1. The assignment:
DataSpheric was contracted to research
- DVD capabilities
- DVD production
- Porting the present product to DVD
- Integrating set-top content
- Top talent for DVD production
The research process:
I had no real experience with DVD beyond watching a movie at a friend's house maybe. When I'm confronted by something new I try to get as much information as I can. I am impelled to start with the most granular, hands-on level and build from there.
An instructor of mine once told me that you can stop reading about your topic when you find yourself reading what you've read again and again in other sources. I've always found this to be good advice. I read all the primer info I could regarding DVD specifications, physical media, hardware players, software players, development platforms and the physical production process. At the same time I was installing a DVD+RW (dual play) drive in my computer, producing and viewing media that I either purchased or downloaded from usenet. I then moved on to the more specific tasks but with a broad approach that tried to take all possibilities into account. I had a reasonable familiarity with the existing CDROM product we were porting and minimal documentation on it. As I began to isolate specific on-topic issues I began to reach out to good sources of information.
The web, as usual, provided a lot of good information and allowed me to find competitor products. Newsgroups provided good dialogue and vendors did their usual competent job of selling themselves. With this I was able to predict most of what I'm about to conclude with.
Next came the gurus. I had a good background by this point we were able to get down to brass tacks quickly and focus on known issues and their resolutions. Since no more definitive information was publicly available on topic, the authoritative experience of the gurus was essential. Named in the following, these combine to form a who's-who in this space.
The gurus were especially helpful in debunking myth. When I say myth, I'm talking about way more than your usual level of misunderstanding when non-technical people get involved with technology. This space is very full of expert people who present wishful thinking alongside established fact without discrimination. This forced a standard query format to a great many people: Is this possible, have you done it, do you know anybody who has?
The fact that we've joined a small and close group of people doing this type of development accounts for the quality and quantity of expert opinion I've assembled more than my vaunted analytical and interpersonal skills as much as I'd like to fluff myself up.
DVD design by Daniel
The neat thing about this project is that I was in an outsider role. I had no contact with the Free Media personnel besides you. I am uninvolved in production. I was there to be an independent, objective opinion. This allowed me great mobility to explore far-out options. On the other hand, I wanted to be sensitive to real-world production requirements and deliver recommendations that would add to a beneficial and efficient ongoing production process. As such I got to do what I like to do with no pressure (or undetectable levels of pressure on my meter). Locking down use-case scenarios early on and sticking to them held the process on track allowing a rapid definition of core issues and no-brainer selection of options. Total time to delivery was seventeen days with 50 hours billed.