Discreet becomes Autodesk

Autodesk has announced Autodesk Media and Entertainment division. Formerly known as Discreet, the division will remain dedicated to providing innovative products and services for the film, video, gaming, and related media and entertainment markets.

The transition of Discreet into Autodesk Media and Entertainment demonstrates Autodesk’s continued commitment to customers it has served for more than a decade. While the dedicated sales, support and product development teams remain unchanged, the brand change signifies the incremental resources Autodesk Media and Entertainment will be utilizing to better serve customers. This ensures that the creative toolset from Autodesk Media and Entertainment will stay on the leading edge of product innovation and continue to empower artists to solve their most complex production challenges. Additionally, Autodesk Consulting is extending its organization by adding a dedicated Media and Entertainment practice.

“When we launched our new corporate branding effort in March, we made it clear that Autodesk is in the business of helping customers realize their ideas,” said Carl Bass, chief operating officer of Autodesk. “Creating Autodesk Media and Entertainment is more proof that we have a single mission as a company, whether we are serving customers who design our buildings, infrastructure and manufactured products or create the amazing content we see on movie, TV and video game screens. Autodesk is a trusted advisor, and we have the technology to make these customers more creative and competitive as they turn their ideas into reality.”

“The media and entertainment industries are at an inflection point, where creativity and productivity must meet. From the 4K digital intermediate process for film making to uncompressed HD programming and next generation game consoles, our customers are expecting us to innovate and solve the most complex of production requirements,” said Martin Vann, vice president of Autodesk Media and Entertainment. “By integrating and unifying our brand with Autodesk, we position ourselves to become a more closely aligned division of a billion dollar plus company. Autodesk Media and Entertainment will not only provide a broader and more strategic presence for Autodesk, but a better platform for us to compete within our core markets of film, television, gaming and design visualization”.

Autodesk Media and Entertainment will demonstrate the benefits of this integration at the National Association of Broadcasters Convention (NAB) in Las Vegas, April 18-21, 2005. At this leading industry convention, Autodesk Media and Entertainment will unveil new, state-of-the-art offerings as well as significant enhancements to existing products and solutions.

Autodesk Media and Entertainment Division will be headquartered in Montreal, Canada, where Discreet has been based since Autodesk acquired Discreet Logic in 1999. Autodesk will be maintaining its strong presence in Montreal, taking advantage of the base of talented, experienced creative professionals there.

Avid to Acquire Pinnacle Systems

Avid and Pinnacle Systems today announced that Avid has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Pinnacle in a cash and stock transaction. Under the terms of the agreement, Pinnacle shareholders will receive .0869 shares of Avid stock and $1.00 in cash for each Pinnacle share. At closing, it is expected that Avid will issue approximately 6.2 million shares and pay $71.3 million in cash, for a total estimated value of $462 million based on Avid’s stock price of $62.95 at market close on Friday, March 18, 2005.

Upon completion of the transaction, the 6.2 million shares to be issued to Pinnacle’s former shareholders will represent approximately 15% of Avid’s outstanding common stock. The acquisition is subject to satisfying a number of closing conditions, including shareholder and regulatory approvals, and is expected to close in the second or third quarter of 2005.

The purchase price represents a 30% premium over Pinnacle’s closing stock price of $4.97 on March 18, 2005. Assuming a closing date of July 1, 2005, Avid expects the transaction, excluding acquisition-related charges, to be dilutive to its pro-forma earnings per share in the third quarter and accretive in the fourth quarter, resulting in full-year 2005 pro forma earnings per share of approximately $2.70 per diluted share. In 2006, Avid expects the transaction to be approximately 10 cents accretive, resulting in pro forma earnings per share of approximately $3.20 per diluted share. After payment of the cash portion of the purchase price, Avid expects its cash position to be $280-$300 million at the end of 2005.

Following the closing, the parties expect that Pinnacle’s award-winning professional products – such as the MediaStream broadcast playout server and the Deko on-air graphics system – will enhance Avid’s end-to-end broadcast production pipeline, which has helped Avid become a global leader in that industry. In addition, Pinnacle’s consumer video business – which to date has shipped more than 10 million units -will form the basis for a new consumer video division at Avid, providing the company with an immediate avenue into that segment.

