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Chicks On Anime - Producing a DVD


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walw6pK4Alo



Joined: 12 Mar 2008
Posts: 9322
PostPosted: Tue Jun 02, 2009 2:52 am Reply with quote
Quote:
Ah, okay. I remember buying VHS tapes for $30 each when minimum-wage was $4.25 an hour, so I think DVD prices are much better. Maybe I am just an old lady. *laugh*


This argument gets tossed around too often, but I really believe it's not applicable, it's the same as saying that computers use to cost a lot back then as well. Prices drop, but they're still not down to the level as most DVDs, and that's why people ask those questions.

Quote:
What are your thoughts on the matter? Do you prefer to purchase half-season sets or are you willing to wait longer to buy the entire series?


I know FUNi dubs all the works, but it seems that shows can be put onto the market faster when they're undubbed. It's a really bitter debate around here, but there is a growing fanbase of those who don't think the dubs are necessary now. As for extras, if it's a DVD extra on the Japanese, like omake or picture dramas, it better damn well be on the R1 release.

Quote:
I hope we will have more options in the future. You never know, because technology is always changing.


DVD using the current format seems pretty limited, but doesn't BluRay allow a much wider range in that regard to subs? Also with encoding the file there seems to be more options, and all of them should be fully explored where possible.


Last edited by walw6pK4Alo on Tue Jun 02, 2009 2:58 am; edited 2 times in total
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Zac
ANN Executive Editor


Joined: 05 Jan 2002
Posts: 7912
Location: Anime News Network Technodrome
PostPosted: Tue Jun 02, 2009 2:55 am Reply with quote
walw6pK4Alo wrote:
Quote:
Ah, okay. I remember buying VHS tapes for $30 each when minimum-wage was $4.25 an hour, so I think DVD prices are much better. Maybe I am just an old lady. *laugh*


This argument gets tossed around too often, but I really believe it's not applicable, it's the same as saying that computers use to cost a lot back then as well. Prices drop, but they're still not down to the level as most DVDs, and that's why people ask those questions.


Do you just run into the forums without reading the rest of the article and spit out your first response?
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Dargonxtc



Joined: 13 Apr 2006
Posts: 4463
Location: Nc5xd7+ スターダストの海洋
PostPosted: Tue Jun 02, 2009 3:12 am Reply with quote
Awesome read this week. Great interview.

I think most interesting thing I learned is that the extras cost money, not to produce I knew that, but just to obtain. That's.... brutal. You would think that would be included in the original contract everytime, unless there is music involved then I understand.


And get the hell off the lawn!
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crewcheif01



Joined: 09 Jul 2008
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Location: Louisiana USA
PostPosted: Tue Jun 02, 2009 3:29 am Reply with quote
I think the half season sets are fine for the newer shows but for some of the older titles that FUNi picked up they could have at least offered a limited number of single dvd's for the people that bought the first half of the box set in order to complet the sets. I have a few that have three singles and a part two thinpack .Just a dream i guess. Sad
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edzieba



Joined: 13 Dec 2006
Posts: 704
PostPosted: Tue Jun 02, 2009 4:14 am Reply with quote
Geez, DigiBeta? Still? No wonder there are so many nasty-looking licensed dvds. coughMangleEntcough
Nice way to skirt the issue on DVD pricing. Why not just come out and SAY that the licensing cost increases from the rightsholders are keeping the prices inflated?
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asimpson2006



Joined: 13 May 2008
Posts: 3151
Location: USA
PostPosted: Tue Jun 02, 2009 6:55 am Reply with quote
Interesting article as always from the COA team as I know refer to Robin and Sara as. I do agree it's cheaper for the half seasons then just keep putting out singles every few months. I remember my early days of anime buying (at least from 2002 and onwards even some in 2001.) I remember paying like $30 for a 4 or 5 episode DVD, so after doing that for a while, it is nicer to see half season to get more for the money.



Quote:
I know FUNi dubs all the works, but it seems that shows can be put onto the market faster when they're undubbed. It's a really bitter debate around here, but there is a growing fanbase of those who don't think the dubs are necessary now. As for extras, if it's a DVD extra on the Japanese, like omake or picture dramas, it better damn well be on the R1 release.


If a company doesn't think it's likely to sell well or bring that much money in, it's better to have the DVD's released as just subs, but if a show is more likely to bring in a larger amount of money having a dub on it will make it appeal to a larger crowd.
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PetrifiedJello



Joined: 11 Mar 2009
Posts: 3782
PostPosted: Tue Jun 02, 2009 7:04 am Reply with quote
Clarine wrote:
Ah, okay. I remember buying VHS tapes for $30 each when minimum-wage was $4.25 an hour, so I think DVD prices are much better. Maybe I am just an old lady. *laugh*

Heh. Great, then I must be a dinosaur.
Wink
Back in these days (which wasn't far off, actually), I remember having to hit video stores just to watch a completed series. To this day, I don't recall much anime being available for purchase at retailers.

