Leading Developers Join New Avid MetaSync Program

Technology vendors create new revenue opportunities for customers by linking metadata to video and audio tracks in Avid editing systems

NAB 2002, Las Vegas, NV - April 7, 2002 - Avid Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ: AVID) today announced that six leading technology developers have joined the new Avid® MetaSync™ Developers Program. These early adopters include Chyron, WatchPoint Media, GoldPocket Interactive, Final Draft, Envivio, and Fuze3 Technologies. The developers will integrate their solutions with MetaSync, Avid's patent-pending technology that allows users to synchronize virtually any kind of metadata with video and audio during the postproduction process. Avid is identifying developers for the program with input from key industry leaders, including Microsoft Corporation and OpenTV.

The Avid MetaSync capability is a standard feature within Windows-based versions of Avid Symphony™ v4.0, Media Composer® v11.0, Film Composer v11.0, Media Station XL v11.0, Avid Xpress® v5.0, and NewsCutter® v3.0 products. Together with its MetaSync developers, Avid is enabling postproduction professionals to tap into new revenue streams, such as closed captioning and subtitling text insertion, interactive TV content delivery and "converging media" applications (e.g. motion simulation rides, theatrical effects and children's toys that react to embedded triggers within standard film, video and television content).

"With MetaSync, synchronizing metadata with video is now as easy as marking 'in' and 'out' points on a clip. A host of new capabilities are now at the fingertips of more than 75,000 trained Avid editors worldwide," said Ray Gilmartin, senior product manager for Avid's postproduction products. "From meeting the immediate demands of closed captioning and subtitling insertion, to enabling entirely new forms of interactive entertainment, MetaSync allows video editors to be more productive and increases profit-generating opportunities for postproduction facilities."

The underlying foundation for the MetaSync capability is based on the open Advanced Authoring Format (AAF). As long as a file type or process can be represented in XML, it can now be imported into Avid's editing systems and synchronized with video and audio content. Using the MetaSync capability, the file can be launched in its original format from within the Avid system, where it can be viewed or updated with any changes instantly reflected in the timeline and bin.

Until now, a separate team would work on the metadata elements of a program remotely while the Avid editor assembled the standard video and audio elements. With the MetaSync capability, the Avid editor, connected to a LAN or WAN, can edit the metadata directly into the "Meta Track" of a sequence during the postproduction process. The editor can then provide real-time feedback to the metadata content developers while they continue working on their content. Using the refresh capabilities in MetaSync, the Avid editor can update the metadata elements of a show as they are refined and suggest changes based on how well this data is working within the program.

Avid's early adopter MetaSync developers include:

Chyron
Winners of Digital TV magazine's "Pick of Show" at NAB 2001 for their interactive TV solutions, Chyron Corporation has long been established as a leading innovator in the development of broadcast technology for the creation of on-air graphics, dynamic information delivery, content management and distribution. Lyric iTV, Chyron's premier television graphics software, enables the creation of interactive TV interfaces and graphics as well as iTV playout. Lyric iTV supports a wide variety of set-top box environments, including Microsoft TV, Liberate, AOL.TV, OpenTV, Sony, and LG.
WatchPoint Media
WatchPoint Media, Inc. is a provider of multimedia interactive authoring tools. Their flagship product, StoryTeller, empowers content creators to visually program sophisticated interactive experiences in the StoryTeller environment, and then publish to multiple interactive television, web, and DVD ROM platforms. By making StoryTeller's interactive timeline and frame synchronous technology interoperable with the Avid MetaSync capability, StoryTeller authors and Avid editors will now work simultaneously to produce contextual interactive content in a creative and cost-effective environment.
GoldPocket Interactive
GoldPocket Interactive is the leading U.S. provider of two-way iTV programming for set-top boxes and PCs. The company's technologies and tools make iTV content production and distribution more efficient and economical. GoldPocket's XML-based iTV triggering system's ability to interface with the Avid MetaSync capability enables Avid editors to add interactivity to programming during the postproduction process. § Final Draft Final Draft, the world's #1-selling scriptwriting software, now contains a special export function to Avid's program sequences. This function within Final Draft enables all of the characters' dialogue in a script to be easily transferred to automatically generate closed captioning and subtitling text.
Envivio
Envivio, the market leader of MPEG-4 solutions, offers software tools to author, deliver and playback content on multiple devices, including the set top box, PC and wireless handheld. By using the Envivio software tools with the Avid MetaSync capability, authors can easily import metadata into Envivio Broadcast Studio, the world's first and most advanced MPEG-4 authoring tool.
Fuze3 Technologies
Fuze3 provides chipsets and encoding capabilities to create media convergence devices. The FuzeLink MicroDecoder Processors can "hear" data embedded in the audio signal of any TV or radio broadcast. Fuze3 is pursuing two key applications. The first is the FuzeLink virtual bookmarking device, which with the touch of a button, can remember the data codes embedded in broadcast content and create a "bookmark" to that content across the Internet. The second is the enabling of media interactive toys. Other consumer devices can also be enabled, making the creative possibilities endless. The FuzeLink Encoder Plug-in for Avid systems allows this capability to be incorporated into video projects during the postproduction process.

