Sonic Streamlines HD DVD And Blu-ray Disc Menu Creation With Designer PS 2.0 Plug-in For PhotoShop

Sonic Solutions has introduced Scenarist Designer PS 2.0 advanced menu-design workflow for high-definition formats.
Scenarist Designer PS 2.0 automates the conversion of Adobe Photoshop graphics into standardized interactive menu components suitable for authoring for both Blu-ray Disc (BD) and HD DVD format in Sonic Scenarist. Extending the efficiency and precision of automated menu generation to designers on all Photoshop-supported platforms, Scenarist Designer PS 2.0 handles the advanced content modes of both high-definition formats and is now available for both Macintosh and Windows platforms.
Designing menus for HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc titles is very different from DVD-Video. Scenarist Designer PS 2.0 is unique in that it returns the control of menu component creation to the professional graphic designer who can create menus for high-definition titles using the industry-standard Adobe Photoshop. By basing the menu-design process on familiar concepts such as using layer sets to group button elements, Scenarist Designer PS 2.0 lets designers stay focused on the visual aspects of their work without worrying about the details of conversion for various output formats. Once a menu's background and button-state graphics are defined, the export from Photoshop of a compatible menu for one or more target formats is handled automatically via the Scenarist Designer PS 2.0 plug-in, saving hours of authoring work for each project. Offering flexible control and customization of dithering options for HDMV's RGBA palettes, Scenarist Designer PS 2.0 ensures that menu graphics are of the highest-image quality.
Depending on the selected output formats, Scenarist Designer PS will output all components required to automatically reconstruct a menu in either Scenarist BD or Scenarist HD DVD authoring workstations, including button positioning information and graphics for each button state (dithered to associated RGBA palettes if needed for HDMV menus in BD projects). The menus are then completely ready for assignment of navigation commands by authoring specialists, either directly in the Scenarist environment (for Blu-ray's HDMV and BD-J modes) or in a simple text editor (for HD DVD's HDi mode).
"Scenarist Designer PS is a massive value proposition for menu designers and graphic artists who are grappling with the vast complexities that HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc introduce," said Rolf Hartley, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Sonic's Professional Products Group. "By working within their graphics' platform of choice, Designer PS enables these artists to save a significant amount of time by outputting not only the art but also the BD data structures and the HDi markup required all from within the same job."
Scenarist Designer PS 2.0 is available immediately through Sonic's resale channels worldwide, and will be demonstrated at NAB Stand SL4314.
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