CD-Extra CD

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CD-Extra CD

One thing that never caught on, but I think should have and still could, is CD- Extra CDs. These are CDs that contain both audio and data material. These will play in an audio CD player and also display data when read on a computer.

I did this with my 1998 commercial release Living Vicariously Through Michael Dean (on the Direct Hit Records label out of Dallas). Thanks Kelly! Only 1,000 were pressed, but it was pretty flucking kewl.

To create one with Stomp RecordNow Max, insert a CD into your burner , open the program, and close the wizard. Click the Mixed Mode button in the middle top.

You will get a window that looks like this:

Figure 13.8. Making a CD-Extra in RecordNow.

Drag audio files into the top right quadrant, and the data files into the bottom right quadrant.

Hit the red Record button. Ignore the little prompt that comes up. It will begin recording anyway.

A few minutes later, voila! You'll have a CD with data and music on the same disc.

When you're done, make sure you test it on various audio players and different computers (both Mac and PC) before committing to having a whole mess o' copies manufactured.

You will also probably have to put instructions on the back of the jewel case that say something like:

"This split session disc will play in any audio CD player. It also contains extra program material, videos , and goodies that you access by placing it in your computer and clicking on the file called Index.htm."

One thing you can do is have the navigation of the data part surf like a Web site. It will load instantly because it will not have to download the files. If there are HTML files on the disc, the person's Web browser will open when the index.htm file is clicked.

You can also create the navigational interface using Macromedia Director (like on the data-only CD that comes with this book).

Again, test the final product before committing to making a lot of them.

To create a CD-Extra with Nero, insert a CD into your burner, hit File/New, and close the wizard. You will get a window that looks like this:

Figure 13.9. Making a CD-Extra in Nero.

If you want, you can type in the album name . This will then show up on some CD players' digital readouts while it plays.

Figure 13.10. Making another CD-Extra in Nero.

Drag the data into the top left quadrant. Ignore the Pictures and CDPlus foldersthey need to be there but you don't need to deal with them. And they will not be seen by the end user . Drag the songs into the bottom left quadrant and burn as usual.

Sometimes the creation of a CD-extra will fail for no reason, and you'll have to waste a few blank CDs until it works.

If you get the message shown in Figure 13.11 while burning, click on No.

Figure 13.11. Nero error.

There. Done. Although I've had to do a few tries on Nero to get it to work. On RecordNow max, it worked the first time.

What Data Should I Put on a CD-Extra?

Anything. But keep in mind that it will take away the amount of room you have for music on the audio-only portion. The total capacity of a CD is about 700 megs, no matter how you slice it.

Serve up your CD-Extra with MP3s. A Web site. Flash animations. Printable high-rez images of the band . Press clippings. EPKs. Videos.

NOTE

Michael Woody on the production of Michael Dean's "Whore Love Song" video (on the CD)

"Michael Dean performing 'Whore Love Song' was shot at an in-store appearance with all manner of distracting crap in the background. One of the challenges of D.I.Y. is making do with what you've got (and haven't got, like a green-screen studio) when you know what you want to accomplish, so I exported the movie out of Premiere as a filmstrip and opened it in Photoshop to paint over the background.

"If you've never done it before, be careful! A filmstrip export produces one potentially enormous image file containing all of the frames from the video stacked vertically, like a filmstrip. It takes a considerable amount of RAM to be able to work on a filmstrip, so be prepared to break your video clip into smaller files that can then be turned into multiple filmstrips that can be reassembled later.

"The original background was comprised of too many shapes and colors, including colors in Michael's clothing, so I couldn't use the color selector for a simple color -replace command so I scrolled down the file and, frame by frame, painted out the background with a color that I could replace. I then imported it back into Premiere, keyed the background out, and added the various background patterns. Of course, it could have been done more easily under the right circumstances but, lacking those, I basically did what I had to do to get the effect I wanted."

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