Author, Author, Author! Sony, Spruce, and Sonic Debut New DVD
Solutions at NAB
April 28, 1999 Copyright © Online Inc.
emediapro.net
The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) 99 conference and exposition had Las Vegas abuzz with talk of electronic convergence and a dazzling array of new and ever-evolving digital audio and video production and distribution technologies. And somewhere amid the shouting, selling, and soothsaying was the onrush of DVD as a key distribution, publishing, and storage medium spanning the landscape of video and audio applications, NAB's vast broadcast belt included. Heard above the pulsing Expo din and the ever-present high-C ring of the slot machines were the oohs, ahhs, and huzzahs that greeted three key DVD authoring announcements.
The most dramatic came from Sony, which unleashed upon the world the multi-seat, high-end production-to-premastering system previously reserved for use only in the company's own studios. DVD authors were also regaled with a major upgrade of Spruce's DVDMaestro System, highlighted by new Web/DVD hybrid authoring capabilities and the inclusion of Pioneer's second-generation DVD-Recordable drive, which offers 4.7GB capacity that matches DVD-5 and thus transcends its predecessor's 3.9GB mismatch, while also reducing OEM pricing and by extension the cost of the DVDMaestro package. Rounding out the trio was authoring market mainstay Sonic Solutions, which presented several new packages incorporating the new version 1.6 of Sonic's DVD Creator, the first iteration of the software to feature support for DVD-Audio.
"We don't mind being the last to market," said Sony Video Institute senior instructor Michael Pretzinger, "as long as we can offer the best product." Arguably the most ambitious DVD authoring solution ever made available for commercial sale, Sony Electronics, Inc.'s DVA-1100 DVD premastering system has actually been in use for quite some time at Sony's own production studios. The production bed for all Sony/Columbia Tri-Star DVD-Video titles, it operates at the height of the high end as a scaleable solution that can encompass up to eight workstations simultaneously engaged in various aspects of DVD content and title creation.
The single PC system, with pricing beginning at $175,000, uses Sony's DVD authoring software and includes the company's DVA-V1100 video encoder, offering fixed (single-pass) and variable (double pass) bit-rate encoding, automatic scene change detection, closed-caption support, multi-reel encoding, reverse 3:2 pull-down encoding, preview and review functions, SDI/analog inputs, multi-angle encoding, and VTR remote control support; a Dolby AC-3 encoder or Philips MPEG Audio encoder, attached via Sony's own DVA-A1100 audio interface for on-board LPCM encoding and decoding and supporting up to eight simultaneous audio streams; Sony's DVA-P1100 DVD sub-picture encoder/decoder boards for real-time subtitle and menu encoding and positioning, and supporting up to 32 subtitle streams; a 9-pin DVD authoring interface board; Sony's emulation and emulation control units; and one Pentium II or III NT workstation. The system also includes Sony monitors and a SCSI hard disk array for storing media assets and in-progress authoring project elements.
Scaled up to eight authoring seats, the system incorporates discreet workstations for video and audio encoding, multiplexing, emulation, and streaming, all connected to a central hard drive array. The final seat is used for the Authoring System Supervisor. The Supervisor application managers the entire authoring process, guiding the operator through all phases of setting parameters for video, audio, and subtitle encoding and menu authoring. Entries are verified throughout the process to minimize potential errors in title creation. Active windows in the Supervisor application include Main Title Project Index, Title Registration and Menu Background.
At the video encoding station, enhanced controls enable customization and fine-tuning; a file export function allows video elements to be exported to other authoring systems. Similar windows for menu, button, and color encoding and editing allow comparable levels of customization and control. Data is ultimately output to Sony's DLT drive for delivery to a mastering facility. While DVD-R is suppported, Sony has no plans to integrate Pioneer's DVD-Recorder or the Sony DVD-Recordable system in limited distribution overseas. Sony will not release the recorder, Pretzinger said, until universal compatibility with DVD-Video and ROM drives can be ensured, and that the dual-layer titles (DVD-9) increasingly common in today's market can be written to DVD-R media.
Titles created with the DVA-1100 system, Pretzinger added, are "platform-agnostic," which means developers should author with confidence that titles produced with the system will run on Windows systems with or without Windows 98's DirectShow.
