Sonic's Scenarist now Blu-ray, digital distribution format only
By Richard Lawler 
posted January 30th 2008 1:17AM
posted January 30th 2008 1:17AM
Sonic Solutions has announced it will no longer sell the HD DVD version of its Scenarist professional authoring software, focusing instead on Blu-ray and digital distribution. Sonic -- provider of consumer authoring software under the Roxio brand (still w/ that sweet HD DVD flavor, at least for now) -- plans to expand its features to ease creation of BD Live features, and package high definition video for delivery on any of the many platforms popping up. It's not all bad for red fans, Sonic promises to continue customer support and product updates "where appropriate" for its HD DVD package, and a special promotion for users to switch to Blu-ray, although the terms aren't mentioned.[Thanks, Kiwi616]
Boohoo, big loss. Scenarist iz an overpriced utterly bloated crap anyway.
I would so very much hate to be working for anything HD-DVD related (unless we were switching).
Hardly a day has gone by since the CES announcement without some sort of organization dropping HD-DVD for BD.
Its like the floor underneath HD DVD is falling out one tile at a time. The Warner announcement was at least half of the floor.
Well they are doing wise. I always liked Roxio software :)
OUCH!!! So long HD-DUD...bye bye.
Yep, once again showing such maturity with terms like "HD-DUD". You just add so much credibility to the BD crowd, h4ldol.
Not.
I'm confused... is this the start of the coordinated effort to get HD DVD back on top? Because to me, it looks like another backlash...
All these paid off sellouts with absolutely no reason to stop supporting HD DVD will find themselves wishing to get back into HD DVD market but it will be too late, there's more and more tools being available and they are just shooting themselves in the foot.
It's funny how companies manage to completely smear their reputation like this. What a bad business move killing off a huge potential market on account of some under the table deal to cut HD DVD.
Again, Sony's and BDA strategy just shows how these scumbags operate.
What goes around, comes around ALWAYS.
So are you going to provide any evidence for your allegation? Or are your paranoid accusations just some kind of weird defence mechanism?
@nfinity "what goes around comes around"
-- exactly. This is why Toshiba and the HD-DVD farm has completely been obliterated. They first paid massive amounts of blood money to Universal to be exclusive, then Paramount, then tried to get Warner, but Warner realized the future was Blu-ray so there's no point in supporting a corrupt and completely inferior technology that is HD-DUD.
Another true fact: HD-DVD chose red as their primary color because it symbolizes the blood, evil and corrupt business practices among the HD-DVD shrills. Fortunately, the GOOD will always prevail, and that is Blu!
Oh, and Sony is giving away 8 Blu-Rays to any new customer of a BDP-S300 or BDP-S500 Player in Germany.
http://www.sony.de/view/ShowArticle.action?articlesection=1&article=1189437939846&site=odw_de_DE
Even better: if you buy those players at Saturn, you get an 150 euro discount if you turn in your expensive paperweigth a.k.a. HD-DVD player.
See http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/01/29/german-retailer-discounting-sony-bdp-s300-for-hd-dvd-player-trad/
I doubt there are many HD DVDs owners in Germany who could actually avail of a discount. And without the discount €500 is a lot, especially when Sony's own PS3 is €100 less and does a lot besides play discs.
More piggys who think they're going to do well at the anti-consumer Blu-ray trough, that's all.
With high def sales under 1% of the movie disc total this hasn't even got started yet nevermind being won.
But the Blu-ray gang really are trying to throw everything they can at this to create an impression, I'll give them that.
We'll see how things look by the end of the year, very different is how they will look.
HD DVD are a long way from finished & Blu-ray have won nothing.
TruthTeller: "With high def sales under 1%"
Ahahaa, that's it, hoho, that same
funny comment, haha, trends don't
matter, haha, nothing matters
ahahaha, it's red all the way, haha
I am starting my own film studio, and when I announce I will be BLU-RAY EXCLUSIVE, All the bluray fanboy sites will probably broadcast my studio's name and saying how hddvd has died yet again. Think of all that free advertising!!
What is your new studio's name? We need it for our article.
UH OH i got to talk to our stores microsoft rep yesterday, i work at a gamestop and calm down every one this is not good for Blu fans so turn away quickly, microsoft just released an updated version of its VC-1 codec to universal and paramount, called VC-2.1
Its capable of taking 50 gbs down to 18gbs without any distortion to the picture quality and sound quality, also there are no loading screens, just a simple click and your where ever you need to be in the movie, which is making this the best thing since slice bread, so that means they can fit around 85 to 90 gbs of information on a 30 gb disc... hmmm, blu ray 50gb, hd-dvd 85gb... who would have ever thought...
He also said that in mid march a big announcement would be coming from toshiba, universal, and paramount dealing with new hd-dvd product and prices...
i couldn't believe what i was hearing, i found it skeptical, but he assured me he had to tell someone about it so he told all the stores in our district, and i was like holy s*it...
blu ray better come up wit a new codec and fast, they might be selling a lot, or even a sh*t ton more the hd-dvd, but if studios by into this codec, and its only offered to hd-dvd, then well damn, thats just a shame for blu fans isnt it....
like i said,
the present is blu,
the future is red...
It is amazing how many industry changing news items are first broken to gamestop employees...
You do realize that a Codec has nothing to do with a disc format right?
And by that I mean if Microsoft created VC-2.1 it is not tied to either HD-DVD or Blu-ray but to file compression. Microsoft also "created" VC-1 only to realize that a majority of the code was either licensed or patented by others. VC-1 had to become a standard before other manufacturers, software companies and the like started implementing it.
