blu-print
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Sony releases Blu-print 6 software for mastering Blu-ray 3D movies
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs on Blu-ray 3D doesn't make its retail debut until next week, but you can get a taste of the tools used to make it right now, as Sony has announced the availability of its Blu-print 6 and Z Depth software packages. The latest version of Blu-print adds "Profile 5" (read: 3D) authoring compliance to its list of features, integrating all the offset metadata for 3D menus and working with MVC encoded video, while adding a few non-3D features like new DTS-HD encoding support and Windows Vista 64-bit compatibility. Z Depth's job is keeping subtitles properly aligned in 3D, just one of the new issues that need to be dealt with in these discs. No word on a price tag, but judging by the initial version's $50,000 retail value, we're figuring if you have to ask...
Sony rolls out $55k professional BAE-VX1000 Blu-ray disc encoding system
With the aim of putting making Blu-ray accessible for smaller studios, Sony Creative Software has released the BAE-VX1000 encoder for disc authoring. $55,000 buys a system capable of analyzing a film automatically and offering multiple bit rate versions to be compared later, or frame by frame encoding. The finished product comes out in either h.264 or MPEG-2 form (what, no VC-1?) and it works on varying setups from one to many PCs or servers depending on what a studio can afford. Of course, it's the perfect match for Sony's Blu-print software (now up to version 4.3) or other authoring applications, we'll wait for prices to get a bit more affordable before cranking out the next Behind the Scenes at CES boxed set, but for the pros it might be worth it to get the same tools Sony Pictures uses.
Sony releases Blu-Print Blu-ray authoring software
If you're interested in making Blu-ray discs like the big boys, Sony's own Blu-Print software is now available for the low, low price of $50,000 per license (there's also a 30-day free trial available if you really need a test-run first). Unfortunately they didn't note which codecs are available yet, but you can use the software to add all the BD-J interactive features and popup menus you could ever want. The software is Windows-only, and we're sure if spending $750 to $1000 or more on the necessary burner makes sense to you that this package is well within your price range.[Via DV Guru]
