Pinnacle spins out consumer HD DVD authoring software

Tewksbury (MA) - Looking to target the true HD DVD enthusiasts, Pinnacle Systems today introduced a platform for general consumers to create their own HD DVDs with full HD motion menus and high-definition video authoring.

The HD DVD Authoring Pack is available to consumers who already own Pinnacle Studio Plus and have a DVD burner for their computer. Since the program uses a normal DVD burner, the resulting discs are essentially short duration HD DVDs.

All high-definition video uploaded to Pinnacle Studio will retain the full resolution to ensure output of true HD when burned to an HD DVD, according to Pinnacle. Standard definition video will be upsampled to HD.

Jeff Hastings, general manager at Pinnacle Systems, said, "Given the growing availability and popularity of HD devices, such as camcorders, DVD players, televisions and wide screen monitors, it’s only natural that people who are creating videos in high-definition want to show their movies to friends in full resolution HD."

The HD DVD authoring pack is available as an online purchase/download from the Pinnacle Studio Plus application, and carries a price tag of $50.