Video, CD-ROM and DVD programs are often called "hard copy media" because they must be duplicated from a master before they can be distributed to any audience. The process of duplication, therefore, represents the last link in the chain from communicator to audience.

Who Duplicates: Many producers prefer to retain the task of duplication even though the manufacturing of thousands of CDs or videocassettes will rarely be done within the producer's physical plant. This is often, therefore, a subcontracted task. Clients prefer, however, that producers subcontract duplication because the producer can and should take final responsibility for the end product.

If the client chooses to find a duplicator who charges a few cents less and the end product is unsatisfactory, to whom does the client seek relief? Perhaps the master tape is faulty, casting blame on the producer. Or perhaps the duplicator's playback machine at fault, passing the responsibility to the duplicator? And what does the client do if the master tape was, somehow, damaged (or, heaven forbid entirely lost) when in transit between the producer and the duplicator?

If a client decides to take his master from the producer for any reason, several things should be done to protect the client's interest. A "protection dub" of the master should be made and placed in safe keeping by the producer until the master has safely reached its destination and its quality has been verified. A release form should be issued by the producer to the client, to be signed by both parties that the master left the producer's care in good quality. The ownership of all licensing and rights for media contained on the master should be resolved in writing with copies made for the producer and the client. Each party should then think: What would be the result of the other party's total demise? Have I covered all contingencies?

How Duplication is Done: Generally, the duplication process requires one play machine and an assortment of recording machines. The duplicator places the master in the play machine and fills each recording machine with a blank tape or disk. The play machine is started and the record machines capture the data sent by the play machine. Before or after the recordings are made, they may be labeled. After the recording is done the recordings are packaged and placed in cases.

Analog Video Duplication: Although digital production is becoming the standard in all media, at home and office, the playback of video is still predominantly analog. This is because there are few digital playback systems in use and no single standard among manufacturers.

Analog video recording is done by recording electronic waves. These waves continually vary, in infinitely small amounts as they are recorded. When they are copied, the infinitely small amounts are affected by noise, the quality of the tape and recording machines and other random effects that slightly vary the quality of the copy from that of the original.

VHS tape, for instance, is analog. Analog video duplication has several disadvantages compared to digital video duplication. The first is degradation. Analog duplications will always suffer some form of degradation, from generation to generation. If the videotape in the camera is counted as the first generation and the tape is edited by copying the camera tape to a master tape, the master will be a second generation copy. The dubs from that master will be a third generation copy. Generation loss is minimized if the camera and master tapes are high quality, such as BetacamSP. The final generation to VHS, for instance, will then be quite high. If, however, the master, camera or any source tape is less than BetacamSP, the results will be noticeably lower in quality. Always record, edit and duplicate from the highest quality you can afford.

Although some schemes have been conceived where video could be duplicated at faster than play speeds, the best quality results are achieved by duplicating video at the same speed it is played. This means that a one hour tape will take one hour to duplicate, regardless of how many copies are made in any one pass. The fewer times the video master is played, the better the copies will be, so video duplication is best when the duplicator has many recorder machines on line with the player.

Digital Video Duplication: Because there are few digital video in use and because VHS still remains the dominant video playback format, the duplication of digital video will usually involve analog video at the end point. Digital production, editing and mastering are preferred, however, because the final analog VHS copy is created from a digital master that is nearly first generation.

Since the end result is still the analog VHS videocassette, clients must ask their producer what type of machines will be used in the production chain from original tape to edited master. The goal is to utilize digital systems up to the edited master. In the future, digital playback systems will prevail and the client may one day be able to repurpose his original digital source tapes with little or no image loss.

Other benefits of digital production include the ability to duplicate at higher than play speeds and the digital master tape can be used over and over again with no loss of quality.