DVDMaestro 2.0, the new version Spruce Technologies' popular DVD authoring system debuted at NAB 99, offers several key new features, most notably Web hybrid authoring support. The Windows NT-based solution also enables users to import Adobe PhotoShop files for use in DVD menu screen creation. DVDMaestro identifies the multiple layers that comprise a PhotoShop file, then automatically turns those layers into DVD-compliant menu components in the DVDMaestro interface. DVDMaestro 2.0 also supports creating presentation-style DVD-Video and ROM titles. Designed for use in kiosk and sales and marketing applications, the Maestro titles can run automatically based on time or driven by end-user input such as set-top remote control units or PC keystrokes or mouse-clicks. Also new in version 2.0 are enhancements to Maestro's encoding, segment-based re-encoding, and two-pass variable bit-rate encoding. Version 2.0 also enables users to perform basic editing functions directly on the interface's non-linear editing-style timeline, which means they can implement decisions such as trimming the tops and tails of chapters on-the-fly.
Most highlighted in new DVDMaestro release is the new Spruce Convergence Pack, an integrated toolkit for developing hybrid WebDVD titles that combine the video, audio, and multi-track capabilities of DVD with the immediacy and transactional capability of the Web. Spruce Convergence 1.0 incorporates Macromedia DreamWeaver extensions, application-specific Java and JavaScript applets for Web content delivery through the DVDMaestro authoring environment; and Macromedia Flash extensions to enable end-user chapter point jumping from within the Flash interface in the user's Web browser. According to Spruce's Joseph Matheny, "WebDVD integration is an important development for anyone who's been hampered by the Web's bandwidth limitations. With Spruce's DVDMaestro WebDVD Toolkit, we are offering the means of delivering the theater-quality audio and video that is otherwise unattainable in any practical sense by Web developers." A set-top-like interface for PC DVD-Video/ROM/Web playback and "platform-agnosticism" (support for both MCI and DirectShow calls) are guaranteed via integration of InterActual's PCFriendly development tool.
Also newly announced by Spruce is DVDConductor, a stripped-down version of the company's DVDMaestro software designed to stimulate the technically entry-level corporate DVD authoring market. Conductor includes software-based audio and video encoding tools, as well as support for interactive menu creation, multiple audio and language tracks, and multiple camera angles. The scaleable system can be upgraded with three packages: DVDPowerPack, providing support for up to nine camera angles, eight audio streams, 32 subtitle streams, motion menus, and more; DVDEntertainmentPack, offering CSS encryption, parental lock, Karaoke support, and Divx support; and DVDEncoderPack, featureing segment re-encoding, multipass VBR, and inverse Telecine.
Pricing for DVDConductor starts at $11,950; pricing for DVDStation CX, a full-throttle authoring system integrating Conductor with hardware audio and video encoders, begins at $24,950.
Meanwhile, Sonic Solutions has upgraded its DVD Creator software and announced the expansion of its line of DVD Creator Authoring Workstations to include a sub-$20K option. Every Sonic DVD Creator Workstation combines MPEG-2 VBR video encoding, audio production, Dolby Digital encoding, DVD-Video authoring, proofing, and formatting into a single system. Sonic's DVD Creator line of workstations includes the new Authoring version that sells for under $20K and includes authoring, formatting, and imaging for DVD-Video titles. Other versions are the Creator Workstation, Creator All-in-One Workstation and Creator AV Workstation, which sell for just under $40K, $80K, and $100K respectively.
The DVD Creator Workstations ship with Version 1.6 of Sonic's DVD Creator software, which has been enhanced to provide simultaneous monitoring of source and MPEG-encoded video; MPEG-2 software transcoding of AVI and QuickTime video; Fibre Channel networking support; and the new AutoDVD facility automation system. AutoDVD was designed to automate the creation of DVD-Video and DVD-ROM titles. It allows users to control multiple encoders, mulitplexers, DVD-R, and DLT drives remotely from any Web browser. AutoDVD fully automates the DVD production process by allowing users to open an AutoDVD Web page using the integrated http server where they can select an authoring template, enter in source tape information, and press go.
(Sonic Solutions, Inc., 101 Rowland Way, Suite 110, Novato, CA 94945; 415/893-8000; Fax 415/893-8008; sonic.com. Sony Electronics, Inc., 3300 Zanker Road, San Jose, CA 95134; 408/955-5068; Fax 408/955-5340; sel.sony.com. Spruce Technologies, Inc., 1054 South De Anza Boulevard, San Jose, CA 95129-3553; 408/861-2200; Fax 408/863-9701; spruce-tech.com.)
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