Software specialist launches latest product
DVD software specialist ZOO Digital has announced the launch of an automated authoring software for producing regionalised Blu-ray discs and its first customer for its Translation Management System.
Following on from the success of its software tools for menu regionalisation and automated authoring of DVD-Video titles, the Sheffield-based firm will start the deployment of a similar strategy for Blu-ray discs.
Blu-ray is the recently introduced industry-standard packaged media format for high definition home video.
According to research reported by the British Video Association, sales of Blu-ray discs increased 123% year on year in 2009 and accounted for more than 20% of new disc sales of a number of leading titles.
The requirements that major film studios have for their Blu-ray disc products lead to highly complex production processes.
ZOO’s integrated software toolset automates the preparation of digital content including complex interactive menus, regionalisation into multiple language variants, and assembly and formatting for full compliance with the Blu-ray disc specification.
This enables ZOO’s customers to produce Blu-ray titles for multiple languages more quickly and easily and at lower cost. The system is currently being evaluated by a major Hollywood studio.
The regionalisation capabilities of the Blu-ray automated authoring toolset are delivered through integration with ZOO’s Translation Management System (TMS), which has now been deployed for a major Hollywood studio to manage, co-ordinate and regionalise worldwide marketing campaigns for theatrical film releases.
Stuart Green, chief executive of ZOO, said: “We are excited by the potential of our new automated Blu-ray authoring system as the entertainment industry continues the migration of products for worldwide publishing in high definition.
“It is pleasing to secure our first customer for the Translation Management System which, when used in conjunction with our other software tools, optimises production processes and will deliver operational efficiencies that we expect will result in significant savings of time and cost for our customers.”