Eons ago, I recall reading how master tapes were used only so many times before having to be swapped out due to degradation. Given these masters are no longer produced, the DVD seems to have been a great way to save costs since it's all digital.

It makes sense that costs have come down. Now, fans are actually buying rather than copying tapes.*

Clarine wrote:
What are your thoughts on the matter?
Do you prefer to purchase half-season sets or are you willing to wait longer to buy the entire series?

I've not purchased anime in quite some time, truthfully. It's only been since February my purchases of actual anime DVDs has increased. I felt it was time to start watching the shows in which my figure collection was derived.

Since this time, I've noticed an increase in price. It's now June, and I do understand the economic woes is partially to blame.

But I was stunned to see the second season of School Rumble was broken into two parts. At first, I figured they were episodes released that way from Japan.

Having read up on the info here at ANN, this stunned expression turned to a bit of anger, truthfully. I wasn't happy to see the second season part 2 was released 2 months of the first. BestBuy had both for $45 each. That's $90 for a complete second season when I had just purchased the first season for $40.

That was an immediate non-purchase. $50, I'm okay with. It's relatively new and I really enjoyed it. But for $40 more? It wasn't that great of a series for me.

I'd rather wait for the 2 months to get it all for $50. But if the new price tier is going to be $100 for a series, well, this is going to alienate many who struggle to pay for it now, regardless how much cheaper it is today compared to the VHS days.

From my position only: If costs of DVDs continues to climb, I'll have no choice but to sacrifice purchasing the DVDs over my figures. I can always view anime online, but I can't download a figure.

That's a loss of a sale, which isn't good. Please, FUNimation, don't force me into this position. I've been happy buying DVDs since February and would like to continue. Yes, I can find great deals, but I also don't want to miss out on newer releases (especially sequels) because I have to sacrifice a choice to save costs. I'm begging here.

Clarine wrote:
I don't think DVDs will become obsolete as long as there is still a market for collectors.

While there is some merit to this, I'm curious to know how FUNimation is dealing with the decline of sales. Can they truly expect to survive on revenues from a shrinking market?

***

It was nice to read how a DVD is produced. While I've never been in this business, I see it still hasn't changed in quite some time. With that, Clarine, I've some questions:

-How does FUNimation determine what series to license? I ask this because some of us are dying for FUNimation to pick up a few Geneon licenses which now have sequels.

-In speaking of release time, has FUNimation considered releasing a series without the extras, but offering it as a purchasable bonus later?

-How does competition play in regard trying to market a latest release to consumers? I'm curious to know if revenues are expected quickly or if it's a "long term" game.
As a consumer, I know licensing works on a "cash advanced" system, but also worry if a future license is scrapped because the "quick" model failed to recoup revenues fast enough for the next license.

Thanks for taking the time to interview. It was nice.
Smile

*Yes, I now know the other issue facing the digital world, but I didn't want to bring it up, so let's not go there.
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asimpson2006



Joined: 13 May 2008
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PostPosted: Tue Jun 02, 2009 7:30 am Reply with quote
PetrifiedJello wrote:

From my position only: If costs of DVDs continues to climb, I'll have no choice but to sacrifice purchasing the DVDs over my figures. I can always view anime online, but I can't download a figure.



You can always stop buying figurines and save money that way, that's just a suggestion though.
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rinmackie



Joined: 05 Aug 2006
Posts: 1040
Location: in a van! down by the river!
PostPosted: Tue Jun 02, 2009 7:42 am Reply with quote
Quote:
I know FUNi dubs all the works, but it seems that shows can be put onto the market faster when they're undubbed. It's a really bitter debate around here, but there is a growing fanbase of those who don't think the dubs are necessary now. As for extras, if it's a DVD extra on the Japanese, like omake or picture dramas, it better damn well be on the R1 release.


Grr. I can't stand the anti-dub bias that keeps cropping up on this forum. Dubs are necessary to reach a larger market. Plus, what about all those people such as the blind/visually impaired/dsylexic who can't read subtitles? The whole dubs-are-unnecessary-and-too-expensive attitude was the one thing I hoped would be asked about in this interview. Clarine, if you're reading this, please respond.

P.S. Note that I did not say that subs were unnecessary.
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PetrifiedJello



Joined: 11 Mar 2009
Posts: 3782
PostPosted: Tue Jun 02, 2009 8:15 am Reply with quote
asimpson2006 wrote:
You can always stop buying figurines and save money that way, that's just a suggestion though.

For me, there's more value in the figures than the series they "star" in. I've quite a collection of them, and it's been my passi, er obsession for years.
Compare a DVD to this.

