SCHOOL YEAR PUT ON DVD LANCASTER HIGH OFFERS STUDENTS DIGITAL BOOK.

Byline: Karen Maeshiro Staff Writer

LANCASTER - Lancaster High School's yearbook has entered the digital age.

For the first time, Lancaster High students have created a DVD alternative to the traditional yearbook, offering extras like video clips, slide shows accompanied by music, and, in a first, photos from the prom - which occurs too late to make the print deadline.

To top it off, the DVD costs $25, less than half the price of the regular yearbook: $65 for students with a student government card, $70 without a card.

``We wanted to make something that was more affordable for the students. The seniors have got to buy a class ring. The prom, graduation, senior trip and yearbook runs into a lot of money,'' said Tom Mayton, yearbook adviser.

Yearbook students say a key highlight is photographs from the junior- senior prom, held at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley.

``I like it. In a way I like it better than a yearbook because we got to do prom in the DVD yearbook,'' said senior Joelle Parlor, who worked on the DVD version.

Generally, prom photos never make it into a regular yearbook because the proofs have to be turned in before the formal affairs take place.

``No high school is able to capture a prom. They usually occur in April, and all the stuff has to be turned in by March. But since we had extra time with the DVD yearbooks, we were able to take photos from the prom and make a slide show out of the prom,'' Mayton said. ``This will be a first for the kids.''

High school district trustees were impressed.

``They produced a yearbook that anybody in high school can afford in a format that's high-tech, and they did it on their own,'' trustee Al Beattie said. ``It's got music, full production. If you want to see someone special, you can key them up. You can look up certain sports.''

In keeping with the time-honored tradition of getting schoolmates to sign yearbooks, the DVD comes with a 12-page autograph booklet.

The students used a program called DVD Studio Pro to compile the digital DVD yearbook. A private company was hired to mass produce the DVDs, make the cases and put them in shrink-wrap.

The DVD work involved loading in the photos of 3,500 students and 150 staff, editing video and adding music.

``For most movies, you have 10 to 12 menus. It was 720 menus for us. Five hundred for the seniors,'' Mayton said. ``For every single senior, we had to create their own menu.''

The yearbook staff has been visiting classrooms to promote and demonstrate the DVD yearbook, and so far has sold about 100, Mayton said. About 1,000 have been ordered.

``A lot of yearbooks have a CD-ROM that comes with it, with photographs and you need a computer. The DVD can be played on any TV set using a DVD player,'' Mayton said.

``We tried to put everything that was in the yearbook plus thousands more pictures,'' he said.

Karen Maeshiro, [phone]

karen.maeshiro(at)dailynews.com