Novato, CA (February 19, 1998) -- Sonic DVD Producer has received NewMedia Magazine's 1998 Hyper Award in the DVD Authoring Systems category and is featured in the special awards section of the March 3 issue of NewMedia magazine. Hyper Award-winning products are the best of the best. Criteria for selection include innovation, features, performance, user interface, and price, all relative to the competition.

Sonic DVD Producer is the authoring component of Sonic DVD Creator, the most widely-used and the only complete DVD production system available. DVD Creator consists of modules for high-quality MPEG-2 and MPEG-1 video encoding, audio prep and encoding, authoring and proofing. Sonic DVD Creator is network-enabled and available as a stand-alone workstation or in a workgroup configuration. Included with the system are Sonic DVD Studio for video and audio encoding, Sonic's DVD Producer authoring software, and DVD PrePlay for proofing titles.

The Hyper award coincides with the recent introduction of Sonic DVD Vobulator, a professional authoring tool designed for the next generation of DVD-ROM content. Available for both Mac OS and Windows NT, the new application enables multimedia producers to create content for DVD-ROM and digital broadcast use.

"With applications specially targeted to customer needs, Sonic continues to maintain its clear leadership position in DVD production solutions," said Christopher Kryzan, VP of Marketing at Sonic Solutions. "NewMedia's recognition with the Hyper Award echoes the views of our users, that Sonic DVD Producer brings unprecedented ease-of-use and creativity to DVD production."

"Digital professionals look to NewMedia's Hyper Awards when selecting the products and technologies that will take digital media into the 21st century," said NewMedia Chairman & CEO Richard Landry. Hyper Award winners are chosen by the magazine's editorial staff, contributing editors, and other experts, and they represent the highest achievements in innovation and technical excellence.