Depending on the length of the movie, users can burn up to three complete titles on a single rewriteable DVD disc. While there are only a limited number of titles currently available, JM Productions plans to make selections from its Gag Factor and Tough Love series available through the service. One new title is expected to be released weekly, according to JM webmaster Tony Malice.
With compatible software and hardware, burning the DVD is a simple process, Malice said.
“Version 6.5 of the DivX player is available for free download from our website,” Malice said. “The software contains integrated DVD burning functionality that lets you transfer your downloaded movie to disc in a very short time.”
Malice explained that he thinks burn-to-own would become an important distribution method for JM Productions moving forward.
“This is definitely a new and important way of reaching our fans,” Malice told XBIZ. “Almost all our library is already encoded in DivX format, so adding the burning technology was simple. It just takes time to encode the movies in the proper format.”
Malice explained that all movies are encoded at a very high bit rate so very little quality is lost in the transfer and users still feel like they are watching a DVD fresh out of the box.
“We’ve been trying to move towards this technology,” Malice said. “Now we can offer our fans another viewing option, especially the ability to burn the disc at the computer and watch it on a big-screen TV.”