thanx for the lead..

just to clarify though, i'm not interested in the actual act of recording video like for a wedding or something. just want to do the dvd creation stuff where the video is supplied.

just want to do the dvd creation stuff where the video is supplied.

I think that may end up being a tough niche to create for yourself. Most people who record the video usually edit it, because that is part of the creative process. The DVD creation is, in many senses, just an extension of that, and in fact is built into many editing programs. Vegas and Adobe break out the DVD product as a separate entity, but then bundle it for most of their sales. Pinnacle wraps it in with their editing program.

Now, having said that, there is definitely a big market for duplication. Once a videographer needs more than a few discs, the mechanical production process can take a lot of time, and that time -- and the investment in the equipment needed to do it efficiently -- can eat into the creative aspects of the business. So, many people farm that out. There are lots of small duplication businesses that are local, and provide services that the really big outfits that operate via mail cannot.

A good example is our local duplication company called Duplication Connection here in Monterey, CA. They are stuffed into about 700 sq. ft. with equipment literally stacked floor to ceiling churning out dups of everything from VHS tapes to Blu-Ray. They do labeling, packaging, shrink wrap, etc.

You could start by doing some subset of this, and then grow depending on what the local needs of your marketplace turn out to be. If your clientbase needs DVD authoring, then you can certainly throw that into the mix.

Re Duplication Connection website

I simply love the following statement....

Prices subject to change according to customer attitude.

Priceless!

Prices subject to change according to customer attitude

I just love this!! :-)

/Ulf

Prices subject to change according to customer attitude

I didn't see that, but I've dealt with the guy, and that is exactly how he is (we get along great, but he clearly sets out the rules when you cross the threshold of his store).

I had a huge order for a DVD being sent to every student at the high school. He wouldn't come down in price, and we went back and forth. I finally asked him if he'd like some free advertising in exchange for a lower price. Without telling what it was, I got him to buy into the premise. I then offered to let him put his logo, name, and phone number on the DVD, in exchange for a substantial reduction in price (which was being paid by the school).

He got the sale, and the school got their DVDs at a price that saved them almost four figures.

a lot of good info, thanx.. just one question: what are they duplicating? privately made dvd's or professionally made (or both)? and couldn't they get in trouble duplicating professionally made dvd's?

here's an example of where i was coming from. in my local yellow pages is this ad under Video Production & Taping Services..

Wedding/Event videography (don't want to/can't do)
Video tape to DVD conversions (can do)
8 & 16mm film conversions (could do/am willing to do if i knew how)
Photo/35mm slide montage to DVD or tape.

those last 3 are what i'm referring to and seem to be targeting the every person who may have old VHS tapes or 8mm film they want to convert to DVD. maybe a bunch of people not interested in/capable of learning to use a computer let alone editing software. could be a market just for that. agree?

I don't know if it's a viable business model!

That said it would seem that there are a lot of consumers with camcorders who need help editing, doing image stabilization in post, adding FX and titles and creating DVD's.

I'd keep my day job until the income stream equals the day job.

My fav from NAB was don't keep a loaded handgun in the editing room when customers are visiting :)

gmes: You don't show it on your profile, but what is your name and where are you located?

You might look at Video Business Advisor at: http://videobusinessadvisor.communityzero.com

This is a pay-for-access site, but it sounds like they would have the info you need.

Steve Mann

those last 3 are what i'm referring to and seem to be targeting the every person who may have old VHS tapes or 8mm film they want to convert to DVD. maybe a bunch of people not interested in/capable of learning to use a computer let alone editing software. could be a market just for that. agree?Absolutely, positively, YES.

I get asked for this more than anything else, namely, how do I take all my LPs and convert them to CDs? Or, how can I convert all these VHS tapes (or 8mm, Hi-8, or even Beta) that I took in the early days of camcorders and put them on DVD? Or what do I do with these 8mm, Super8, or 16mm films I just found in my parents' things when we closed down the old house? Or, how can I put the 10,000 slides my family has accumulated onto some sort of CD or DVD?

The demand is there and is huge. The problem is figuring out how to do it at a price point that people are actually willing to pay, and at which you can make money. You need to come up with workflows that let you automate as much of the process as possible, and you need to set expectations so they are not expecting a Hollywood production from shaky videotapes of Johnny's first steps, most of which grind on for minutes or hours. Here's the key:

You don't want to get into

Reason? Almost no one will be able to pay what you will have to charge in order to edit this stuff. Believe me, I know. I've spent the last five years doing exactly this, but only for friends and family, and never for any real money. I would have had to charge thousands for each project if it had been a business venture and, to most people, this is too much money.