PLEASE NOTE: Only DCA Finals are available in the "Deluxe DVD" product. For all other events, only regular DVDs are available. GENERAL DVD Questions: Question: How does a DVD product compare to a VHS product? Answer: The best comparison available is the difference between an audiocassette and a CD. DVD will give about twice the video resolution of a VHS tape, resulting in a much higher quality picture. DVD offers menus and instant access to different points on the recording, providing ease of use. The sound track on the DVD will be full digital stereo sound, instead of hi-fi stereo on the VHS tape. Question: What type of DVD recordings are you producing? Answer: We will be producing DVD-R recordings. These are DVD's made with a computer-driven reproduction system. In comparison, most DVD's you can purchase (for example, movies at Best Buy) are pressed. DVD-R recordings will work on 95% of the set top (used with your TV at home) DVD players, and virtually all DVD players purchased in the last 3 years. These DVD's will also work in all DVD drives in personal computers. If, by some chance, the DVD we sell you will not work in your DVD player, upon return of the DVD, we will be happy to send you the equivelent VHS recording, and a refund of any difference in the price. Question: Why are these recordings so expensive? Answer: There are several reasons for the expense of these items. Production expenses (from VHS to DVD) are increased greatly by usage of additional cameras, camera persons, master tapes, and the time and expense of authoring the DVD contents. In addition, purchase of the hardware and software necessary to produce the DVD's was a large up-front investment for our company. Also, with very small production runs of each DVD our production cost per item is higher. Question: Why isn't there more on each DVD? (For example, at All State, why only Chorus and Jazz Band, rather than all 4 concerts, or at a marching show, why only "x" bands)? Answer: The DVD's that we are producing only hold 3.95 or 4.7 gigabytes of information (depending on the event). This comes out to less than 2 hours of video at broadcast quality (not compressed beyond the MPEG 2 compression standard). DCA DVD Questions: Question: What is the difference between the DVD and Deluxe DVD products? Answer: The DVD recordings will include the same basic content as the Multi-Camera version of our VHS products. There will be only one video track on each DVD. This track will consist of footage shot by multiple cameras and combined into a single video track, showing different aspects of each show. The Deluxe DVD product allows you to “be the director”. Four video tracks will be included on each DVD. At any time while viewing the DVD, the viewer may switch between the four tracks, allowing the viewer to see exactly the portion of the show they wish at any given time. Each time a show is viewed, a different set of choices can be made, and the show can be seen from many different angles. The four tracks that will be included will be: (1) The “Multi-Camera” view of the show, as directed by our video crew – a combination of wide shots and close-up shots; (2) A “High Camera” view of the show – continuous wide footage of the show; (3) A percussion camera, focusing on pit and field percussion; and (4) an auxiliary camera, focused on auxiliary members on the field. Question: Why are there only 2 (or only 5) corps on each DVD? Answer: The DVD's that we are producing only hold 4.7 gigabytes of information. This comes out to less than 2 hours of video at broadcast quality (not compressed beyond the MPEG 2 compression standard). Question: How did we decide what products to offer? Answer: The time and expense necessary to author a DVD product limited our flexibility to a degree in deciding what to offer for sale. As each DVD is very time-intensive to master and produce, we did not want to over commit to multiple products, possibly jeopardizing production and delivery dates. We also ensured, through our selection of offerings, that every corps is available on at least one DVD format product. We want every corps member or fan to be able to purchase and enjoy their corps on DVD, from the largest to the smallest corps. What we tried to do was offer the products that we felt would be the most popular, based on the history of what products have been the most popular in our VHS product line. The “Top 10 Corps on DVD” represented one of our most popular items – the Finals full event VHS recording. The “Class A on DVD” represented what we felt was a valid product for this year. Many small corps do not have the resources to produce a recording of this quality on their own, and we felt that this might be popular among the members and fans of these corps. The “Deluxe DVD” product containing 2 corps we have offered for the corps member or fan that wants the most complete coverage possible of their corps. This allows the viewer to “direct” the show any way they want to, each time that they watch it. Authoring a DVD is a substantial effort, and this guided us to need to group corps in some manner, so that we could author and produce the DVD’s in an acceptable period of time. Offering a DVD of “any 2 groups” would have taken a considerable period of time - with a total of 20+ corps involved over the DCA Championship Weekend, you could see how many different versions could be requested, resulting in unacceptable delays in producing and shipping these items. If a group would like to request a custom-made DVD, and can guarantee a minimum number of DVD’s to be purchased, we can certainly accommodate that group. Question: Will previous year’s DCA Championship Weekend recordings be available on DVD? Answer: Yes. The 1998 and 1999 DCA Finals Top 10 DVDs and Alumni Classics are currently available. There are no plans to offer Deluxe (multi camera angle DVDs for 1999 and 1998 as individual camera tapes are not available.