DAIKIN ANNOUNCES SCENARIST NT; BRINGING DVD
AUTHORING TO THE MOST POPULAR PLATFORM
SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 29, 1997--Daikin U.S. Comtec
Laboratories, the world leader in DVD authoring solutions announced today at the
Intel and SPA DVD Developer's Conference, with collaboration and support from
Microsoft and Intel, the widely anticipated Scenarist NT. By answering the
overwhelming market need for an easier to use, open systems PC solution at lower
price points, Daikin makes DVD authoring a reality for companies who have been
waiting to enter the DVD market.
By being first in the DVD authoring market, Daikin has gained feedback from over
a hundred users and applied that knowledge to create Scenarist NT which includes
features designed to increase an individual user's productivity during the creation of
a DVD title. The more intuitive user interface in Scenarist NT helps to simplify not
only the creation of menus but also the creation of the title in general. The user now
has the ability to create DVD title templates with Scenarist NT's DVD Scenario
Library, and the power to reuse data and scenarios from one project to the next.
Users can design a disc and automatically generate encoding parameters with a
DVD disc design tool called the Media Encoder Interface. All these features are
achieved while being fully compliant with the DVD specification and will be
available on both NT and the next version of the SGI platform. "Daikin's
announcement today adds a new dimension to the authoring industry," stated Claude
M. Leglise, Vice President, Intel Content Group, and Director, Intel Developer
Relations Group. "For the first time, content developers will be able to use the power
of the Pentium II processor for pre-mastering DVD content. Intel and Daikin
engineers have optimized Scenarist for the Pentium II processor and delivered
superior performance to the PC platform which previously was available only on
high-end workstations."
"Microsoft Windows NT clearly provides the architecture needed for heavy-duty
computing tasks at an affordable price. Scenarist NT leverages this architecture and
will allow Daikin, as an industry leader in DVD authoring, to help build the new
DVD-Video market," said Eric Engstrom, General Manager Multimedia at
Microsoft. "Scenarist NT also closely adheres to the DVD-Video specification,
which works towards our shared vision of base-level title compatibility, from
DVD-Video up through enhanced Microsoft DirectX Media content on Windows
98-enabled PC's." Scenarist NT implements a new high-performance cross-platform
database engine which provides significant increases in performance and seamless
workflow between Scenarist NT and Scenarist for SGI. Now DVD titles can be
created using unparalleled integration between Scenarist for SGI and a desktop
authoring solution. Scenarist NT also supports the user's creative workflow with a
simple and intuitive user interface, a new time-based editor and a property track
editor. These editors reduce the number of windows a user needs to access in order
to complete a task and utilizes screen real estate more effectively. With Scenarist
NT's hardware simulation functionality, the user can partially emulate scenarios
before the disc image is created, giving the user access to the DVD title while in
development. In addition, the user can create and play back VOB files at any time
during the creation of the title. Along with working on a networked database system,
Scenarist NT allows team members to share data assets and complete multiple
DVD projects simultaneously in a highly productive atmosphere with a flexible
database server.
While bringing DVD authoring functions to the PC, Scenarist NT will be the tool
used to integrate PC authoring products for PC DVD playback. Today, the industry
is facing a lack of consistent DVD playback across PCs. Daikin will make all
efforts to guarantee compatibility and playability between different consumer DVD
players and DVD playback boards. Included in Daikin's effort will be the integration
between Scenarist and Macromedia's Director 6, the leading multimedia authoring
tool. "We are very impressed with the capabilities of Scenarist NT, and are looking
forward to collaborating with Daikin in the future," said Steve Guttman, VP of
Product Marketing for Macromedia.
Scenarist NT will be available in December. The retail price for Scenarist NT is
$29,000 and will come bundled with AC-3 (2 ch) encoding software. The retail price
for Scenarist NT with the AC-3 (2 ch) encoding software and DVD Informer, the
professional debug emulator, is $32,000. "We are glad to see Daikin addressing the
PC market with the introduction of Scenarist NT, including an officially approved
Dolby Digital encoding and decoding solution." said Ramzi A. Haidamus, Licensing
Manager Digital Technologies, Dolby Laboratories. "Dolby, as a close licensor and
partner with Daikin, is embracing the fact that DVD technology is reaching
software developers and bridging the gap between the computer and entertainment
industry."
"The DVD authoring market is on the verge of a revolution. New applications will
evolve as DVD authoring becomes more cost effective," said Bob Saffari, Senior
Product Marketing Manager Encoding Group. "We have worked closely with Daikin
since the early days of DVD and are very excited to bring this next generation
solution to the content creation market." Scenarist NT will be sold as a stand alone
DVD software solution as well as bundled as a key component into world-class
complete DVD solutions by a number of companies including Cagent, Digital Vision,
Minerva, Nuko, Optibase, and Sonic Solutions. The variety of solutions represents a
class of products unmatched in the industry, establishing new price points, new
channels of distribution, new levels of integration, new levels of support and new
markets.
