Sonic Solutions has announced the formation of the High Definition Authoring Alliance (HDAA), which the company describes as the first and only global association of leading DVD-authoring businesses. The Sonic-sponsored alliance aims to simplify the distribution of titles in the new High Definition DVD (HD DVD) and Blu-ray Disc (BD) formats.
The HDAA intends to support a successful format launch and the timely availability of high-quality titles by giving members exclusive access to key information, HD-capable tools and extensive training. The alliance currently has 25 member companies. Its activities, including training and seminars, are concentrated in three geographic centres: Burbank, California, for the United States; London for Europe; and Tokyo for Asia.
“Sonic’s HDAA opens the door to all the information and tools that are fundamental to our professional title-production business as we prepare for HD development of disc-based media,” says Mark Johnson, director of research and development at Thomson Technicolor Creative Services in Burbank. “HDAA membership makes us part of a community working together to make the introduction of the new formats a major success.”
For authoring companies moving to the new HD DVD and BD formats, the transition involves more than working with HD video. They must also learn to exploit the formats’ new interactive capabilities. To accelerate that learning process and communicate important format requirements to Sonic, HDAA members will participate in meetings, special events and technical seminars with Sonic engineers involved in defining the new standard. These sessions are intended to exchange information, develop ideas and discuss practical solutions for HD-title development.
“Without the support of the HDAA, everything would be a greater challenge. Being an HDAA member makes the entire process much easier for us and our customers,” says Dieter Schlautmann, director of new media development at Sonopress, a subsidiary of Bertelsmann’s Global Arvato Storage Media Group.
HDAA members receive early access to Sonic’s toolset for the new formats. The first phase of the HDAA programme provides components needed to create HD titles, including Sonic Scenarist HD for producing “Standard Content” HD DVD titles and the Sonic Advanced Interactivity Toolkit, a combination of hands-on tools and extensive documentation addressing the design of advanced interactive titles.
