Sonic Solutions Enhances DVD Authoring For The Hollywood Market

20-Apr-00

Sonic Solutions announced at the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) Convention a significant enhancement to its DVD Creator DVD production system - including a third-generation SD-2000 MPEG-2 video encoder, exclusive Web-linked DVD authoring functionality and title production automation.""Sonic has always delivered the best quality, most functionality and highest performance to our high-end DVD production users,"" said Giles Baker, Product Manager for Sonic DVD Creator at Sonic Solutions. ""Sonic's Version 2.1 DVD Creator software and our new SD-2000 MPEG-2 video encoder give DVD professionals the most productive system for delivering stunning DVD content for the set-top or the PC.""Sonic DVD Creator 2.1 integrates Sonic eDVD authoring into the standard DVD Creator workstation. Exclusively incorporating PCFriendly-based embedded-Web technology, the standard in Hollywood for hit DVD releases such as Warner Bros.' ""The Matrix,"" Sonic DVD Creator offers Web integration to a DVD title. The advantage of the eDVD approach is that the Web link information is stored in a Web page rather than on the DVD disc, making it possible to update URLs at any time.""Sonic DVD Creator is the authoring system we rely on for the hundreds of DVD titles we create every year for the feature film market,"" said Tom McCarthy, Manager, Henninger Interactive Media, a post-production group with seven facilities nationwide. ""Sonic DVD Creator gives us the power to author anything our clients dream up and the ability to deliver our projects on time and within budget.""Sonic's new SD-2000 video encoder takes advantage of the latest developments in MPEG compression and video RISC processing technology. Combining the latest MPEG chip technology with an array of programmable logic and video processing hardware, the SD-2000 offers a level of quality and functionality not previously available in the DVD production market.The Sonic SD-2000 includes:- Direct-24 Support - Direct encoding of 24fps video from telecine, tape or hard disk 20 percent faster than real-time. - Pre-Encoding Optimization - Integrated video pre-processing eliminates high-frequency noise prior to MPEG encoding - maximizing picture quality and delivering the most film-like MPEG video to date. - Frame-Accurate Chapter Placement - GOP sequence headers may be placed at any video frame during the real-time encoding process, guaranteeing that DVD chapter marks are always exactly where you want them. - Constant-Q VBR - Sonic's patented technology for maximum quality video encoding, regardless of the quality of the video source material. - AutoCadence IVT - For removing 3/2 cadence from film-sources content, AutoCadence provides accurate field removal with up to a 20 percent improvement in video quality. A single PCI card, the DVD Creator SD-2000 encoder includes SDI digital video I/O, multichannel digital audio I/O and integrated RS-422 machine control, and linear timecode reading. The SD-2000 also includes real-time MPEG-2 VBR and CBR encoding and decoding, DolbyÆ Digital encoding and decoding, and support for DVD title de-multiplexing and proofing.""Sonic has long been the leader in delivering high-quality MPEG-2 video mastering and DVD authoring systems,"" said Casey Mershon, DVD Premastering Engineer at Avenue, a Chicago-based post-production facility. ""Sonic's new SD-2000 Encoder and expanded DVD Creator feature set will be welcome additions to the several Sonic DVD production systems we have in operation today for our film and corporate clients.""DVD Creator Version 2.1 also includes the ability to simultaneously multiplex and write a DVD title directly to DLT and DVD-R.Sonic DVD Creator 2.1 will be available in authoring configurations starting under $15,000.About Sonic DVD CreatorSonic DVD Creator is a DVD production system. Designed from the ground up as an integrated production tool, DVD Creator combines DVD authoring, video and audio encoding, title proofing and final disc formatting into a single, streamlined process. As an integrated set of modular tools, DVD Creator can expand from a single workstation to a multi-system workgroup operating over fiber channel - custom-tailored to any facility's production requirements.About Sonic SolutionsBased in Marin County, California, Sonic (http://www.sonic.com) is the manufacturer of solutions for DVD publishing and interactive, streaming video on the Internet. Sonic DVDit! (http://www.dvdit.com) is the application for DVD authoring targeted at consumers and corporate video producers, and is bundled with video editing, capture, encoding and media production systems.

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