Sonic Debuts AuthorScript 5.5; Enhanced SDK Speeds 3rd-Party Development of DVD, VCD and CD-Audio Enabled Applications on Linux and Windows Platforms

Business Wire, Jan 9, 2004

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

2004 International CES

LAS VEGAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 9, 2004

Sonic Solutions (Nasdaq:SNIC) the world leader in DVD and CD creation software, today debuted Sonic AuthorScript(R) 5.5, the latest version of the world's leading engine for the creation and burning of DVD, Video CD and CD Audio discs on PCs and CE devices. Designed to enable developers of PC applications and CE devices to rapidly add optical media output, as well as video and audio playback, encoding and transcoding to their products, Sonic AuthorScript 5.5 adds new important features for photo slideshow creation and advanced DVD menu design and navigation. The new version of Sonic AuthorScript will be available on January 15, 2004.

Sonic AuthorScript offers the broadest array of capabilities for developers who wish to create and burn content to CD and DVD for their products and software applications:

Video -- AuthorScript converts multimedia files into DVD and VCD

MPEG video streams, adds menus and burns a DVD or VCD.

Photo -- AuthorScript can convert photos and digital images into

high-quality DVD and VCD slideshows and burn them to DVD or CD.

Music -- AuthorScript allows for the CD burning of downloaded

music files and can be linked to any music download service.

Data archiving and backup -- AuthorScript is widely deployed for

burning CD-ROMs and DVD-ROMs.

Consumer electronics -- AuthorScript CE provides DVD recording for

set-top DVD recorders.

"Sonic AuthorScript 5.5 is a simple and fast way for developers to add solid, Hollywood-proven DVD and CD creation technology to virtually any PC or CE application," said Jim Taylor, general manager of the Advanced Technology Group at Sonic. "With new control over menu design, style templates, improved photo capabilities, enhanced security, and more, AuthorScript 5.5 further extends our groundbreaking position as the leading provider of DVD and CD creation engines and provides a robust platform for 3rd parties to build their DVD and CD burning applications."

With its improved photo slideshow functionality, AuthorScript 5.5 is ideal for photo software developers who want to easily add DVD or CD creation functions to their photo editing and camera applications or photo kiosk manufacturers wishing to burn photo slideshows onto DVD or CD. Incorporating real-time video and audio software encoders and transcoders, AuthorScript is also an ideal addition to consumer and pro-sumer video capture and editing applications. For download music services, AuthorScript's secure CD burn engine is the perfect client-side complement for robust burning of purchased files to CD. For developers looking to add data backup capabilities to their products, AuthorScript also support all CD and DVD data formats along with multi-disc spanning.

AuthorScript 5.5 Key Features:

-- DVD remote control button interface -- Project authors now

have full control over DVD navigation with menu and

up/down/left/right buttons on the remote controller, including

the ability to override AuthorScript's automatic button

connection feature.

-- Multiple DVD styles per project -- Developers can now create

applications that contain different styles for various DVD or

VCD menus in a project. This allows end users to make discs

that can be further customized to their needs and are easier

to navigate.

-- JumpAnywhere(TM) technology -- Now available in both

style-based menus and custom menus, JumpAnywhere enables the

creation of sophisticated DVD navigation with a single menu

button selection.

-- Photo slideshow presentation -- Project authors can now link

directly to any slide in a slideshow, improving photo browsing

flexibility. And AuthorScript 5.5 incorporates a new plug-in

transitions SDK that greatly expands the number and types of

inter-slide transitions available for slideshow playback.

-- Dolby Digital consumer encoding -- AC-3 encoding and 24-bit

PCM audio support is now available from within AuthorScript,

increasing high-quality audio options.

-- Enhanced security -- With stronger type and error checking,

along with added protection against thread reentrancy,

AuthorScript improves application security.

-- Edit-in-place(TM) -- New API calls provide access to

AuthorScript's OpenDVD disc editing feature, enabling the

content of +RW discs to be edited without requiring a full

rip-and-burn of the entire disc, saving time and hard disk

space.

About Sonic AuthorScript

Sonic AuthorScript is the world's leading engine for the creation and burning of DVDs and CDs on PCs and CE devices. Available as a software development kit (SDK) with extensive APIs, AuthorScript makes it easy for application developers to add a broad range of CD and DVD technologies into their applications and to support the widest array of CD and DVD burners. A flexible solution, AuthorScript contains modules for converting video and audio data into DVD- and VCD-compliant streams, formatting and burning DVD-Video and VCD projects, data mastering on recordable CDs and DVDs, music CD ripping and burning, DVR recording and timeshifting, and DVD-Video and VCD playback. AuthorScript also includes comprehensive support for recording and editing in the DVD-VR and DVD+RW (+VR) formats.