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Avid and Sony to Provide Comprehensive XDCAM Support in Avid Systems
Collaborative development will enable high-speed importation and
native editing of proxy A/V data in Avid nonlinear editing solutions
Avid Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ: AVID) and Sony Corporation (NYSE: SNE) today announced a collaborative development relationship designed to provide comprehensive interoperability between Sony's XDCAM Professional Disc camcorders and decks and Avid's award-winning digital nonlinear editing and shared-storage solutions.
This alliance will provide support for XDCAM's low-bandwidth MPEG-4 proxy A/V format in upcoming versions of the Avid® Media Composer® Adrenaline, NewsCutter® Adrenaline FX, and NewsCutter XP editing systems - as well as the Avid Unity family of shared-storage solutions. When this capability becomes available in late 2004, as currently planned, users of those systems will be able to import proxy A/V data at the maximum speeds afforded by IT-based protocols such as gigabit Ethernet and FireWire, edit the data in its native resolution, and subsequently re-link their compositions to the corresponding high-resolution media from the XDCAM system.
"Many of our broadcast customers are eager to move toward file-based production workflows that deliver virtually instant, random access to digital footage," said David Krall, president and chief executive officer of Avid. "The Sony XDCAM system provides this capability and offers the additional benefit of proxy editing of low-bandwidth media. By incorporating this proxy A/V compatibility into our industry-leading editing and shared-storage solutions, we will be helping customers achieve a faster, more efficient newsroom workflow than is possible with traditional, tape-based capture formats."
Shinji Hanatani, president of B&P, Professional Solutions Network Company, Sony Corporation, added, "Through close cooperation with leading providers like Avid, we are accelerating the development of tapeless, fully networked newsrooms that take advantage of our most advanced optical-disc technology and Avid's legendary editing and shared-storage solutions. We look forward to the many benefits that this development alliance will bring to our customers in the news gathering and news production industries."
Prior to the release of the versions of the Media Composer Adrenaline and NewsCutter products with XDCAM proxy A/V support, Avid will enable those systems to import XDCAM high-resolution media via Ethernet file transfers in the Material Exchange Format (MXF) using the Avid Unity TransferManager product, and natively edit the media. Avid and Sony will demonstrate this capability in their respective booths at NAB.
For more information about Avid's products and services, please visit: www.avid.com. For more information about Sony's XDCAM system or Sony's other products and services, please visit: www.sony.com/professional.
About Avid Technology, Inc.
Avid Technology, Inc. is the world leader in digital nonlinear media creation, management, and distribution solutions, enabling film, video, audio, animation, games, and broadcast professionals to work more efficiently, productively, and creatively. For more information about the company's Oscar®, Grammy®, and Emmy® award-winning products and services, please visit: www.avid.com.
About the Sony XDCAM System
As of March 2004, Sony has shipped 1,000 XDCAM units to customers worldwide in the broadcast, rental and production industries. The XDCAM professional optical disc system includes camcorders, decks and Professional Disc media. For more detailed product information, visit www.sony.com/professional. To find the nearest Sony authorized dealer or service location, call 1-800-686-SONY. For additional press information and digital images, please visit Sony Electronics' news and information web site at www.sony.com/news.
© 2004 Avid Technology, Inc. All rights reserved. Product features, specifications, system requirements, and availability are subject to change without notice. Avid, Adrenaline, Avid Unity, Digidesign, Film Composer, Media Composer, NewsCutter, and Pro Tools are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Avid Technology, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries. Avid received an Oscar statuette representing the 1998 Scientific and Technical Award for the concept, design, and engineering of the Avid® Film Composer® system for motion picture editing. Digidesign, Avid's audio division, received an Oscar statuette representing the 2003 Scientific and Technical Award for the design, development, and implementation of its Pro Tools® digital audio workstation. Oscar is a trademark and service mark of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Emmy is a registered trademark of ATAS/NATAS. Grammy is a trademark of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, Inc. All other trademarks contained herein are the property of their respective owners.
CONTACT: Avid Technology, Inc.
Carter Holland, 978-640-3172
carter_holland@avid.com
or
Sony Corporation (Japan)
Daichi Yamafuji, +81-3-5448-2200
daichi.yamafuji@jp.sony.com
or
Sony Electronics Inc. (USA)
Tom Di Nome, 201-930-6357
tom.dinome@am.sony.com
SOURCE: Avid Technology, Inc.