authoring - Buyers Guide

Emedia Professional, Sept, 1999

MicroBoards Ships DVD AuthorSuite

MicroBoards Technology, Inc. has announced shipments of DVD AuthorSuite, its complete DVD creation package. DVD AuthorSuite includes DVDAuthorQUICK version 2.0, which offers an authoring editor and a premastering function for DVD-Video file verification, as well as providing disc image output directly to DLT. The AuthorSuite package also includes Pioneer's DVR-S201 4.7GB DVD-R and Zapex's ZP 300 capture and compression card, which provides encoding for MPEG video, Dolby Digital, AC-3 two-channel, and 5.1 Surround Sound. DVDAuthorSuite operates in a Windows NT environment and is priced at $24995.

(MicroBoards Technology, Inc., 1480 Park Road, Suite B, P.O. Box 856, Chanhassen, MN 55317; 612/470-1848; Fax 612/470-1805; http://www.microboards.com)

GEAR Shifts into DVD

Gear Software has introduced GEAR PRO DVD for Windows. Based upon GEAR's long-standing CD-R premastering product, GEAR PRO DVD development software supports the creation of CD and DVD images that can be output to DLT, 8mm tape drives, or DAT. It also supports a variety of file systems including CD-ROM, Video CD, and the UDF file system, which can be combined with IS0 9660 for hybrid discs or backward-compatibility. GEAR PRO DVD supports single and multi session mastering and track-at-once and disc-at-once recording. Other features of GEAR PRO DVD include erase-CD for CD-RW discs, ANSI labeled output, SCSI and ATAPI reader support, and 1X, 2X, 4X, and 8X recording speeds.

(GEAR Software, 1061 East Indiantown Road, Suite 500, Jupiter FL 33477; 561/575-3200; Fax 561/575-3026; http://www.gearcdr.com)

Adobe Enhances Premiere 5.1 for Mac Users

Adobe Systems Incorporated has announced an enhanced version of Adobe Premiere 5.1, which provides Mac G3 users with improved digital video functionality. The new version of Premiere allows users to plug in a DV camcorder to a G3 with FireWire and edit video from the desktop without the need for additional hardware. Premiere provides support for NTSC and PAL digital video, which allows users to capture, export, and play back video from Premiere and through the camera. Other improvements to Premiere include QuickTime 4 support, which allows users to edit video in a supported format like MJPEG or DV then export it to a streaming QuickTime movie for the Web, and greater-than-2GB file support. The update to Adobe Premiere 5.1 is available at no charge to registered Mac users as a download at http://www.adobe. com/premiere.

(Adobe Systems Incorporated, 345 Park Avenue, San Jose, California 95110-2704; 800/272-3623, 408/536-6000; Fax 408/537-6000; http://www.adobe.com)

VITEC Brings DVD-Video Production Home

VITEC Multimedia has introduced DVD TOOLBOX, which brings video production capabilities to the home PC. With DVD TOOLBOX, users can encode AVI into DVD-compliant elementary streams, edit DVD streams in MPEG-1 or 2 format, produce DVD-Video by organizing DVD chapters, and play back DVD with an integrated software DVD player. Through the use of the proprietary DVD Direct features, files can be authored, edited, or modified from the encoder and then placed on a wide range of media, including CD-ROM, CD-RW, DVD-RAM, and DVD-R, with DVDMAKER authoring software. DVD TOOLBOX is expected to ship in September for $399.

(Vitec Multimedia Inc., 556 Weddell Drive, Suite 3, Sunnyvale, CA 94089; 408/752-8483; Fax 408/752-8486; http://www.vitecmm.com)

InterVideo Adds NT4 Support to Software Decoder

InterVideo, Inc. has announced the addition of Windows NT4 support to its software-only PC DVD decoder, WinDVD. WinDVD now supports all three shipping MS operating systems; all of the major DVD APIs including DirectShow, DirectDraw, DirectSound; and is legacy compatible with the MCI interactive title standard. InterVideo's application interface layer allows WinDVD to support any graphics adapter with DVD hardware-assist features, like motion compensation and IDCT. It also includes support for Dolby Digital, VCD disc and MP3 audio file playback, and DVD region control. Single copies of WinDVD can be purchased for $49.95; owners of previous versions will receive a $10 discount; it is also available for licensing to OEMs, system integrators, and corporations directly.

(InterVideo Inc., 440 Mission Court, Suite 260, Fremont, CA 94539 510/651-0888; Fax 510-651-8808; http://www.intervideoinc.com)

NEC Introduces MMVF-Based Video Recorder

NEC Corporation has announced that a high-density optical disc recorder based on its proprietary Multimedia Video Disc (MVDisc) format will be released in Japan this month and is slated for an early 2000 release elsewhere. The MVDisc format is basically the same as the MultiMedia Video File format (MMVF) introduced in late 1997, which employs a 12cm diameter, 5.2GB per side phase-change disc that measures .6mm per side, and uses land-and-grove recording. Although these specifications are the same as those for DVD-RAM, the two formats are not compatible; MVDisc will not read DVD or CD discs. Other industry leaders including Pioneer, JVC, and Sharp have opted to support the DVD-R/W format. NEC intends to promote the new recorder, called GigaStation, as an easy-to-use video editor at a retail price of $2900. The company has also announced plans to offer future generations of MVDiscs with 10GB-25GB capacity.