Sonic Solutions debuts innovative DVD-ROM authoring software

Emedia Professional, May, 1998 by Lee Hollman

Sonic Solutions has announced the release of Sonic DVD Vobulator, the first authoring tool specifically designed for the rapidly growing DVD-ROM format. The new software arrives just in time both to assist and profit from the impending boom in titles for the new platform, and is targeted at the increasing number of multimedia developers making the shift toward DVD. "Vobulator provides developers with the critical tool they need to create cinematic-quality interactive content for the PC," says Mark Ely, director of DVD marketing at Sonic Solutions.

Ely credits the capacity of the Vobulator engine for simplifying DVD authoring. "It multiplexes source streams into DVD-compliant bit streams, working with standard two-bit graphic bitmap images," he says. Vobulator features software-based MPEG-2 variable bit-rate video compression, Dolby Digital surround audio compression, and Video Object (VOB) multiplexing and de-multiplexing. It can convert QuickTime 3.0, AVI, and Avid OMF video files, or TIFF and PICT still image files (ranging from 16x 16 to 1600x 1600 pixels), into MPEG-2 variable bit-rate or constant bit-rate video.

The range of formats that it can accommodate makes Vobulator a versatile product, and Ely promises that it will also be an accessible one. "Before Vobulator, ROM developers had to rely on expensive service bureaus for creating DVD-quality video," explains Ely. "Now they can do everything on a desktop computer."

Sonic DVD Vobulator also features a user-friendly drag-and-drop approach to organizing multimedia files and converting them to a DVD-compliant format. "Starting from the desktop, the user can drag MPEG files into a source list," says Ely. "From there, they're automatically converted into DVD-ready files. Then they're assembled as a Video Object (VOB) in Vobulator's Presentation Editor, and saved onto a VOB stream." Once all of the files are ready, the user is provided with several options on how they can be organized.

Vobulator enables the user to edit and combine a maximum of eight audio files, and to convert uncompressed digital audio files in the AIFF format to Dolby Digital certified digital audio. The user can also configure up to 32 subpicture streams, edit in chapter points, create Cell boundaries, and import Line 21 caption data. All final VOB files can be played on DVD-enabled PCs or Macintosh computers--just in time for the DVD-compatible operating systems for each, scheduled for release in 1998.

At the February 1998 DVD Professional conference in Orlando, Florida, Microsoft announced that Windows 98 will support playback of VOBs through DirectShow. The DirectShow feature on the new operating system should strengthen Vobulator's hold on the PC market. Windows 98 is scheduled for availability in June, while Apple has announced plans to integrate DVD capabilities into a new version of their Macintosh OS, due for release later this year.

"Macintosh has always been the preferred solution for multimedia authoring," says Jeff Martin, Senior Director, Worldwide Design and Publishing Markets, Apple Computer. "With DVD Vobulator on the Macintosh, Sonic is helping to move multimedia developers onto the DVD platform just in time for DVD-ROM's major consumer breakthrough this year." Vobulator currently runs on Macintosh OS 8.1 and on Windows NT 4.0 systems, so that PC users won't have to wait for the release of Windows 98 before purchasing the new software.

Sonic DVD Vobulator for Macintosh OS began shipping in March 1998, and retails for $7,999. The Windows NT version is projected for release in June. Ely anticipates an auspicious debut for Vobulator among corporate and professional users. With a boom market for DVD-ROM and DVD-Video predicted by public research firms and by manufacturers of electronic media, Vobulator should prove quite popular within its targeted client base.

(Sonic Solution 101 Rowland Way, Suite 110, Novato, CA 94945; 415/893-8000; Fax 415/893-8008; http://www.sonic.com)