Article written by John Zois (DVD Bits Editor) on 29-Oct-2000
Photography and design by Tully Rosen

PRINTING

Once a DVD has passed the testing stage then it can start getting decorated with the great picture discs that we all love to see. Screen printing is the preferred option for this and is also done in a machine specifically designed for the process but which doesn’t come cheap at $1.2mil each (x3).

Normally the studio client is responsible for generating the art work for their disc so don’t blame PMI when the picture discs are atrocious. PMI uses the artwork to make a stencil. The stencil is then exposed on to a screen with a tightly stretched silk mesh and placed into the screen printing machine. Because the disc’s surface is not white, the surface of the disc must first be painted white so that the different colours making up the picture disc can then be applied.

Once the white is put on and cured by a UV lamp the different colours are applied one by one followed by UV lamp exposure after each one – Red, Black , Blue  and Yellow with the finished product looking like the final artwork picture. A camera then checks the final picture to ensure it looks like it is meant to.

The reason that studios were not initially creating picture discs was not due to the small additional cost but due to technical reasons. However thanks to discussions with PMI, they have now been convinced it is safe and the studios are now embracing picture discs.

PACKING

Well it was a long journey but the DVD is finally ready and all that is left is packaging it up and shipping it off to the warehouse. The paper artwork found in the cover of the DVD along with the appropriate cases for the DVDs are matched here. The paper is not controlled by PMI but by the studios and thus can at times lead to delays where the DVDs are ready but await their packaging to arrive.

Human touch is still predominant in this room, with workers by hand placing DVDs in the cases and adding leaflets etc. The reason why there are no machines to automatically place the DVDs in their cases comes down to the shear number of available cases. At the moment there is no single machine that can handle all the different types of casings (Amaray, Snapper etc) and therefore this task is left to human hands. However it is anticipated that in the near future the elusive all-in-one machine will become available.

  Once the DVDs and paperwork are put together the entire package is automatically shrink wrapped and the finished product, identical to that of the retail shop, is placed in boxes 40 at a time ready to be shipped out. At the time we were there, we had the great pleasure of seeing literally hundreds of Independence Day and The Abyss DVDs placed in boxes and ready to be shipped to the warehouse.