Sonic Solutions today announced that Avid Technology has integrated and is shipping Sonic AuthorScript technology in its Avid Symphony 3.1, Avid Media Composer 10.1, Avid Xpress 4.1 and Avid Xpress DV 2.0 lines of editing systems. With the integration of Sonic AuthorScript, Avid system users now have the ability to "create DVD" from video and audio projects in the Avid timeline directly to DVD-recordable devices. ``At Avid, we believe that DVD-Video will quickly become the preferred media for publishing rough cuts, demo reels, and corporate video content,'' said Rob Kobrin, vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing at Avid. ``By integrating Sonic AuthorScript technology into our editing systems, we are enabling video and film editors to publish directly to DVD from their Avid editing systems. With the arrival of low-cost DVD recorders, Avid and Sonic are giving users the capability to publish DVDs for their own use and to expand the services that they offer their clients.''

Sonic's cross-platform AuthorScript technology is the same that underlies Sonic's award-winning DVD authoring applications. Made up of an Application Programming Interface (API) and a set of C++ libraries, AuthorScript provides access to Sonic's DVD, Video CD and Super Video CD publishing engine, including data conversion and MPEG compression algorithms, DVD multiplexing and formatting, and driver support for all DVD recorders.

``Avid has redefined the way creative professionals manipulate digital audio and video, and we are pleased to be working together to integrate the power of DVD into their industry-leading production solutions,'' said Jim Taylor, chief of DVD Technology at Sonic Solutions. ``DVD is fast becoming the standard format for video publishing and distribution across many industries. Sonic AuthorScript will help make DVD publishing ubiquitous and easy. It does for interactive video what PostScript(TM) did for print publishing.''

Sonic's AuthorScript libraries are available now for license from Sonic and can be compiled directly into Windows ME, SE, 2000 or XP applications and Macintosh applications, enabling direct publishing of video, pictures and audio onto DVD-recordable and CD-recordable discs in DVD-Video, Video CD and Super Video CD formats.