company image to its maximum potential.

Graphic Design

Great Lakes Media Technology's New Media department will work closely with you to develop design and layout of your material. We'll help you communicate clearly in any media format and give you a look that continually impresses and engages your audience. In essence, we'll help provide your company identity with a lasting potency.

Authoring

Authoring is the process of assembling the encoded video, along with other non-video files (PDF, Word, etc.) into an interface that allows the end-user to easily access the information. As the material becomes organized, custom interactive menus that link to different sections, sub-sections, chapters, etc. are created to support the layout. Existing logos, fonts, etc., are integrated during this stage to uphold corporate or project specific branding, and provide the overall aesthetic theme that will continue throughout the published work.

Web development

Remain flexible and outstanding by integrating your ideas into a Web based application. Instantly promote your product or idea around the globe, and continually update and enhance your online image. Even if you have an existing site, Great Lakes Media Technology will develop the most comprehensive solution to maximize your online and eCommerce objectives with our Web development solutions.

DVD-R Compatibility

When CD-R media was first released to consumers, there were many compatibility issues with the playback hardware that was on the market. Over time, the hardware manufacturers worked to overcome these issues and create a broader scope of compatibility for all the various brands of media available. Today, we're seeing a similar process with DVD-R media.

For one, none of the writable formats of this media are totally compatible with each other or existing hardware. On the upside, a playback device with 'DVD Multi' is guaranteed to read DVD-R, DVD-RW, and DVD-RAM discs. Other new drives can support both plus and minus formats, and a few are capable of recording and reading all five disc types (DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD+R, DVD+RW, and DVD-RAM).

As with early CD-R media, hardware manufacturers are working to create equipment that has a broader range of compatibility. In essence, buying only top grade brand name recordable media will provide better chances that the media will be compatible with a broader range of players. Low-grade generic media might have more issues since hardware manufactures focus on the more prevalent brands in the market.

GLMT provides a variety of top grade, name brand recordable media. Call us and speak to an Account Manager to find the best type of recordable media for your project.

Package Makes Perfect

Have you spent a lot of time and energy putting together material for your CD or DVD project? Quality content is essential, but no matter how interesting the content on your media is, no one will see it if the packaging doesn't grab your audiences' attention. With a nearly endless variety of packaging options available, how do you decide which one will truly make people excited about your media?

Even though there are many choices, there are some logical guidelines to follow when selecting your package option. The first question to ask is, how is your media being used or distributed? This answer will reveal what initial direction your package design should follow. From there, a more focused and critical analysis of effective options should happen. Great Lakes Media Technology are experts in this field. We have staff who have combined experiences of over 20 years in packaging digital and analog media, and are knowledgeable on what 'works' and what doesn't. Don't let this part of your project suffer from attention. If you're organizing a project now, contact an Account Manager at GLMT to set up an appointment to discuss this important topic. In this meeting, you will see both simple and elaborate examples of packaging that we've produced for clients that helped make their media successful.

GLMT DigiStyle Case

Looking for a professional but hip package for your next project? Try the GLMT DigiStyle case. This popular disc case style features 12pt, C1S stock, and printed 4/c process with aqueous coating. A clear disc tray is securely glued onto the inside back panel, allowing you the familiar access of a jewel case, while maintaining the cardstock appearance of custom packaging on the outside. GLMT DigiStyle packaging is available with 4 or 6 panels, and both options feature a literature/insert pocket on the inside panel opposite the tray.

Template proofs, quick turnaround, and affordable prices make this package style a great alternative to the usual case. Call us for samples, prices, and more information on how this packaging can work for your next project.

Captioning and Subtitling

What if we told you that your video programs are missing more than 10% of the audience you thought you were capturing, and that for only a tiny fraction of your production, distribution, and broadcast costs, you could finally gain that missing market share? And what if you learned that you could do it quickly, easily, and as a streamlined part of your normal production work flow when you work with Great Lakes Media Technology? For a minimal investment, your programming, whether intended for broadcast, Webcast, DVD for foreign or domestic markets, VHS, PAL, commercial spots, or B2B materials, will reach your entire audience, not neglecting that significant and necessary 10%.

As the 2006 F.C.C. captioning deadline approaches, all media producers need to be prepared. Great Lakes Media Technology will help ensure that you have a smooth transition as you begin captioning and subtitling your programs. Finally, what is a greater than 10% market share worth to your organization? We want to help you get your message out to the greatest audience possible, and we believe captioning and subtitling enables us to do just that. As an integrated part of our media fulfillment services, captioning allows you to break through to a greater audience, simply, easily, and without hassle.

On your end, it's very simple. You just provide Great Lakes Media Technology with your video, in whatever format is best for you. We then will provide you with a closed-captioning or subtitling script, or if you desire, an approval video. We will make any changes you request to our captioning files. We are committed to excellence, and we guarantee 100% satisfaction with our captioning services. Call us to learn more about this important service.

Free Consulting For Authoring Projects

Maybe you're considering making a promo disc for your company, or converting your catalog to disc, or creating a sales presentation on disc. You know these things will help your business, yet the task of putting the material together can be stressful. After all, you don't want to invest the time and money it takes to complete this work and not have the final product be as effective as possible.