Avid president and CEO David Krall said, “We see this acquisition as the next logical step in our long-term strategy. Just as our acquisition of M-Audio in 2004 brought us into the consumer audio business, by acquiring Pinnacle’s consumer video business, Avid will be able to tap into the next generation of video editors while they are still learning their craft. This creates a very large potential customer base for Avid’s future. At the same time, we believe that Pinnacle’s professional broadcast offerings will fit seamlessly with Avid’s business, extending our end-to-end broadcast solutions with servers and on-air graphics products. We think it would be hard to find a more complementary match for these two businesses than what this combination provides.”

Krall added: “As a result of this transaction, we expect to derive savings from a number of sources, including reducing public company expenses, combining infrastructure functions where appropriate, and providing our global sales teams with a broader portfolio of product offerings. Over the past five years, Avid has increased its profitability and shareholder value by growing our top line, expanding our gross margins, and leveraging our talent and technology across the entire company. By working with the dedicated team at Pinnacle, we’re confident that, together, we can succeed with this same strategy following the completion of the transaction.”

Pinnacle chairman and CEO Patti Hart said, “We believe that this transaction creates significant value for our shareholders and provides excellent opportunities for continued growth for the combined company. Avid has built a strong, well-deserved reputation for efficient business management while continuing to live up to its tradition of technological innovation in the video and audio industries. By bringing our own award-winning products to the table – including Pinnacle Studio, Pinnacle Liquid Edition, and our broad array of broadcast systems – we’re confident that Pinnacle will strengthen and diversify Avid’s business. Our customers can also anticipate a richer set of offerings within an organization that will be even better positioned moving ahead. We see this as the right move for Pinnacle, and we look forward to joining the Avid family. ”

The Boards of Directors of both Avid and Pinnacle have approved the definitive agreement. Avid will seek stockholder approval of the transaction at its annual meeting, and Pinnacle will hold a special meeting of shareholders to consider approval of the transaction. The dates of the shareholder meetings will be announced following completion of initial regulatory filings.


Conference Call

Avid and Pinnacle will hold a joint conference call and simultaneous webcast to discuss the transaction, including the estimated impact on Avid’s future results. The joint conference call will take place on March 21 at 8:30 a.m., EST, and will be open to the public. The conference call can be accessed from any U.S. or international location by dialing (913) 981-5558 and referencing confirmation code 7229543. The call and subsequent replay will also be available on the Avid and Pinnacle Web sites.

Software Codec Install Guide

Media 100 i codec now available without hardware.

A quick tip, tutorial has been added to the tutorial section. This one is for Media 100 i users looking to take advantage of the new Media 100 i software codec that has been made available as part of the Media 100 HD 10.1 release.

Media 100 Software Codec

It's finally here, after years in the making (well maybe not years) Media 100 have released software codec's for all their current production systems, Media 100 i, Media 100 HD and 844/X for the Macintosh platform.

What's so great about this?

The new Media 100 Software Codec-Provides a fast way for users using Adobe After Effects and other third-party packages to render out QuickTime movies in the Media 100 codec of your choice, without the Media 100 hardware installed, to drop into a Media 100 i, Media 100 HD or 844/X system and begin editing.

To get your hands on this great new feature, visit the Media 100 support section, where you'll find the Media 100 HD 10.1 installer, which includes the codec installer.

You don't need to be a Media 100 HD owner or have the Media 100 HD hardware to take advantage of the new software codec, so download away.

On2 Appoints Mike Savello

On2 Technologies, the Duck Corporation, has announced it has hired Mike Savello to be the company's Senior Vice President of Global Sales for PC Platforms. Mike is responsible for managing On2's worldwide sales activities for all PC based products including IPTV, Video surveillance, video conferencing and PC based encoding and serving. He will also handle On2's playerless video capacity for these platforms including the company's Java initiative.

Prior to joining On2, Mike was Vice President of Worldwide Sales and Marketing for Media 100, a leading supplier of video editing gear to the broadcast and post-production markets and a former leader in the streaming media until the sale of that business line to Autodesk in 2001. While at Media 100 Mike also held the positions of Vice President of Streaming Services and Vice President of Enterprise Streaming. Mike studied computer science at Boston University and has over 15 years of experience in the digital media space in a variety of senior sales and marketing roles.

