ORLANDO, Fla., July 20, 1998 — Softimage Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Microsoft Corp., announced today at SIGGRAPH 98 that it is shipping SOFTIMAGE® |DS version 2.0, its comprehensive nonlinear production (NLP) system for creating, editing and finishing high-end video projects. SOFTIMAGE|DS combines the functionality of a full post-production company in a seamlessly integrated and cost-effective environment that is changing traditional perceptions of post-production and blurring the boundaries between offline and online systems.
SOFTIMAGE|DS 2.0 offers real-time effects, as well as enhanced capabilities that provide greater productivity, a richer content creation environment and enhanced project management. New productivity enhancement features include support for two streams of D1 (ITU-R 601) noncompressed video, multiclip drag and drop, match frame, and support for external MIDI control surfaces to significantly improve the system’s overall editing speed. Content creators benefit from enhanced color correction, improved digital video effects (DVE) algorithms and a wider range of compositing tools in version 2.0. Project management is simplified by new archive and restore capabilities, edit decision list (EDL) management features, and expanded file format support.
Customers Already Embracing SOFTIMAGE|DS 2.0
Customers who worked with beta versions of SOFTIMAGE|DS 2.0 have experienced tremendous improvements in productivity, content creation and project management.
“I’ve been using nonlinear systems since they first came out, and SOFTIMAGE|DS 2.0 is the most solid and exciting product I’ve seen in a long time. It’s very reliable and well thought out,”
said Scott Witthaus, general manager of Henninger Richmond.
“The new match-frame feature and the audio-mix tool are great, and the toolbars just keep getting better and better. All the refinements in version 2.0 have helped our workflow, and by giving us more and more tools in the creative arena, Softimage is helping us to create projects that were unthinkable a short while ago.”
“Using the project management capabilities in SOFTIMAGE|DS 2.0, we’ve at least doubled the number of projects we’re able to complete,”
said Karl Horstmann, producer and director at Triple Horse Productions Inc.
“The ability to archive makes us more productive because we can easily move various projects in and out of the system as we need to work on them. As a result, we can take on and complete more projects quickly and efficiently, and we can be more creative.”
“We switched to SOFTIMAGE|DS version 2.0 beta from version 1.0 in the middle of a project that would test the limits of any system,”
said David Bawel, freelance animator for Production Plant.
“The performance of SOFTIMAGE|DS version 2.0 was outstanding. The new system increased time-line performance by 1,600 percent. I don’t know of any other editing system that could handle such a project.”
“SOFTIMAGE|DS 2.0 offers improvements to the user interface, the tool set and overall system performance,”
said Paul Hutchings, managing director of P3 Group Ltd.
“The biggest issue for any product in a production facility is productivity, and in this area more than any other, version 2.0 is a milestone in the development of SOFTIMAGE|DS.”
About SOFTIMAGE|DS
SOFTIMAGE|DS delivers a comprehensive nonlinear production system for creating, editing and finishing videos such as commercials, music videos and TV programs. Running on the Microsoft® Windows NT® operating system, SOFTIMAGE|DS seamlessly integrates the functionality of a full post-production company into a single environment at a fraction of the cost.
Pricing and Availability
Version 2.0 is shipping today free of charge to all SOFTIMAGE|DS customers that have a valid maintenance contract. Turnkey SOFTIMAGE|DS systems with multistream capability are priced at approximately $115,000 (U.S.), and single-stream systems are available for approximately $90,000 (U.S.). Hardware upgrade options that provide multistream capability are available for current users of SOFTIMAGE|DS running on Intergraph Studio Z for SOFTIMAGE|DS workstations.
About Softimage
Founded in 1986, Softimage develops software for media-rich applications including video, film, interactive games and CD-ROM applications. Products include SOFTIMAGE|DS (video production), SOFTIMAGE|3D (high-end animation), SOFTIMAGE|EDDIE (compositing) and Toonz (2-D cel animation). The company was acquired in 1994 by Microsoft.
Additional information about Softimage and Microsoft can be found via the Internet at http://www.softimage.com/ and http://www.microsoft.com/ , respectively.
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq
“MSFT”
) is the worldwide leader in software for personal computers. The company offers a wide range of products and services for business and personal use, each designed with the mission of making it easier and more enjoyable for people to take advantage of the full power of personal computing every day.
Softimage is a registered trademark of Softimage Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Microsoft Corp.
Microsoft and Windows NT are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries.
Other product and company names herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.
Softimage general information:
United States and Canada: (800) 576-3846
International: (818) 365-1359
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