Ask yourself these simple questions:

- Will your user know where to go to find specific information easily on your disc?

- How will someone react to receiving the disc?

- What will they get out of viewing it?

These are important questions, and should be considered when arranging the material that you will publish on disc. Having worked on thousands of disc projects, in both creation and manufacturing, we are experts in the entire realm of optical disc media, and can help you organize and assemble your material in the most effective method. Many companies will charge "consulting" time for this, where we feel that it's more important for our customer's projects to succeed for them. If you are putting a project together , call us for assistance. We're here to help your project succeed.

Digital Media Cards

Great Lakes Media Technology offers duplication of Digital Memory Cards. These matchbox-sized cards hold between 32 mb and 1 gb of video, images, and other content. Playable in PDAs as well as computers, this form of media will bring commercials to a daily planner, music to mp3 players, picture libraries to a camera, and huge amounts of content to a laptop.

Features:

- High transfer rate for fast copy/download
- High storage capacity
- Non-volatile solid-state; no moving parts maximizes battery power
- Data is not lost when power is turned off
- Unaffected by extreme temperatures
- Compatible with all digital cameras, handheld PCs, digital audio players, and other devices that feature a CompactFlash slot
- Rewritable or Read-Only

Looking for an alternative way to publish and distribute your content? Call us to learn more about how Digital Memory Cards can work for you.

GLMT Saves You Time And Money On Video Conversions

So, you have video footage, and you know what the final project needs to be, but how do you get it there? Great Lakes Media Technology can convert your footage from any format, to any format. Plus, we provide 24-hour-turn services for your video conversion needs:

- Quick DVD
- Beta dubs
- PAL to NTSC conversion
- Spot dubs
- Short run DVD/CD duplication/replication
- Fulfillment/drop shipment

Call us today and get your material in the format you need - fast!

Short Run DVD Replication

We now offer short run DVD replication (manufactured discs - NOT DVD-Rs!) for clients who need total media compatibility and quality.

Starting at quantities as low as 100 units, our replicated discs are manufactured and screen printed just like all professional quality discs. Replicated discs can be purchased in bulk or packaged at special prices.

Call us to find out more about our package rates, and the differences between a manufactured disc and a duplicated disc, to find the best option to fits your needs. Whatever your needs are, Great Lakes Media Technology is equipped to handle them, in the time and budget to meet your satisfaction.

Kiosk Development

Kiosks are computerized stations that are placed in public environments that allow users to learn about your products and services, and even purchase them, through a touch screen system. Kiosks engage your audience by giving them control over the information you provide. This improved customer experience remains with the user, and so does your brand. Great Lakes Media Technology's New Media department can design and program an effective kiosk solution to give your company impact in public spaces, such as shopping malls, airports, festival grounds, trade shows, and other high-traffic public environments. The result is advertising and branding taken to a whole new level.

GLMT at IDS Publishing Conference

As previously reported, Great Lakes Media Technology has taken part in this year's IDS conference. The conference focuses on various uses of digital media within the publishing industry. Currently, the conference is featuring a variety of white papers available for download from industry experts.

“Authoring and Encoding: The New Tools For Digital Media Publishing,” a paper provided by Great Lakes Media Technology, focuses on the impact that proper layout and organization in authoring and encoding can have for DVD or CD-ROM media. This paper can be accessed by registering free through the IDS Publishing Web site: http://www.ids-publishing.com/

VCD and SVCD

Video Compact Disc (VCD) and Super Video Compact Disc (SVCD) are two new formats of CD authoring that allow CDs to play video via DVD players. VCD offers video that is slightly above VHS quality, and is compatible with 95%+ home DVD decks. SVCD offers close to DVD quality video with 80% compatibility with home DVD decks.

While neither have the capacity or high quality that DVD offers, both are suitable for lower capacity slideshows, home video footage, or personalized projects, at a lower cost alternative to DVD media.

As technology grows and changes at a rapid pace, Great Lakes Media Technology is here to answer your questions, and provide a solution that best fits your needs, at a cost within your budget. Call us to find out more about how VCD or SVCD might work for your project.

DVD Master Preparation

As DVD becomes a more commonly used media outside of the entertainment industry, there are some critical points to cover in preparing the content for your master disc. For starters, the media itself: Always use high-quality recordable DVD+R or DVD-R non-rewritable media or DLT tapes for DVD-ROM masters. DVD rewritable (DVD-RW) discs may not be used for DVD-ROM masters due to low reflectivity levels and drive compatibility issues.

DVD+R or DVD-R are acceptable for masters of DVD-5 and DVD-10 for replication. DVD-9 requires two masters (layer 1 and layer 0), DVD+R, DVD-R, or DLT tape may be used for masters. Any project requiring CSS or Macrovision copy protection must be authored as such and must be submitted on DLT tape. All DLT tape masters must include the DDP files.

Regarding preparation of your master, Great Lakes Media Technology uses and recommends a bit rate of 5 or 6 Mbps. Higher bit rates can cause compatibility issues in different players. If there is any confusion about this, having Great Lakes Media Technology handle the encoding and authoring of your project will guarantee that your master will be created properly to avoid any compatibility issues post replication.