Avid Empowers Filmmakers at 2004 Sundance Film Festival; Company collaborates with HP and Microsoft to educate filmmakers on cutting-edge digital production methods.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

TEWKSBURY, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 14, 2004

For the 10th consecutive year, Avid Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ: AVID) is showcasing its latest products and innovations for digital filmmaking at the Sundance Film Festival, to be held in Park City, Utah, January 15-24. Together with HP and Microsoft, Avid will educate filmmakers and festival attendees on easy and affordable all-digital postproduction workflows using the powerful combination of Avid Xpress(R) Pro software with the Avid Mojo(TM) accelerator, as well as the revolutionary Media Composer(R) Adrenaline(TM) system.

"We are delighted that Avid is a sponsor of the 2004 Sundance Film Festival. For over a decade, the company has also played a key role at the Sundance Institute's Filmmakers Lab and Producers Conference, and we are proud of the ongoing relationship," said Ian Calderon, director of Digital Initiatives for the Sundance Institute. "Avid continues to develop new creative tools for independent filmmakers, such as Avid Xpress Pro, and this year will demonstrate a range of products at the Digital Center's Workshop Area. It's clear that Avid offers robust products and solutions tailored to meet the creative and budgetary needs of the independent filmmaking community."

Michael Phillips, principal product designer for Avid, commented, "Sundance is a great opportunity to interact with talented filmmakers who want to push the boundaries of technology to find faster and more affordable ways to create high-quality projects. We think independent filmmakers will be excited to learn that they can use Avid Xpress Pro and Media Composer Adrenaline to handle almost any filmmaking workflow imaginable - regardless of whether they're ultimately screening their projects in film, DV, HD or other digital cinema formats."

Throughout the 2004 Sundance Film Festival, attendees will have the opportunity to learn more about Avid(R) solutions at the following:

Avid Display Area - Digital Center, Park City (January 16 - 23)

The Avid Display Area will feature two Avid Xpress Pro software stations - one running on an HP Workstation xw4100 and the other on a Power Mac G5 - as well as a Media Composer Adrenaline system running on an HP Workstation xw8000. Demonstrations will include how to capture media with a Panasonic AG-DVX 100 camera, digitize the media into an Avid solution, edit the raw footage at 24p, and then encode the finished product to Windows Media Video 9 - a component of the Windows Media 9 Series platform.

Hands-on Avid/HP/Microsoft Filmmaking Lab - Digital Center, Park City (January 17 - 22)

Held four times daily, this introductory workshop will focus on Avid Xpress Pro software powered by HP Workstation xw4100 systems. In addition to an overview of the Avid Xpress Pro feature set, the sessions plan to cover workflows for film, HD, and DV using Panasonic AG-DVX 100 and SDX 900 cameras. Instructors intend to explain how to prepare assets for a negative cutlist, conform an offline project to HD, and encode for progressive DVD authoring using Sonic ReelDVD, which comes bundled with the Avid Xpress Pro software.

HP Creation Studio - Digital Center, Park City (January 16 - 22)

The HP Creation Studio intends to highlight the benefits of using Avid Xpress Pro software running on HP Workstation xw4100 systems and Avid's Media Composer Adrenaline system running on HP Workstation xw8000 systems. Editors plan to demonstrate these powerful solutions using scenes from the independent film "Johnny Slade's Greatest Hits," which was shot in 35mm and is still in production, as well as "November," which was shot in DV.

The filmmakers for "November," an official 2004 Sundance Film Festival dramatic competition selection, completed their film using an innovative, all-digital process with both the Avid Xpress Pro and Avid Media Composer Adrenaline systems - two members of the new Avid DNA family. The crew shot in DV, used Avid Xpress Pro as a mobile editing solution on the set, and then transferred all their media to Media Composer Adrenaline, their primary offline editing system. Once the project was finished on the Media Composer Adrenaline system, the output was converted to HD for film-out. In addition, it was compressed to Windows Media Video 9 for digital screening. This digital workflow represents a cost-effective new option for independent filmmakers seeking to retain high-quality images throughout the production process.

About Avid Technology, Inc.

Avid Technology, Inc. is the world leader in digital nonlinear media creation, management and distribution solutions, enabling film, video, audio, animation, games, and broadcast news professionals to work more efficiently, productively, and creatively. For more information about the company's Oscar(R), Grammy(R), and Emmy(R) award-winning products and services, please visit: www.avid.com.

(C) 2004 Avid Technology, Inc. All rights reserved. Product features, specifications, system requirements, and availability are subject to change without notice. Avid, Avid DNA, Film Composer, Media Composer, Adrenaline, Avid Mojo, and Avid Xpress are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Avid Technology, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries. Avid received an Oscar statuette representing the 1998 Scientific and Technical Award for the concept, design and engineering of the Avid Film Composer(R) system for motion picture editing. Oscar is a 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 and Sciences, Inc. All other trademarks contained herein are the property of their respective owners.