Source: Sonic Solutions Web Site: http://www.sonic.com
Sonic Ships Dvdit! SE
Revolutionary Application Brings DVD Publishing To The Desktop
Sonic Solutions (Nasdaq: SNIC) Thursday, December 16 revolutionized the world of DVD publishing with the first shipments of its new application for Windows, DVDit! SE. With DVDit! SE, anyone with a PC can enter the world of DVD publishing today - creating their own Hollywood-quality DVD titles viewable on PCs or DVD set-top players. ""The response to DVDit! has been overwhelming, and today versions of the product are bundled with all of the leading non-linear video editing systems,"" said James Manning, DVDit! Product Manager at Sonic Solutions. ""Now, with the release of the retail version of DVDit! SE, we are bringing dramatic new capabilities to DVDit! that will significantly expand the market for desktop DVD production."" Sonic DVDit! SE makes it possible to create Hollywood-quality DVD titles on the desktop, combining MPEG-2 video with PCM audio, multi-level menus and exceptional interactivity for release on the most popular consumer format ever. DVDit! includes integrated transcoding of multimedia content into DVD-compliant formats, and an integrated DVD player, as well as support for virtually all graphic file formats. DVDit! also makes it easy to create buttons and backgrounds, and includes an extensive portfolio of theme artwork, allowing productions to be easily customized. ""Sonic DVDit! SE is not only the easiest way to publish on DVD, but simply the easiest way to publish and distribute video, period,"" continued Manning. ""With the number of DVD-equipped PCs expected to reach 100 million within the next 12 months, and another five to ten million set-top players shipping in the same period, DVD has overnight become the distribution media of choice for high-quality video and audio."" The first version of DVDit! to ship - DVDit! LE (Limited Edition) - is now included with Matrox DigiSuite DTV and RT2000, NEC (Nasdaq: NIPNY) DV Editor video production systems and Sigma (Nasdaq: SIGM) REALmagic DVR DVD/MPEG-2 encoding cards. DVDit! SE builds on this technology and is available either as an upgrade to DVDit! LE users or for purchase as a separate product. In addition, Sonic recently announced that Media 100 (Nasdaq: MDEA) will bundle DVDit! SE with their newly announced iFinishô video editing system, and that Avid Technology, Inc. (Nasdaq: AVID) will bundle DVDit! SE with the Avid Xpressô DV on IBM IntelliStationÆ M Pro System, bringing for the first time direct DVD publishing for Avid non-linear video editors. Priced at only $499, DVDit! SE is also available today on Sonic's new e-commerce site at http://store.dvdit.com/where, through the end of the year, it comes with a special promotional package of artwork and additional incentives worth more than $100. About DVDit! Sonic Solutions' DVDit! is the easiest way to publish on DVD. Combining a simple and straightforward user interface with Sonic's award-winning DVD multiplexing technology, DVDit! gives video professionals, graphic designers, artists and video enthusiasts the power to create stunning interactive DVD content on their PC. DVDit! is compatible with AVI video files, allowing users to incorporate virtually any video content - from DV to D1 - into DVDit! projects. With a simple drag-and-drop interface, building DVD titles is as easy as selecting a menu background and then dragging and dropping an AVI file. DVDit! automatically builds buttons and interactivity, transcodes video to MPEG-2, multiplexes and formats content and writes it to CD-R or DVD-R for playback in consumer set-top DVD players or DVD-equipped PCs. About Sonic Solutions Based in Marin County, California, Sonic Solutions designs and manufactures DVD publishing and audio editing systems used by video, audio and multimedia professionals around the world. Sonic's product lines include DVD Creator, the leading system for producing DVD titles; DVD Fusion, the first DVD publishing system designed for non-linear video editors; DVDit!, the easiest way to publish on DVD and the first DVD publishing application for consumers; and SonicStudio HD, the leading digital audio workstation to prepare recorded sound for release on DVD and CD. Sonic is a leader in advancing DVD-Video and DVD-Audio technology and is a full voting-member of the DVD Forum, the standards-setting body for the DVD format. Sonic Solutions can be contacted on the Web at http://www.sonic.com.