Replication:
Regular Sized CD (650MB)
Mini CD (185MB)
Hockey Rink CD (50MB)
Rectangular CD (50MB)
DVD-5 (4.7GB) / DVD-9 (9.4GB)
Custom Shaped CD (50MB)

Silkscreen/Offset Preprinted
Recordable Media:
Regular Sized CDR (700MB, 40x)
Mini CDR (185MB, 40x)
Hockey Rink CDR (50MB, 40x)
Rectangular CDR (50MB, 40x)
Custom Shaped CDR (50MB, 40x)
DVD-R (4.7GB 4x)

CDR Duplication (24-Hour):
Regular Sized CD (700MB)
Mini CD (185MB)
Hockey Rink CD (50MB)
Rectangular CD (50MB)
DVD-5 (4.7GB)

Blank Recordable Media:
Regular Sized CDR (700MB, 40x)
Mini CDR (185MB, 40x)
Hockey Rink CDR (50MB, 40x)
Rectangular CDR (50MB, 40x)
DVD±R (4.7MB, 4x)

Packaging/Fulfillment:
Full-Color CD Sleeves
Jewel Cases w/ Color Inserts
Full-Color Mini CD Sleeves
DVD Amaray Cases

Accessories:
Rectangular Labels
Hockey Rink Labels
Regular Sized Labels
Mini CD Labels
Label Applicator
CD Duplicator
DVD Duplicator

This FAQ is meant to answer most questions related to creating content for CD-ROM, CDR, DVD, and DVD±R. For the technical aspect of these media please refer to other FAQ's such as Andy McFadden's CD-Recordable FAQ.

Feel free to contact us if your question is not answered here.

We can answer this question from different angles. i.e. capacity, content formats, and intended audience.
The capacify of a CD-ROM is dependent upon the size of the CD. A standard regular size CD-ROM has 650MB stroage. Along the evolution, we now have 700MB and and 870MB CD-ROMs. But the original CD-ROM standard stipulated in the Orange Book was 650MB. Mini CD has capacity ranging from standard 185MB to 210MB. The capacity of the so called shaped CD (including business card CDs) also varies from 30MB to 100MB. If your content is purely data or software, then your options are bounded by the total amount of data you need to put on the media. You can always use a media with larger capacity, though it may be a little bit wasteful. If your content is either video or audio, then your options will be dictated by how you encode your content. For instance, a video file can be encoded as asf (wmv), mpeg-1, mpeg-2, div-x, or the extreme large avi format. In that case you should know the streaming rate of each format. As an example, a hockey rink CD with 50MB can hold up to 20min of quality video when encoded in wmv format. If encoded as avi, 50MB can barely hold few seconds of video.
If your intended audience are computer users, then you should avoid DVD as there are still many computers out there without DVD-ROM drives. You can, however, in the case of video encoded your video in Mpeg-1 as a VCD. Mpge-1 files can be played on PC by Windows Media Player and by QuickTime on a Mac. The same VCD disc can also be played by most DVD players. If you demand higher video quality then Mpeg-1, then there is another format in between DVD and VCD, called S-VCD. S-VCD is a standard promoted by the People's Republic of China Government. Most DVD players on the market now can play S-VCD, as most DVD players are made in China anyway.

How can I make my CD-ROM AutoRun?

To make an autorun CD-ROM you need to include a file called "autorun.inf" in the root directory of the CD-ROM. You can create the file with a simple text editor such as Notepad. Make sure to quote your filename when you save the file otherwise Notepad will save the file as "autorun.inf.txt" instead of "autorun.inf". In its simplest form the file only needs two to three lines. For example:

[autorun]
open=program_to_be_run.exe
icon=icon_to_be_shown.ico

You should replace program_to_be_run.exe with your own program and icon_to_be_shown.ico with your own icon. The requirement for this to work is that program_to_be_run.exe must be a self-executable file. Simply put "open=index.html" trying to open up a webpage won't work.

This is relatively simple. All you need is to create a projector for your Flash or Director movie. A projector is a self-executable file that does not require the Flash or Director player. Simply put the filename of the projector file in the "open=" statement in the autorun file we presented in Question 3. For example, if you flash projector file is called presentaton.exe, then the autorun.inf content would be:

[autorun]
open=program_to_be_run.exe

You can ignore the icon line if you don't have an icon. By default the icon will the the same as the .exe file; the Flash player icon in this case. But if you do have an icon called icon.ico, say, then just add the following line to the file.

icon=icon.ico

Same as HTML file, a PowerPoint file is not self-executable. You may be tempted to think that the same tactics to handle HTML file should work for PowerPoint. In most cases it will, provide that the users' systems have PowerPoint installed. In case the viewer's system does not have PowerPoint, the method will fail badly.

You do have several options to make a full-coverage autorun for PowerPoint. Microsoft offers a PowerPoint Viewer which you can include on your CD-ROM. The viewer is royalty free and can be download from Microsoft. However, there is one little defect on using the PowerPoint Viewer -- the viewer cannot render transparent graphics very well. Images may appear jagged on transparent layer. If you have to use the PowerPoint Viewer you'd better avoid using any transparent graphics.

Alternatively, you can import PowerPoint into Macromedia's Director and then save the Director movie as a projector. The projector is a self-executable file so it is qualified to be autorun. Although it sounds "beat around the bush"; it may make sense if you need to combine other multimedia contents. Another downside is that Macromedia Director only takes PowerPoint 4.0 files. So you will have to down grade your PowerPoint file in order to be imported by Director.

There is also a quick and dirty solution. Simply save your PowerPoint presentation as webpages under the "Save As" options of PowerPoint. Make sure to experiment and set the proper web options to make the webpage work on both IE and Netscape. Once you have the HTML file, just configure it as described in Question 5.

No matter how you encode your video, be it Mpeg-1 or Mpeg-2, wmv or mov, you will need a player to show the video. If the player is a self-excutable exe file then you have solved the problem. Just put the name of the player to the Open line of the autorun.inf file. Of course you will need some way to pass the name of the video to the player. Windows Media Player can play most of the file format. If you need Windows Media Player to be the player for your video, you will need to contact Microsoft directly to get the royalty free permission. Microsoft will ask you to fill out an online form and you should get approval within two weeks.
You can also download a video player from our download area. Our video player can play asf, wmv, mpeg video format. If also has a customizable left pane for you to put your slogan, and below the video two buttons for your website and email.