Sonic Solutions DVD Publishing Technology Licensed By Avid

Companies Plan To Bring Sonic AuthorScript Direct ""Print To DVD"" Publishing To Avid Editing/Finishing Systems

7-Apr-00

Sonic Solutions announced that it has entered into an agreement with Avid Technology Inc. to license Sonic's award-winning DVD publishing technology for Avid's editing and finishing systems. The Sonic technology, called AuthorScript, makes it possible for Avid users to directly output their video and audio content in the popular DVD-Video format. AuthorScript provides a transparent ""print to DVD"" function and automatically formats projects on an Avid system into DVD, much like PostScript transparently formats text for printing. Avid expects that the first implementation of AuthorScript will be for its Symphony, Media Composer and Avid Xpress systems, with capabilities extended to other Avid products over time. ""Sonic is widely recognized as one of the leaders in DVD production and we are very enthusiastic about our collaboration,"" said David Krall, President and Chief Operating Officer of Avid Technology. ""We're making it push-button easy for our customers to deliver multiple formats and easily create multiple versions of projects, scaling and expanding those options as customers move up the product line. We've chosen to integrate Sonic AuthorScript into Avid Xpress, Media Composer and Symphony systems first, and plan to extend this functionality across other Avid products over time, since creating DVD-based content for disk and Internet distribution is an opportunity for all of our customers - regardless of whether they're creating corporate video, Internet content or high-end television."" ""The name Avid is synonymous around the world with professional video production,"" said Bob Doris, President of Sonic Solutions. ""With Sonic AuthorScript, generating a DVD title on an Avid system can be as easy as printing a page on a word processor. We are extremely pleased that Avid has chosen Sonic as a key partner in their new DVD publishing strategy."" Sonic AuthorScript includes the same DVD publishing engine that Sonic uses in its award-winning professional DVD Creator and DVD Fusion authoring systems, the leading Mac-based DVD system, and in its popular DVDit! package, the leading Windows-based DVD publishing application. Sonic AuthorScript is a cross-platform technology and runs on both PCs and Macs. When integrated into applications on Windows NT or Macintosh, AuthorScript makes it possible for Avid users to directly convert their video timelines into DVD-Video content that can be written to DVD-R recordable discs and played on standard set-top DVD players or onto CD-Rs for playback on the millions of DVD-equipped PCs. Pricing and availability for Sonic Solutions AuthorScript capability within Avid Xpress, Media Composer or Symphony systems has not yet been specified. About AuthorScript Sonic AuthorScript is a DVD formatting engine for the Macintosh and Windows platforms and is built upon Sonic's award-winning DVD production technology. AuthorScript makes formatting of DVD-Video content easy and transparent and can be integrated into most C++ applications without requiring in-depth knowledge of the DVD format. AuthorScript can be licensed directly from Sonic Solutions by OEMs and system integrators. Interested firms should contact Sonic at licensing@dvdit.com. About Avid Technology Inc. Avid Technology, Inc., is an international, industry-leading provider of digital audio and video tools for creating content for information and entertainment applications. Avid's products are used by customers ranging from corporate communications professionals to film, television and interactive content producers to broadcast news organizations. For more information, visit Avid's Web site at http://www.avid.com. About Sonic Solutions Based in Marin County, California, Sonic (http://www.sonic.com) is the leading manufacturer of solutions for DVD publishing and interactive, streaming video on the Internet. Sonic DVDit! (http://www.dvdit.com) is the first application for DVD authoring targeted at consumers and corporate video producers, and is bundled with major video editing, capture, encoding and media production systems. Streaming DVD is the first interactive technology based on DVD for content distribution over the Internet. Sonic DVD Creator and DVD Fusion are the most widely-used systems for professional DVD publishing, and are installed worldwide at major studios, post production facilities and in corporate marketing departments. SonicStudio HD is the leading digital workstation for preparing audio for release on CD and the first for creating content for the new DVD-Audio format. Sonic is also a full voting member of the DVD Forum, the standards-setting body for the DVD format.

Read More:
http://www.avid.com
http://www.sonic.com
http://www.dvdit.com