Burst Records Launch

After years of crafting music for companies such as BMW and Gatorade, shows like American Idol and West Wing, Burst Records has begun releasing music to the public. Having worked with Burst on the disc manufacturing and packaging side of their business for a number of years, we knew what they'd be looking for when it came to launching their new Burst Records web site. We built the site using HTML, Flash, CSS, Javascript, PHP, and XML to present the artist/release info, sound samples, and purchase options with easy-to-use navigation, while maintaining the company's overall branding. Take a look at the work here and learn more about Burst Records too!

GLMT at ACCM Chicago

Next month we'll be exhibiting at the ACCM Show, a conference to help businesses exceed their customers' multichannel expectations and increase their profits. We'll be showcasing some specific products that will help drive response rates, usability, and buyer interest for catalog and direct mail producers. The show runs from May 8 - 10 at the McCormick Place in Chicago. Contact us to receive a brochure (while they last) or visit the conference web site here for more information. Hope to see you there!

Interactive Communication

The recent issue of Communication Arts announced that they are accepting submissions for their 12th annual Interactive Design Competition. Participants may enter work done for CD-ROM, Web, kiosk, or handheld devices. In previous competitions, winners have included such giants as Harley Davidson, Nike, Windows, Virgin, and Borders. It's great to keep an eye on these competitions and see what some big-time advertisers are doing to differentiate themselves. We all use this technology to communicate our ideas, so it's smart to question how we're doing it, and how we can do it better. Can you think of a recent CD-ROM that really struck you? A Web site that you like to check on daily? Think about the reasons behind those feelings, and use those to inspire how you develop your own interactive communications. Check out our recent list of pride and joy here, and let us know how we can work together to make your communications stronger.

Holographic Media

While many people are focusing on the debate between HD and Blu-Ray as the next entertainment media format, Holographic Media is also making plans to emerge on the market this year. The initial marketing efforts for the 300GB disc seem to be focusing on its strengths as an ideal archiving media. Maxell Europe has announced its release of the media for September 2006, stating it will have the ability to store millions of pages, and hours and hours of High-Definition video footage. In essence, this development shows us that digital media continues to grow based on technological advancements, and we'll be sure to keep you posted on where it goes next.

GLMT at NAMM

We just returned from the NAMM Show in Anaheim, CA where we witnessed some of our DVD work being utilized by Fender Guitars. This international conference lasted 4 days and was packed to the hilt with manufacturers presenting their new products. Many utilized DVD as their method of advertising. With so many companies at the show, these video screens were hard to miss, and really kept your attention. It's great to see this type of effort and know that you helped make it happen. The best part is that more and more people can utilize this technology at trade shows as the cost for broadcasting your DVD is becoming more affordable. Interested in setting something like this up for your next show? Let us know. We'll give you all the info you'll need to make it happen for your company.

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.