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Sonic Solutions dropping support for HD DVD in thier Scenarist software

post #1 of 7
1/30/08 at 6:06pm
Thread Starter 
A rather big of chunk of news that no one has bothered to post or give any attention. For those not in the know, Sonic’s Scenarist software pretty much dominates the professional DVD authoring market and is already becoming just as significant to major studios/authoring houses for HD media as well.

Sonic will still be offering support to existing customers but the HD DVD software will no longer be made available to new consumers. Sonic will be doing their best to get customers to upgrade via way of an HD DVD to Blu-ray authoring exchange scheme.

You can read the details here:

Sonic's Professional Products Group to Fuel Growth of Blu-ray Disc and Digital Distribution

Quote:
NOVATO, Calif., Jan. 30 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Sonic Solutions(R) , the leader in digital media software, today announced that its Professional Products Group will focus its research and development resources on the creation of new applications for cutting-edge authoring of Blu-ray Disc titles that encompass the interactive and connected-content capabilities of BD-Live. The group will also increase resource allocation on developing its encoding and title creation applications that streamline the process of preparing video entertainment for digital distribution. In order to address these emerging market opportunities and optimize investment return, the Professional Products Group will conclude sales of its Scenarist(R) HD DVD authoring product line.

"Extending Sonic's long history of commitment and support for the professional sector, we are aligning our professional product portfolio to address the evolving needs of our high-end customers," said Dave Habiger, president and CEO, Sonic Solutions. "Our Professional Products Group plays a significant role in supporting the development of high-definition formats, including the contribution of core IP to HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc joint portfolio licenses. Going forward, the group will direct its considerable format expertise on helping our professional customers fulfill the richly interactive promise of Blu-ray Disc including BD-Live, and aligning with a broader company strategy to enable the secure and efficient digital-distribution of video entertainment."

Part of Sonic's industry-leading professional authoring solutions, Scenarist provides the specification-level control required to author BD titles of uncompromising interactivity and compatibility. In 2008, an expanded feature set will simplify the creation of highly interactive BD components, such as enabling BD-Live, which enhances on-disc content in broadband-connected players. To streamline the creation of BD-Live, Sonic will build upon its pioneering InterActual(R) technologies, which today enable millions of movie enthusiasts to benefit from a similar 'connected content' experience when viewing DVDs on a PC.

"Our professional authoring customers are actively engaged with expanding their services in advanced interactive and online content creation. With a focus on Blu-ray Disc, we're able to meet this demand with new technologies and applications that leverage the growing-capabilities of the robust BD format to deliver dynamic entertainment experiences that consumers not only want, but have also come to expect from today's connected-content platforms," said Rolf Hartley, senior vice president and general manager of Sonic's Professional Products Group. "Commensurate with this focus, we're building our solutions in support of video delivery beyond professional packaged media and assisting in the enhancement of emerging platforms that provide consumers convenient, flexible access to high-quality entertainment."

To further enable the authoring community, Sonic will offer its Scenarist HD DVD customers a special promotion to exchange their authoring system(s) for a Scenarist BD system. Sonic's Professional Products Group will maintain its high-end support services as part of its SonicCare(TM) program for HD DVD customers who elect not to participate in the special promotion program and will provide software update releases where appropriate in keeping with its standard practice.
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post #2 of 7
1/30/08 at 6:52pm

Re: Sonic Solutions dropping support for HD DVD in thier Scenarist software

Well that will help dissipate the higher cost to produce bluray and then nullify whatever advantage HD DVD had in cost structure. I firmly believe that if they had taken advantage of the cost structure and priced their media accordingly lower they could have truly put up a good fight and perhaps even won.
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post #3 of 7
1/31/08 at 2:18pm

Re: Sonic Solutions dropping support for HD DVD in thier Scenarist software

This is pretty big news, isn't it?
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post #4 of 7
1/31/08 at 4:28pm

Re: Sonic Solutions dropping support for HD DVD in thier Scenarist software

Yeah, considering the fact that major studios were using it, it's kind of like Pininfarina saying they won't design Ferrari exteriors anymore.
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post #5 of 7
1/31/08 at 7:40pm

Re: Sonic Solutions dropping support for HD DVD in thier Scenarist software

This really isn't big news. None of the Hollywood studios use this for HD DVD (if at all), and it's too expensive (starting around $70K) for the smaller producers who use tools like netblender instead.
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post #6 of 7
2/2/08 at 9:45pm

Re: Sonic Solutions dropping support for HD DVD in thier Scenarist software

Quote:
Originally Posted by Adam Gregorich
This really isn't big news. None of the Hollywood studios use this for HD DVD (if at all), and it's too expensive (starting around $70K) for the smaller producers who use tools like netblender instead.
I'm seeing posts from (former) Scenarist users that seem to contradict that. Among other things:
  • The tool is $20k, not $70k.
  • It was only one of two HD DVD authoring tools available, the other is from Toshiba and is provided on case-by-case basis
  • It was the cheaper of the two tools
  • It was basically the go-to tool for the smaller houses
  • It was (and may still be) used by at least one of the majors
  • It was much easier to work with than Toshiba's tool (although apparently HDMV Blu-rays are easier still)
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post #7 of 7
2/3/08 at 9:11am

Re: Sonic Solutions dropping support for HD DVD in thier Scenarist software

I talked to someone on the HD DVD side who interfaces with the people doing the authoring (and assists as needed) at all the studios (major and independant). He said none of the majors use it for HD DVD (they may use it for DVD, I'm not sure about that). You say at least one, so which one? It was not one of only two tools. It was too expensive for the smaller houses. The go-to tool for them has been and still is Netblender (Netblender Inc.). I don't know about Toshiba's tool, but Netblender is just as easy (if not easier) than Scenarist. Scenarist didn't automate anything for HD DVD or BD. You had to paste your HDi or Java code into it and it would add it into the file as part of the authoring process.

As for pricing, well they don't list it so that should tell you something. I know there are multiple versions of the software, but starting with the basic one doesn't get you everything you need. To have what you need to use it to be able to have a workign system that allows you to author HD is around 70K, that's why the smaller houses use netblender.
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