Preparing Your CD or DVD Disc Master

The preparation of the master for a duplication or replication project is the most important part of the process. Prepping the master correctly will eliminate any problems or delays in completing the project. The master is going to be copied exactly as it is submitted so it’s important to make sure it is what you want. This includes testing it on several different plays to assure playability by various players. Older software can create a master that only plays on the system they were burned on, so playing the master on other systems will assure it works as intended.

Quality media like Mitsui, Maxell, Taiyo Yuden and Verbatim should be used for the mastering process. If you try to save money and use one of the many brands of very cheap discs that are on the market, you risk the quality of your copies. Your project is going to be an exact copy of the master and if you used cheap media there is the chance your audio and or video quality will not be as good. Spend a few extra cents and get the good media for producing your master.

It is extremely important that you label your master clearly with your company name and project title. Duplication facilitates deal with many different titles on a daily basis and if you don’t clearly label it, you may experience a delay or worse have the project mixed up with some other project. Take the few extra moments to label the master with a label or marker that is approved to write on the face of a disc. Do not try to use a ball point pin to mark on the disc, it will ruin the disc.

Duplication houses will not test your master on various players. They instead will use a bit by bit verification system and test the copies to the master to assure that they are an exact copy of the master. This is why it’s important for you to test your master in several different players to assure it plays as expected. Don’t just test it in the system that you burned it on. In some older burners, they can produce a master that will only play well in the system it was created on. If you test it other systems, you will assure it has no playability issues.

If you follow these very basic steps, you should not have a problem with getting your project completed. Remember the vendor performing the service is there to help you and if you have any questions preparing the master, ask them for direction. They would much prefer to help you do it correctly so that there will be no delays in completing the project. Their goal is to make you a happy customer so you use them again and tell all your friends and business acquaintances to use them when they need that type of work done.