SAN JOSE, CA --(Feb. 5, 2001)-- Spruce Technologies, Inc. announced the immediate availability of DVDPerformer, the first professional solution providing complete, integrated DVD Authoring and Encoding for Windows NT. DVDPerformer delivers a new standard with targeted features and affordable pricing to meet the demands of post-production facilities at entertainment companies, corporations and educational institutions worldwide. Spruce fulfilled forty advance orders for DVDPerformer to key customers as of January 31, 2001.

"Spruce's DVDPerformer is a tool without limitations," said Chris Armbrust, chief technology officer at Marin Digital. "From the authoring engine to the user interface, everything is there, and it's so intuitive to DVD production that you can get real work done from day-one."

DVDPerformer offers several feature advantages for fast, professional and cost effective DVD production. These include:

-- Complete, integrated DVD authoring and encoding

-- Real-time hardware-based MPEG encoding with analog inputs

-- Multiple camera angles, eight audio and 32 subtitle tracks

-- Integrated DVD proofing and debugging

-- Superior Web-linked DVD and DVDonCD

-- Cutting Master Format (CMF) for DVD-R to replication

-- Motion menus, slide show and 16:9 support

-- DVD-Video, DVD-ROM and DVD-Hybrid support

"Today's DVD projects are increasingly complex and the stakes are high to turn out Oscar-quality work, yet the pressure is on to reduce production cycles and costs," said Kirk Paulsen, executive vice president, Spruce Technologies, Inc. "DVDPerformer answers these requirements in a single package with a high-productivity authoring environment, a professional caliber feature-set, and an affordable price tag. We're winning the best customers because DVDPerformer frees them to a significant degree from content translation to DVD data structure, so they can focus more fully on DVD content production."

Integrated, Real-time DVD Production

DVDPerformer integrates high-end authoring features and a real-time workhorse MPEG encoder into a single software application with the same powerful yet flexible rules-based software architecture and intuitive user interface found in Spruce's award-winning products such as DVDMaestro. With DVDPerformer, users can encode or re-encode audio and video files, in real-time, at any point in the authoring process, and the files are then imported directly into the project. DVDPerformer's hardware-based Real-time Preview allows users to preview content during the encoding process.

Web-Linked DVD and DVDonCD

With patent-pending SpruceLink technology, users can do more to tap the power of the Internet to create interactive DVD content. An integral part of the DVDPerformer system, SpruceLink lets the author attach URL links to websites or files of any type, to any menu button or chapter point on disc. These URL links are retrieved during playback on a PC, enabling a rich, dynamic, and interactive user experience. DVDPerformer delivers the added capability to master this web-linked DVD content on low-cost CD media, making interactive DVD content available to the market of hundreds of millions of PC owners, regardless of whether or not they have a DVD-ROM drive. Spruce Technologies pioneered this DVDonCD technology, and to date, users have created more interactive web-linked DVD projects with Spruce DVD authoring tools than with all the competitive products combined.

Feature-Rich DVD Authoring

High-level authoring features of DVDPerformer include multiple camera angles, eight audio language tracks, 32 subtitle tracks, motion menus, and slideshow support. Users can preview a project at any time during the authoring process with Spruce's patented RealView technology. DVDPerformer's 30 levels of Undo allow users to create, preview, and revise content as often as needed with flexibility, control, efficiency and speed.

DVDPerformer Availability and Support

DVDPerformer is available immediately from authorized Spruce Technologies dealers worldwide. Customers have the option to purchase DVDPerformer as standalone hardware and software, or as part of a turnkey system, based on their production requirements. Spruce offers customers a variety of technical support options under the SpruceAdvantage program.

About Spruce Technologies, Inc.

Spruce Technologies is a developer and marketer of software and systems for DVD authoring and new media production. Spruce DVD authoring and encoding solutions are a preferred choice among professional users and consumers alike. The Spruce Abstraction Layer (SAL) is Spruce's core media authoring architecture, providing DVD authors with the ultimate combination of productivity, performance and ease of use for even the most complex productions, in virtually any interactive media format. Founded in 1996, Spruce is a privately held company with an established track record of profitable growth. For more information, contact Spruce at 408-861-2200, or visit our Website: http://www.spruce-tech.com.

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