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Sonic Delivers Broadest Range of Professional DVD Authoring
Solutions
New Video Encoders, Authoring Workstations Significantly
Expand Offering for Professional DVD Producers
Las Vegas, Nevada (April 8, 2002) - Sonic Solutions
[NASDAQ: SNIC],
the leader in DVD creation solutions, today announced at the
National Association of Broadcasters Convention key additions
to its professional line of DVD production systems. The new
products significantly expand the choice of solutions available
to the broadest range of professional-level DVD producers.
"Our professional users rely not only on Sonic's unmatched
video quality, but most importantly on their reputation for
delivering the most compatible DVD titles that play on the
broadest range of players," said Paul Stellingwerff,
Vice-president of Operations at TransTec bv, one of the largest
European distributors of DVD publishing systems, based in
Rotterdam, The Netherlands. "Sonic's new range of DVD
products and technologies provide a solution for every customer
seeking a tried-and-tested platform upon which to start and
or grow a business around professional DVD services."
The new products introduced at NAB include the following:
"
- SD-500 Encoder - Built by Mitsubishi Electric of
Japan exclusively for Sonic, the SD-500 is a Windows-based
MPEG encoder that accepts YUV, S-Video, and FireWire®
(IEEE1394) video inputs to create MPEG for DVD, MPEG program
streams, and DV video files. The SD-500 also provides real-time
Dolby Digital encoding and accelerated transcoding from
video files to MPEG streams suitable for DVD production.
The SD-500 is priced at $5,000 U.S. and is available in
May.
- ReelDVD® Workstation - Combining the power
of Sonic's highly-regarded ReelDVD authoring application,
this workstation features easy drag-and-drop authoring of
MPEG video and up to eight audio and 32 subtitle streams.
It includes the new SD-500, providing the most cost-effective
and complete DVD creation solution for independent video
producers and in-house multimedia specialists on a budget.
With a suggested list price of $6,000 U.S., the Windows-based
ReelDVD Workstation is available in April.
- DVD Producer™ - Providing all-in-one DVD publishing
for producers of professional multimedia projects, DVD Producer
streamlines the process of creating DVDs by combining real-time
MPEG-2 compression of DV video, high-performance transcoding
of media files, powerful, yet simple to use DVD authoring,
automatic navigation tools, and output to the widest range
of DVD writing devices. DVD Producer supports extremely
fast and easy, drag-and-drop assembly of video clips, audio
and menu graphics into interactive DVD titles. Using Sonic's
automatic JumpAnywhere™ navigation technology, users
can mix video 4:3 and 16:9 aspect ratios, and up to eight
audio streams and 32 subtitle streams can be assigned to
each video clip. Real-time proofing allows projects to be
previewed on a CPU monitor or an external video monitor
with Sonic's SD-1000 video encoding hardware, enabling fast
feedback and quality review. Available at the end of April,
DVD Producer is priced at $4,000 U.S., and is a free upgrade
for all DVD Fusion for Windows customers.
- DVD-Audio Creator™ LE - Incorporating core
technology from fellow DVD-Audio pioneer Matsushita Electric
Industrial Co., Ltd. (MEI), DVD-Audio Creator LE provides
a focused set of features at an affordable price. Now, any
audio mastering studio or DVD-Video authoring facility can
afford to expand their business by adding authoring and
mastering for the high-resolution DVD-Audio format. DVD-Audio
Creator is targeted for release in May and is priced at
$6,000 U.S.
- SD-2000 Advanced MPEG Encoder for Windows - With
its established reputation on the Macintosh for delivering
superb quality MPEG-2 video and broad range of features,
the SD-2000 encoder for Windows provides real-time CBR and
VBR multi-pass encoding, featuring Sonic's patented advanced
encoding technology and simultaneous Dolby Digital audio
encoding. The SD-2000 includes batch, segment-based re-encoding
and stream legalization analysis to provide the highest-quality
MPEG encoder designed for feature film and commercial DVD
production. Targeted for release in June, the SD-2000 is
priced at $25,000 U.S.
Commenting on Sonic's expanded range of professional DVD
products, Rolf Hartley, General Manager of Sonic's Professional
Products Group said, "Our professional customers now
have the most comprehensive set of solutions available to
initiate or expand their business with DVD. With a built-in
upgrade program for each Sonic product to the next higher
level and beyond, the timing has never been better to choose
Sonic for professional DVD production."
About Sonic Solutions (NASDAQ: SNIC)
Based in Marin County, California, Sonic (http://www.sonic.com)
is the world's leading manufacturer of solutions for DVD creation.
Sonic DVD Creator®, Sonic Scenarist®, Sonic ReelDVD™,
Sonic DVD Producer™ and Sonic DVD Fusion for Mac 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. Sonic MyDVD™
(http://www.mydvd.com)
is the first DVD authoring application for consumers, and
is the leading DVD solution among DVD recorder and PC manufacturers.
Sonic DVDit!® (http://www.dvdit.com)
is the leading DVD authoring application for videographers
and corporate video producers; more than 1 million copies
of DVDit! have been sold. Sonic is a full voting member of
the DVD Forum, the standards-setting body for the DVD format.
Sonic Solutions, Sonic, the Sonic logo, Edit-on-DVD, MyDVD,
OpenDVD and ReelDVD are trademarks of Sonic Solutions. AuthorScript,
DVD Creator, DVDit! and Scenarist are registered trademarks
of Sonic Solutions. All other company or product names are
trademarks of their respective owners and, in some cases,
are used by Sonic under license. Specifications, pricing and
delivery schedules are subject to change without notice.
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