Cutting-Edge DVD Producer to Create Instant DVD Title During NetAid Performance Using Spruce DVDMaestro.

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 8, 1999--

Spruce Technologies and DVD producer Phil Martino have teamed up to bring instant DVD authoring to NetAid, a musical event being held October 9 to raise public awareness of world poverty.

The event is sponsored by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Cisco Systems (NASDAQ: CSCO).

NetAid will be simultaneously broadcast and netcast from three different stages -- Giants Stadium in New Jersey, Wembley Stadium in London, and The Opera House in Geneva. Throughout the event, artists at all three venues will perform simultaneously. NetAid is expected to be one of the world's most widely broadcast programs ever for social change.

Spruce has provided two DVDStation-MX authoring stations, complete with DVDMaestro authoring software and the new MPX-3000 MPEG video and audio encoding board. Using the Spruce systems, Martino and his team will undertake the daunting task of capturing and logging every song and performance from every camera position at all three venues during the 15-hour event. Each song will be individually tagged with an MTV-style identification. The team will then transform this material into playable DVD titles within 24 hours.

"We are pushing the edges of DVD authoring at this event, so we need a system that is technically efficient and highly reliable," explaineD Martino. "Spruce's DVDMaestro is enabling us to take on this immense project with the confidence that the final product will be high-quality and on time."

The DVDs produced by Martino's team will be played the following day in a video juke box at the Cisco Systems booth at the Telecom 99 show (booth 7182) being held October 10-17 at the Palexpo Center in Geneva. A motion menu on the DVD will feature the three stages and a backstage area, enabling viewers to access any of the performances or songs immediately.

"DVDMaestro is really the key to making this type of rapid production possible. The system is the most intuitive and user-friendly we have come in contact with. It literally lets you work as fast as you think," continued Martino. "The interface is so interactive that it almost pulls you through the project by putting even the most sophisticated functions at your fingertips.

"We'll be able to design our menus, set our chapters, add in the titles, and most importantly, we'll preview and test the whole project as we go along. The beauty of DVDMaestro is that even in a pressure cooker situation like NetAid with less than 24 hours of production time, we know that DVDMaestro will enable us to do great work."

"The power and simple elegance of the DVDMaestro authoring application combined with the quality of the encoding from the MPX-3000 make immediate turnaround of high-quality titles a reality," said Bob Stockwell, Director of Marketing Communications for Spruce Technologies. "Spruce is excited to be associated with an event of this importance and to be contributing to its legacy."

Martino is a live television producer and director based in Northern California with extensive worldwide experience and credits. He has been one of the West Coast's most innovative producers of DVD titles over the past two years and has used every major DVD authoring software on the market.

Performers at Net Aid include Bono, Bryan Ferry, Bush, Counting Crows, David Bowie, Sheryl Crow, Puff Daddy, Busta' Rhymes, Mary J. Blige, Sting, and more.

For more information about NetAid, visit www.netaid.org.

About Spruce Technologies, Inc.

Spruce Technologies develops and markets DVD authoring software and MPEG encoders for the corporate, new media, and entertainment markets. Based in San Jose, Spruce combines the best Silicon Valley software expertise with extensive DVD, MPEG and video postproduction knowledge.

For more information, contact Spruce at 408/861-2200. Additional information about Spruce is also available on the World Wide Web at: http://www.spruce-tech.com.

Note to Editors: Spruce Technologies, Inc., Spruce, DVDMaestro, and DVDStation are trademarks of Spruce Technologies, Inc. Other company and product names are trademarks of their respective owners and may be registered in certain jurisdictions.