DSA Case Study
Gerd Richter | Nurburg, Germany
Long-time independent DVD author serving small labels in Germany is able to keep Blu-ray budgets low and still deliver superb client service with DoStudio.
What does your company do?
Since 2003, I have run a small Authoring Company. I began doing authoring work in 1997 the German town of in Nürburgring (Nurburg), which is famous for its racing track. Before this, I was located in Cologne. My typical customers are small distribution labels with small budgets. I strive to deliver the highest quality so I can compete in the extremely competitive DVD business in Germany. For the majority of projects, I work alone, but in some cases I have a staff of freelancers for graphic design, etc. I am very gratified by the good reviews that I read on the Internet and newspapers for my DVDs and Blu-rays that I author. And I have been very happy to author several woldwide premiers on Blu-ray, such as “Beer for my horses,” “Dark Floors” and some other titles are available for the first time on Blu-ray world wide.
Why did you select DoStudio?
High Definition Discs became a major theme in 2007. Some of my customers started asking for HD-DVD and Blu-ray authoring at that time. After Blu-ray won the format war, more customers asked for Blu-ray authoring. However, the customers are the same, the budgets went a little higher for Blu-ray but still they are smaller than budgets from major companies. So I had to find a high-quality solution that would allow me to be competitive.
The first step was to research the different Blu-ray authoring software options available to me. Based on my preliminary research of articles, there seemed to be only two choices: Sony’s Blu-print or the Sonic solution. Both solutions were out of my price range. I tested them, but the cost of the software was simply out of the question. So, then I investigated Adobe Encore. But Encore DVD authored Blu-rays only the DVD-way and personally I think, the software was not very user-friendly. My customers wanted professional Blu-rays with pop-up menus, high definition audio and great menu graphics. The last straw for me with my Encore experiment was when I had some problems with some Masters during glass-mastering. The replication company I was working with, Elsässer Germany, informed me about DoStudio, and the rest is history as they say. DoStudio provided everything I needed and the initial option to work on a monthly license basis kept my expenses down. Even after NetBlender changed their licensing policy, eliminating the monthly option, DoStudio’s perpetual license cost remains very affordable ($2,995), so I decided to license it and now I have worked with it for nearly a year.
How has NetBlender helped your business?
Because DoStudio helps me work even with small budget projects and still provide a superior quality, I have won some new Blu-ray customers. NetBlender’s customer support program is one of the best I have ever seen. Denny Breitenfeld and his technical team have truly delivered exceptional support to me over the past year. DoStudio is still a relatively new software in a young business, and so I am sure the software will grow with its users. Initially, I did report some bugs, but NetBlender has done everything to keep my projects on track, including contacting the replicators. This form of personal support is a big bonus. I never got this support from Apple or other Companies.
What results have you seen using DoStudio?
One phrase: Without DoStudio, I simply would not be in the Blu-ray buisness. Thats all and I think that is more than I could have expected.