Sorry, but the plastic disk loses as it just doesn't look the same.
Wink
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asimpson2006



Joined: 13 May 2008
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Location: USA
PostPosted: Tue Jun 02, 2009 8:27 am Reply with quote
PetrifiedJello wrote:
asimpson2006 wrote:
You can always stop buying figurines and save money that way, that's just a suggestion though.

For me, there's more value in the figures than the series they "star" in. I've quite a collection of them, and it's been my passi, er obsession for years.
Compare a DVD to this.

Sorry, but the plastic disk loses as it just doesn't look the same.
Wink


I'm not really a figurine person so that's why I don't collect them even though I do see ones that think would be interesting to collect if I did purchase them.
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EireformContinent



Joined: 30 May 2009
Posts: 977
Location: Łódź/Poland (The Promised Land)
PostPosted: Tue Jun 02, 2009 8:54 am Reply with quote
rinmackie wrote:
Quote:
I know FUNi dubs all the works, but it seems that shows can be put onto the market faster when they're undubbed. It's a really bitter debate around here, but there is a growing fanbase of those who don't think the dubs are necessary now. As for extras, if it's a DVD extra on the Japanese, like omake or picture dramas, it better damn well be on the R1 release.


Grr. I can't stand the anti-dub bias that keeps cropping up on this forum. Dubs are necessary to reach a larger market. Plus, what about all those people such as the blind/visually impaired/dsylexic who can't read subtitles? The whole dubs-are-unnecessary-and-too-expensive attitude was the one thing I hoped would be asked about in this interview. Clarine, if you're reading this, please respond.

P.S. Note that I did not say that subs were unnecessary.


Spoiled USA kids.
You think that dub on DVD isn't necessarily because you always have it! You never bought expensive DVD with only subs (optionally one person with annoying voice is reading everything).
If I buy DVD I don't want it to to be quick relase because I'd rather wait for good quality product which gives me a choice between language tracks and subtitles. Every time I got DVD without dub(and with subs with spelling mistakes) I see that publisher simply underestimate me, thinking that I' d buy everything
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Blood-
Bargain Hunter



Joined: 07 Mar 2009
Posts: 23668
PostPosted: Tue Jun 02, 2009 9:14 am Reply with quote
Considering I started a thread in the anime forum a few weeks ago bitching about the half-season release strategy versus making a full season collection available from the get-go, I naturally found this to be a very interesting article.

It is utterly impossible, of course, but in my perfect world, there would be some way of knowing if a) a full season collection of a given series will be made available after the half-seasons come out, and even better b) how long I'd have to wait for the full season collection after the release of half-seasons.

In the absence of that information, my current strategy is to ignore the half-seasons and hope that a full season collection is made available at some point.

I have already bought some half seasons in the last few months and have been burnt. For example I own the Welcome to the NHK two-parter and just found out the full collection is supposed to come out in August.

*sigh*
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DavidShallcross



Joined: 19 Feb 2008
Posts: 1008
PostPosted: Tue Jun 02, 2009 9:19 am Reply with quote
Quote:
Clarine: Subtitles on DVDs are currently limited to a small number of fonts and colors. We try to pick them based on the best-looking and easy-to-read using the software we have available. I hope we will have more options in the future. You never know, because technology is always changing.

Everything I have read on the DVD standard says that the subtitles are given by 4-color bitmaps. So, while the number of colors is limited, the number of fonts shouldn't be. I'm a little surprised that a professional DVD production facility doesn't have access to dozens (if not hundreds) of fonts.
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Xagor



Joined: 29 Apr 2008
Posts: 192
PostPosted: Tue Jun 02, 2009 9:28 am Reply with quote
EireformContinent wrote:
rinmackie wrote:
Quote:
I know FUNi dubs all the works, but it seems that shows can be put onto the market faster when they're undubbed. It's a really bitter debate around here, but there is a growing fanbase of those who don't think the dubs are necessary now. As for extras, if it's a DVD extra on the Japanese, like omake or picture dramas, it better damn well be on the R1 release.


Grr. I can't stand the anti-dub bias that keeps cropping up on this forum. Dubs are necessary to reach a larger market. Plus, what about all those people such as the blind/visually impaired/dsylexic who can't read subtitles? The whole dubs-are-unnecessary-and-too-expensive attitude was the one thing I hoped would be asked about in this interview. Clarine, if you're reading this, please respond.

P.S. Note that I did not say that subs were unnecessary.


Spoiled USA kids.
You think that dub on DVD isn't necessarily because you always have it! You never bought expensive DVD with only subs (optionally one person with annoying voice is reading everything).
If I buy DVD I don't want it to to be quick relase because I'd rather wait for good quality product which gives me a choice between language tracks and subtitles. Every time I got DVD without dub(and with subs with spelling mistakes) I see that publisher simply underestimate me, thinking that I' d buy everything


Did you know, erm read the response you just quoted? That was a pro-dub post, but your entire response is done as a response to an anti-dub post.
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