The same shall happen here.
I'd love to hear your explanation of how a video codec affects the size of sound in the container file. Or how this magic codec is going to be installed on players already sold. Or why Microsoft would divulge this amazing news to a lowly Gamestop store employee.
Maybe the rep just decided to pull your leg since it is obviously bullshit.
It is especially interesting since Microsoft doesn't control VC-1 - the SMPTE does - and studios couldn't use a new codec without it being added to the HD DVD specs by the DVD Forum - and it hasn't - plus the fact that the player hardware would need to support the new codec - which it doesn't.
This would be great news for HD DVD... if there are any retailers left by mid-March carrying HD DVD players.
They need to start begging retailers not to bail first. This big announcement would have been great at CES. Mid-March? I won't hold my breath.
^^ @ Jonathon Burdine
Thanks for the news Jonathon ;)
Because -if- (and that is a BIG if) this is true, that means you'll be able to store even more than 100gb on a BR 50Gb disc :)
Of course, you realize that the VC1 codec is used whenever chosen so on BR format right ? :)
HD DVD @ 90Gb
Blu Ray at 140Gb .. Who would have thought ? ;)
Oh. Of course, you do -also- realize that this won't touch the bandwidth (far superior on Blu Ray), which means that when optimized, specially with such huge encoding ratios, Blu Ray picture would be much superior?
Thanks though, if this turns out to be true, this is the best news for Blu Ray since .. January 04 :)
As per your March anouncement, don't be surprised if it turns out to be Uni and Para going neutral at the last moment ;)
I agree... except that there would be no point in going neutral unless only to sell off already pressed discs. They will go full Blu, with a transition period much like Warner did.
OR, retailers force their hand before March...
I agree... except that there would be no point in going neutral unless only to sell off already pressed discs. They will go full Blu, with a transition period much like Warner did.
OR, retailers force their hand before March...
Keep in mind. If Microsoft doesn't license this supposed new codec to the studios authoring the blu-ray disks, than they cannot use it. Now, through past actions from microsoft, I would think that they would try to make as much money as they can and pimp this new codec out to whoever wants to use it! I mean, they tried to (and are still trying to) get blu-ray to use the HDi (or iHD...whatever it's called) instead of/with Java.
Every day another company goes Blu-ray exclusive ... I love it.
HD DVD really needs to just throw in the towel ... they're embarrassing themselves at this point ... getting outsold 4:1 and greater in the US ... even more world wide.
It's no wonder companies like Walmart, Woolworths, Circuit City and Best Buy are having clearance sales on HD DVD players ... and phasing HD DVD out altogether.
sony really knows how to get that propaganda out there huh?
If they were the only company making HD DVD authoring software this might be notable.
On VC-2.1... If MS doesn't license it to BR studios then they'll have to find something else. Whether or not the HD DVD Forum has any control over that remains to be seen.
Wether or not the Clearance from Circuit City was a mistake on their part, there have been pictures taken, same for the clearance of Venturer products at Walmart.
Woolworth is official, the only one I haven't heard of yet is Best Buy.
So, if you want to call FACTS propaganda, go ahead :)
Correct me if I'm wrong, but:
Future updates (other than security vulnerabilities fixes which this company says it will still provide) for HDDVD authoring software are unnecessary. The format is complete and so is the software. If it's complete and for sale, what difference does it make if you're not making any future changes? Isn't that like Microsoft saying "we will no longer update Halo2 unless we discover a security vulnerability".
This would be big if they said that they were tired of updting blu-ray tools for all of the new specs, but how is it that big of a deal for a finished format?
Go ahead and compare the authoring of DVDs from late 90's to today (on big titles), you might just be surprised ;)
This being said, It's not just about supporting exisitng funcitons of the format. The software itself evolves, becoming more advanced, user friendly, and supporting new advances (like new codecs and new online features per example). Cf DVD's DTS support, or dual layer support, among other things.
The HD DVD version being discontinued, such advances will be inexistant for that format, from both an interface (of Scenarist) point of view -and- a new features available point of view.
Coming from the industry professional standard, trust me, it does hurt. Even if only from a PR point of view for the time being (will probably be worse by the end of 08)...
You're some dude on the internet. I don't trust anything you say, especially since you have known to extend the truth a bit.
And aside from that, you only actually addressed one point. The HDDVD spec has been finished for a while. There are no new features. Therefore, there are no changes needed.
Now, assuming that the HDDVD version of the app is standalone from teh blu-ray version, not updating the UI may be of some importance. Everyone likes something new and shiny occasionally.
I don't know though. Is the HDDVD version of the app standalone, or is it a Nero/Roxio type "select your image type" menu at the beginning?
Oh dear.
Turns out this story is BS too.
From another site -
11:30 am ET January 31, 2007 - Sonic Solutions this morning clarified its position regarding its apparent switch from HD DVD to Blu-ray, telling BetaNews that initial reports that the company abandoned HD DVD altogether were not quite accurate.
Sonic spokesperson Chris Taylor said that the decision is only specific to its professional authoring suite. Other divisions, such as its Roxio consumer arm and ATG licensing group would remain format neutral. Even within the professional division, HD DVD would still live on through its CineVision authoring application.
TruthTeller: "Turns out this story is BS too."
Hey, that's a nice, succinct,
non-repetitive, civil, informative
post. Keep that up and my work is done.
TruthTeller: "Turns out this story is BS too."
Hey, that's a nice, succinct,
non-repetitive, civil, informative
post. Keep that up and my work is done.
What's BS about the story? Sonic's statement is exactly the way I reported it. Roxio is still dual format.