"Daikin's partnerships with the key companies in the high tech industry insure that
the best available DVD solutions are available through the customer's choice of
supplier," said Noriyuki Inoue, President of Daikin Industries, Ltd. "As the DVD
industry moves forward, Daikin remains involved and committed to supporting
current and future extensions of the DVD format." Daikin, the world's leading
supplier of a complete range of authoring and premastering tools for DVD-Video
and DVD-ROM software production, holds more than 85% of the market in DVD
authoring. First released in 1996, Scenarist allows users to develop titles which are
fully compliant with the DVD-Video specifications. Used by over 125 world-wide
facilities ranging from Hollywood post production to DVD replication houses,
Scenarist's proven technology helps customers create reliable DVD titles compatible
with any available DVD player. About Intel
Intel, the world's largest chip maker, is also a leading manufacturer of personal
computer, networking and communications products. Additional information is
available at www.intel.com/pressroom . About Microsoft Founded in 1975,
Microsoft (NASDAQ "MSFT") is the worldwide leader in software for personal
computers. The company offers a wide range of products and services for business
and personal use, each designed with the mission of making it easier and more
enjoyable for people to take advantage of the full power of personal computing
every day. About Macromedia
Macromedia develops, markets and supports a leading family of software authoring
tools used to create interactive multimedia applications for communication, education
and entertainment. Currently offered on both Windows and Macintosh platforms,
Macromedia's authoring tools enable creative and learning professionals to combine
text, images, 2D and 3D graphics, animation, sound and video into a wide variety of
interactive multimedia applications or "titles" for playback on personal computers
and consumer players. Macromedia's five principal products are Authorware
Professional, Director, MacroModel, SoundEdit and Action!. About Dolby
Laboratories Dolby Laboratories is the developer of audio signal processing systems
used worldwide in consumer audio and video products, on consumer audio and video
entertainment software, and in professional sound applications that include music
recording, broadcasting, and motion picture sound. There are more than 27 million
Dolby Surround decoders in use worldwide and more than 7,000 Dolby Surround
encoded programs. More than 41,000 movie theaters are equipped with Dolby
processors. More than 9,630 screens are equipped with Dolby Digital processors.
There are more than 177,000 Dolby Digital decoders in consumer use. And there
are more than 50 television shows currently running in the United States encoded in
Dolby Surround.
The privately-held company is headquartered in San Francisco, with offices in New
York and Los Angeles and European headquarters in England. C-Cube
Microsystems, Inc. C-Cube Microsystems Inc. is the industry leader in the
development and delivery of highly integrated digital video silicon solutions that
address the consumer electronics, communications and convergence markets.
C-Cube is headquartered in Milpitas, California with offices in North America,
Europe, and Asia. Its stock is traded on the NASDAQ National Market System
under the symbol CUBE. C-Cube can be reached at +1.408.944.6300 or on the
World Wide Web at c-cube.com . About Daikin U.S. Comtec
Laboratories
Based in Novato, California, Daikin U.S. Comtec Laboratories, is the center of
operations for R&D, marketing and support for the world-wide distribution of
Scenarist. Scenarist, the world's first DVD authoring and premastering software, is
used around the world to create professional DVD-Video and DVD-ROM titles.
Daikin U.S. Comtec Laboratories is a subsidiary of Daikin Industries, Ltd. of Japan.
Daikin Industries Ltd. provides digital media hardware and software solutions
including 3D graphic workstations from SGI, SoftImage 3D animation from
Microsoft, and Daikin's own product, Scenarist, for professional multimedia content
developers. The company's diverse operations also include being top-ranking
manufacturer of commercial and industrial air conditioning systems, fluorochemicals,
oil hydraulic and lubrication equipment, defense products, computer graphics
systems, vacuums, cryogenics and medical equipment.
Note to Editors: 1997 Daikin U.S. Comtec Laboratories All rights reserved. The
Daikin logo and "Scenarist" are registered trademarks of Daikin Industries, Ltd.
Microsoft is either a registered trademark or trademark of Microsoft Corp. in the
United States and/or other countries. The Dolby logo, "Dolby" and "AC-3", are
registered trademarks of Dolby Laboratories Licensing Corporation. The C-Cube
logo is a registered trademark of C-Cube Microsystems Inc. C-Cube is a trademark
of C-Cube Microsystems Inc. All other brand names are trademarks or registered
trademarks of their respective owners.
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