"Mike is an excellent addition to the team, and I look forward to working with him. I am confident that Mike will put his unique sales and marketing background to good use at On2," said Douglas A. McIntyre, On2's Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer.

About On2 Technologies, The Duck Corporation

On2 Technologies (Amex: ONT - News) is a leading technology firm at the forefront of video compression. The company revolutionized digital media delivery with the creation of its advanced full-motion, full-screen, TrueMotion VP4/VP5/VP6 compression and streaming technologies. More information can be found by visiting www.on2.com.

Media 100 HD 10.1

Media 100 has announced the forthcoming release of Media 100 HD 10.1. Version 10.1 expands the feature-rich Version 10 release to include a new Media 100 software codec and other key enhancements that make the 10-bit-uncompressed Macintosh-based system even more powerful and unique for projects that use HD, SD, or need real time mixing of different codecs in the same timeline

“We live in a hybrid world. Media 100 HD is designed to fill the gap as editors go back and forth between HD and SD and need to have total control over both,” said Steve Bayes, Director of Product Marketing, Media 100/Optibase. “Media 100 HD Version 10 brought our largest set of features to Media 100 software ever, and the new codecs and enhancements in Version 10.1 build on that. Even if customers do not have immediate requirements for HD, they’ll find this release is a great upgrade opportunity to SD editing at 10-bit uncompressed.”

Key New Features of Media 100 HD 10.1:

• New Media 100 Software Codec—Provides a fast way for customers using Adobe® After Effects® and other third-party packages to render out QuickTime® movies to drop into a Media 100 HD project and begin editing.
• QuickTime V Out Support—Makes quick previews possible using Media 100 hardware to play back any QuickTime movie on an NTSC, PAL or HD monitor while still working inside After Effects or other related applications.
• HD Playback—Real-time HD playback for flip, flop and color effects using a draft mode for capturing or viewing HD.

Availability and Pricing

Media 100 HD is available now. Version 10.1 software is expected to be available this week. Pricing for complete Media 100 HD system configurations is available from Media 100’s channel of resellers and will depend upon SD and HD editing requirements and the amount of high-speed media storage required. Special customer-loyalty pricing exists for all current Media 100 customers interested in moving to Media 100 HD. For more information on Media 100 HD, please call (800) 773-1770 or visit the Media 100 website at www.media100.com.

Free NAB Pass

Media 100 is offering free passes to NAB 2005. To register for your free pass visit the Media 100 web site.

844/X On Sale!

The following is an email piece sent to all Media 100 844/X owners. As such most of you have already seen this, but just in case you haven't, here it is in all it's glory.

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Dear 844/X Fan:

As an 844/X aficionado, you know what a fantastic system it is. Fast, powerful, elegant and stable, 844/X delivers unrivaled performance at a price that couldn't get much lower until now.



We're offering users like you an unheralded opportunity to buy 844/Xe with XBLUR, our powerful effects option for real-time blurs, glows, shadows and more, at just 50% of list price for boards and software. That's our top-of-the-line system at a savings of 50% but only until March 25, 2005!

In addition, we are making a limited supply of gFX Pro+ software also available 50% off of the MSRP. GFX Pro+ from Curious Software (www.curious-software.com) provides all of the tools that you need for painting and rotoscoping in a 16-bit effects environment: the most powerful paint engine for moving images; the most sophisticated new roto-matte system; and a superb range of features for wire and rig removal or content restoration. All of these are fully integrated into a resolution independent layered compositing and effects system, with a single intuitive and powerful user interface.

Why all the savings? Because 844/X development has been put on hold by our recent restructuring and, while the Media 100 team is committed to finding a way to move that development forward again, we want to make this exceptional performer as affordable as we can for you. We're also happy to provide savings on complementary products-especially for our enthusiastic fans.

Interested? Call us at (800) 773-1770 or click here to register for more information.

Best Regards,

The Media 100 Team
www.media100.com

* 50% savings based on US list price and US promotional pricing. Great pricing is available worldwide through participating VARs and distributors, but it may vary by region.