Why not go it alone and save money?

Computer savvy folks will probably consider developing and producing their own DVD’s without the help of an expert production company. There are several good reasons not to do this. Quality and compatibility are two big ones. If your project is one long continuous clip, like a linear video tape, you could probably develop that yourself on DVD with minimal difficulty. When you start adding menus and other interactive features, the complexity and risk of problems rises exponentially with a do-it-yourself effort.

If you read the trade magazines and/or are a video enthusiast, you’ve undoubtedly seen the many, many products out there to help you create your own DVD’s. A big issue is that while these consumer and prosumer tools can sure enough help make a DVD that can be played on yours or your neighbor’s computer or home video system, there’s a very good chance that they won’t play on many of your students' equipment.

The DVD creation tools that both the movie studios and Organic Media use cost several tens of thousands of dollars. Neither we, nor the studios, buy these tools simply because they are expensive—rather because they offer the highest audio and video quality along with broadest compatibility across the spectrum of playback equipment people will be using to play the discs.