"With roughly 90 percent of primetime television shows currently edited on its systems, Avid is the ideal partner for our efforts to increase the adoption of interactive television," said Bill Hendler, vice president, Interactive TV for Chyron Corporation. "We want to make the creation of interactive content a natural part of the storytelling process. Now, anyone who knows how to use an Avid system can add interactive components to traditional programming."

About the Avid MetaSync™ Program:
Officially launching at NAB 2002, The MetaSync Program is designed to assist third parties in adding support for the Avid MetaSync capability to their products. The MetaSync Program offers companies and facilities access to the tools and engineering support they need to successfully adapt their products to output and import XML-based metadata compatible with Avid MetaSync technology.
Additional MetaSync Program information can be found at www.Avid.com/MetaSync. Details and registration information for the Avid MetaSync Program are available by e-mailing Avid at MetaSync@avid.com.

Availability and Pricing
The MetaSync capability will be a standard feature with the upcoming releases of Symphony v4.0, Media Composer v11.0, Film Composer v11.0, Media Station XL v11.0, Avid Xpress v5.0 and NewsCutter v3.0 systems. These new versions are scheduled to ship in Q2 2002. For pricing and upgrade information, please see the "Major Releases of Symphony, Media Composer, Film Composer and Avid Xpress Offer More Than 100 New Enhancements at Lowest Upgrade Prices Ever" and "Avid Announces Newest Versions within NewsCutter Family" press releases, available at www.avid.com/pressroom.

About Avid Technology, Inc.
Avid Technology, Inc. delivers the solutions that Make, Manage and Move Media. As a recognized digital standard for professionals who Make the world's media -- from video, audio and film to animation, special effects and streaming media -- Avid's products are used to make more television and news shows, commercials, music videos and CDs, corporate/industrial productions and major motion pictures combined than any other nonlinear editing manufacturer in the world. Building on its award-winning heritage, which includes a Grammy® and several Emmy® awards as well as an Oscar® statuette representing the 1998 Scientific and Technical Award for the concept, design and engineering of the Avid Film Composer system for motion picture editing, Avid is extending its reach by redefining how digital media is shared, stored and distributed. To Manage today's increasingly rich collection of dynamic media, Avid provides powerful servers, networks and media tools to help customers search files, share media and collaborate on new productions, both locally and globally. Avid's solutions also empower users to easily Move media, whether on air, over cable or satellite or through the Internet. Like no other media company today, Avid's end-to-end solutions span the continuum of media creation, management and distribution. The company's corporate headquarters are located in Tewksbury, MA. More information about Avid is available at www.avid.com.

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© 2002 Avid Technology, Inc. All rights reserved. Product specifications and availability are subject to change without notice. All prices are USMSRP for U.S. and Canada only and are subject to change without notice. Contact your local Avid office or reseller for prices outside the U.S. and Canada. Avid, Media Composer, Make, Manage and Move Media, Film Composer, Symphony, MetaSync, NewsCutter and Avid Xpress are either registered trademarks or trademarks in the United States and/or other countries. Oscar is a registered trademark and service mark of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Emmy is a registered trademark of ATAS/NATAS. Grammy is a trademark of The National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, Inc. All other trademarks contained herein are the property of their respective owners.

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Envivio
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