SONY ANNOUNCES VEGAS SOFTWARE
SUPPORT FOR NEW PROFESSIONAL HDV PRODUCTS
INCLUDING THE HVR-Z1U CAMERA AND THE HVR-M1OU VTR

 Culver City, November 10, 2004 – Sony Media Software today announced special promotional pricing (US $149.95; a savings of US $349) on CineForm’s Connect HD application software for new and existing users of Sony’s award-winning Vegas 5 video and audio editing software. The incorporation of Connect HD into the Vegas 5 platform will enable users of the newly announced Sony HVR-Z1U professional HDV camcorder, HVR-M1OU deck and the recently announced consumer HDR-FX1 camera, to capture, edit, and export HDV in the 1080i format.  In addition to offering a high-quality, high-performance codec that greatly improves the HDV editing experience within Vegas, this updated version of Connect HD enables capturing and export of HDV content directly from and back to the HVR-Z1U and other HDV cameras.

Connect HD is built around CineForm’s Visually Perfect™ high-definition editing codec, CFHD, which provides unmatched performance and visual quality.  During capture, the Connect HD capture tool transcodes the incoming HDV signal on the fly into CineForm’s proprietary wavelet-based compression format.  The resulting AVI file offers a more efficient editing configuration than HDV’s native long-GOP MPEG, though users who wish to edit with HDV MPEG files will be able to do so. In addition to the customized version of Connect HD, an updated version of Vegas 5 software will also be released, with HDV-specific enhancements in the near future.  

 “Vegas 5 software, when enhanced with CineForm’s Connect HD acceleration, provides our users with a powerful, flexible, cost-effective, end-to-end HDV solution” stated Dave Chaimson, Vice President of Marketing, Sony Media Software.  “Our software engineers have been working closely with the CineForm team, and together we have made many improvements to the HDV editing experience within Vegas, to the point that both the 1080i and 720p HDV workflow are now nearly identical to the DV workflow.  We anticipate future versions of Vegas software will offer even tighter integration with CineForm technology.”

Registered users of Vegas 5 software will be able to purchase the Connect HD software for US $149.95 from http://www.sonymediasoftware.com/Default.asp.

 About Sony Media Software
The Media Software and Services division manages the following media creation software titles: Sound Forge® software, Vegas® software, CD Architect™ software, DVD Architect™ software, ACID® Pro software, Sound Series™ Loops & Samples music libraries, Noise Reduction™ Plug-In, Vegas Movie Studio™ software, ACID Music Studio™ software and Sound Forge Audio Studio™ software.  The team also runs the ACIDplanet® online service, a worldwide community for progressive musicians. For additional product information, please visit http://www.sonymediasoftware.com/Default.asp.

 About CineForm
CineForm, Inc., located in Carlsbad, California, develops high-performance software technologies and products for use by media professionals in high-resolution post-production applications. CineForm's acclaimed products provide unmatched video quality and real-time performance within an editing environment, enabling an online Digital Intermediate workflow that runs on standard desktop PCs. For more information, contact CineForm at 760-804-5905 x306, or visit CineForm’s website at www.cineform.com.

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