Amazon.com and Microsoft Team Up to Help Indie Filmmakers Jump Into HD DVD
Posted by Tyler Pruitt
closeAuthor: Tyler Pruitt
Name: Tyler Pruitt
Email: tyler@formatwarcentral.com
Site: http://www.tylerpruitt.com
About: As a life long Geek, Tyler is pretty much addicted to anything that has to do with technology. He became hooked on HDTV in early '04, and hasn't looked back since. Tyler is a HD video content addict, and has been since the days of recording HD movies onto D-VHS tapes.
At his day job in the aerospace industry, he is never too far away from the latest FWC related news thanks to Google Reader on the iPhone.See Authors Posts (352) on July 1, 2007
Filed Under: Authoring, HD DVD
From the press release: Using Amazon’s CustomFlix, which is a disc-on-demand service, this venture will lower the barrier to entry for independent filmmakers to produce and distribute movies in the HD DVD format. The project will provide free authoring and setup services for up to 1,000 selected indie titles. In addition, the Sundance Channel will be reviewing the high-definition features for potential broadcast on the network as well as making its own HD original eco-series, “Big Ideas for a Small Planet,” available for purchase through Amazon’s HD DVD program.
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Personally, as I am an independent filmmaker, I think that this latest announcement has a great deal of potential to affect the format war.
Opening the door to the independent film world is a great way to get support across the board for a format.
DVD made it far easier for independent filmmakers to author and self distribute their films in a way that was otherwise impossible on VHS.
Also, over the years with the various successes of independent films garnering more praise and success than some Hollywood features the demand for independent films has increased almost exponentially.
I’m simply thrilled at the possibility of moving my films to HD DVD, whether it be through this recent project, or whenever the authoring capability becomes more accessible and affordable.
I agree this is great news for indie filmmakers. Indies can also replicate HD DVD content on DVD-9s for even cheaper distribution costs.
You wouldn’t happen to know how much you can fit on a DVD-9 would you?
depends on the bitrate
Some *adult* titles have squeezed 2 hours+ of 720p w/ iHD menus on a DVD-9
expect 40-60mins of 1080p on a DVD-9
you can try this out with Uleads’s DVD Movie Factory 6 or Apple’s DVD Studio Pro 4.