1.  When are you going to make a DVD for my ____________

We never discuss future projects until we're about to release them, but we love getting these emails anyway.  We've gotten some great ideas from our customers in the past, and we appreciate any feedback you care to give us.  After all, you're the reason we produce DVDs.

2.  Where can I buy your products?

Links on our Contact Us page can help you find a camera store or on-line retailer.

3.  My DVD won't play.  Now what?

DVDs can be played on either a set-top player attached directly to your television or on a DVD drive attached or installed into your computer.  We've broken the answer into two sections, one for each platform.

DVD drive on a computer:

1. I’ve had several customers who though they had a DVD drive, but it was actually a CD or CD-RW drive.  It can be confusing since a lot of software comes with video but is delivered on CD media (which is also the same size and color as DVD media).  If you can’t see any files on the DVD disc, your drive may be  CD drive.  Open Windows Explorer to ascertain whether files and folders are visible on your "DVD drive".

2. Check out your DVD drive and player combination by inserting a DVD disc from a movie rental service (Blockbuster, Netflix) or your home collection.  Do this step even if you know you've played movies in the past.   The disc should have the DVD logo on the outside of the package.  If a standard movie plays, but ours will not open, send us an email.  We'll try to help you resolve the issue.

3. If #1 and #2 is definitely not the answer (you're able to watch movies from Blockbuster on your computer), then you should have DVD player software installed somewhere on your hard drive.  If you are using Windows Media Player, be sure it is upgraded to version 10 or higher.  Version 9 and below did not play DVD disks without a purchased plug-in.  If you can find your DVD player software, launch the program then try accessing the disc.

4. If you can see files in Windows Explorer, and you have DVD software installed on your computer but still cannot get the disc to play, try playing it on a set-top box attached to a TV, if one is available.  If you can't play it on the set-top unit, return the disc to your retailer or send us an email.
   
   ***NOTE:  There have been many, many DVD player software applications released in the past several years.  Some are very good, and others are just plain awful.  They skip, crash, don't play the sound, and generally act like they were written and distributed without any formal testing.  If your player software is two or more years old, check with the manufacturer to see whether any free updates can be downloaded.  The difference may astound you.  In the past two years, we have seen the number of problems related to software problems for DVD playback really drop off.  Again, if your software is a little older than two years old, consider upgrading to reduce playback problems with all discs.

Set-top player attached to your television set.

1. Check out your DVD  player by inserting a DVD disc from a movie rental service (Blockbuster, Netflix) or your home collection.  The disc should have the DVD logo on the outside of the package.

2. If the disc still will not play, cross check the disc on a computer that has a DVD disc drive, if one is available.  If you can't play it on the computer, return the disc to your retailer or send us an email.

4.  There is a picture but no sound / There is sound but no picture / The picture is choppy / The sound stutters.  How do I fix this?

Usually, this is directly attributable to DVD player software that is buggy or an old PC running an obsolete operating system.  There is a a lot of misperception about DVD technology especially since DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD-ROM, and all the other iterations have come into the consumer market.  Here are some facts about our DVDs that ensure low failure rates.

• Blue Crane Digital's DVDs are manufactured at the same factory used by the major film studios.  The technology, file formats, data bandwidth, and encryption schemes are identical.  Stamping or REPLICATING DVDs  is completely different than burning or DUPLICATING consumer DVD-R or DVD-ROM discs.  Stamped disc error rates are extremely low.  After hundreds of thousands of copies, we have had exactly one returned to us that was really defective.   You can easily tell the difference between a stamped disc and one created with a DVD-R or DVD-ROM format.  Stamped discs are silver on the data side, while consumer grade writable discs have a green or purple color.

• Sound Quality - Since everything on the disc is digital, any scratching, popping, or stuttering is a function of playback software.  Either the file can be opened or it can't.  Sound quality does not vary between discs.

• Video Quality - Since the video is also digital, any stuttering or dropped frames indicate software incompatibility or an older computer that just doesn't have a modern operating system or enough CPU power.  Again, either the file can be opened or it can't.  Quality is identical between discs.

• If you can see a picture, but cannot hear the audio, it's probably your equipment setup or software.  All file formats are standard and within ISO specifications for DVD players manufactured around the world.

• If the sound is out of sync with the picture, it is without a doubt software related.

5.  My computer gives me an error code that says the disc is the wrong region.  What is that about?

Firmware in some DVD disc drives (Dell installed), insist that you choose a region code in order to play your discs.  Our DVDs are distributed throughout the world.  When they are manufactured, they are coded with ALL valid region codes.  The combination of software player and some firmware versions can cause a disc with multiple region codes to fail.  Contact your computer manufacturer for firmware and / or software upgrades.

We're not saying there can't be a problem with our discs. We want you to find a solution to your technical problem rather than returning the DVD and finding that you still have a problem.  We've helped dozens of users that were sure they had a bad DVD.  Based on our experience, the odds are extremely long in favor of software / hardware issues.

If you are still having a problem after reading and following this FAQ page, please send us an email.  We'll do our best to help get your problem resolved.