Spruce Technologies, Minnetonka Audio Software And DTSÆ Announce First Authoring System Solution For DTS Audio Encoding

29-Mar-01

Spruce Technologies, Inc., DTSÆ (Digital Theater Systems, Inc.) and Minnetonka Audio Software announced the first integrated solution for encoding, previewing and authoring DTS Digital Surroundô audio within DVD productions. The announcement pairs Spruceís DVDMaestro DVD authoring system with Minnetonkaís new Surcode DVD Professional software, which recently met the rigorous requirements of DTS certification. Surcode DVD Professional allows users to encode uncompressed audio into the DTS algorithm for use in a DVD, eliminating cost and time for sending material out of house for encoding.Spruce will offer Surcode DVD Professional as an option to DVDMaestro, its professional DVD authoring solution for Windows NT. In addition, the most recent software release of DVDMaestro, Version 2.8, supports preview of DTS format audio content during authoring, using the Netstream 2000 board from Sigma Designs. DVDMaestro 2.8 with the Netstream 2000 card and Surcode DVD Professional option provide DVD authors a complete, easy, end-to-end solution for DTS audio on Windows NT-based systems.ìUntil recently, itís been costly and time consuming for authors to incorporate the preferred sound of DTS in their DVD productions, because all the encoding was done by DTS or third party encoding houses,î said Gary Hall, Spruce Senior Product Manager. ìThe Spruce, DTS and Minnetonka agreement expands the market potential for DTS by offering convenience, control and significantly lower costs.î Hall added that a key benefit for users of the new encoding option is the ability to monitor the production from within the system and make changes before formatting a final DVD. ìIn DVD production there are three key elements: quality control, quality control, and quality control. Without monitoring capability built into the system, authoring with DTS has been a shot in the dark, with no chance to check video/audio sync, etc. until the discs come off the burner.î As a primary alternative to DolbyÆ AC-3ô for 5.1 surround on DVD, DTS Digital Surround audio is growing rapidly in adoption, with support from leading Hollywood directors and music lovers worldwide. With the affordability and unhindered access to DTS offered by the Spruce-Minnetonka-DTS option, DVD authors can now easily leverage DTS 5.1 audio to meet customer demand for advanced audio fidelity in DVD production. ""We recently put together a ten-minute promotional piece on Alpineís high-end surround systems for cars, and we wanted to leverage the fidelity of DTS,î said John Torcello, President of SpeeDVD, a Southern California DVD authoring service facility which was assigned the project by producer Fletcher Murray of The Association, www.theassociation.tv, in Burbank, California. ìWe used DVDMaestro with the Minnetonka Surcode DVD Professional, and turned the production around in record time. Being able to monitor the project without burning discs saved us days and helped meet our deadline with Alpine.î ìWith the introduction of Minnetonka's SurCode DVD Professional, working with Spruce's DTS hardware real-time decoder board, Minnetonka is providing the real missing piece in DVD authoring - user-driven, affordable surround encoding,î said John Schur, Minnetonka President and CEO. ìOur partnership with Spruce and DTS allows us to provide DTS-quality audio to a broad DVD authoring market.îìWeíre very excited that Spruce customers now have an easy, seamless, end-to-end solution that makes DTS encoding very simple,î said Brian Caldwell, Marketing Director, Pro Audio and Broadcast, DTS. Along with all Spruce authoring systems, DVDMaestro incorporates Spruceís advanced data abstraction, which not only makes authoring simpler but provides major improvements in productivity. Rather than dropping back into code writing, as users of competing systems frequently do, Spruce users spend their time on creative decisions or making more titles.Minnetonka Audio Software has been making software for professional sound recording and editing since 1990. Minnetonka's specialty is Surround Sound, being the first company to offer an integrated application for surround sound recording and editing, and the first company to offer both Dolby and DTS licensed software encoders for surround sound. For more information about DTS, visit www.dtsonline.com. For more information about Spruce Technologies, Inc., visit www.spruce-tech.com.

Read More:
http://www.spruce-tech.com
http://www.dtsonline.com