Gold Disk Inc. Set To Ship Astound 2.0 For Windows; Astound 2.0 Comes Bundled With Astound Studio Providing Users A Full Suite of Presentation Editing Tools.SANTA CLARA Santa Clara, city, Cuba Santa Clara (sän`tä klä`rä), city (1994 est. pop. 217,000), capital of Villa Clara prov., central Cuba. , Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 31, 1995--Gold Disk Inc., publishers of leading multimedia presentation technology and consumer productivity software, Monday announced that the company will ship version 2.0 of its award winning multimedia presentation software, Astound a·stound tr.v. a·stound·ed, a·stound·ing, a·stounds To astonish and bewilder. See Synonyms at surprise. [From Middle English astoned, past participle of astonen, for Windows. Bundled with Astound 2.0 is Astound Studio, a collection of separate editors, each of which can manipulate a particular media format for use in an Astound presentation. Together, they address all of the media elements that can be used in an Astound presentation: sound, digital video, animation, photo images, and structured graphics. "This past year has seen a huge technology shift bringing powerful computer technology into the lives of new users. The first version of Astound is a perfect example of a software program that dramatically empowers all levels of presenters, impacting how they communicate with each other in the classroom, in board meetings and in front of audiences," said Kailash Ambwani, CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. and president of Gold Disk. "Astound 2.0 for Windows is a natural evolution of our power-with-ease philosophy raising the benchmark by which all presentation software is evaluated." Astound 2.0 for Windows now incorporates features such as Editable Handout Masters, New Chart Types, and Simplified Text Editing The ability to change text by adding, deleting and rearranging letters, words, sentences and paragraphs. Text editing is the main operation users perform in word processors, which typically also handle graphics and other multimedia files. See text editor and word processing. . Additional new features include: Astound Media Manager, a Slideshow Optimizer, a Slideshow Control Panel, and control over external devices such as laser disc players via MCI (1) (Media Control Interface) A high-level programming interface from Microsoft and IBM for controlling multimedia devices. It provides commands and functions to open, play and close the device. (2) (Microwave Communications Inc. scripting and enhanced interactivity. Who Will Use Astound? Astound 2.0 for Windows is an ideal solution for anyone who needs to create presentations, any kind of presentation. Even presenters who are not ready to use multimedia on a regular basis can benefit from Astound. "The wall between traditional presentation tools and multimedia presentation tools is officially torn down with the announcement of Astound 2.0," continued Ambwani. "Our goal in designing a product like this is to create a communications environment that eliminates the fear of using multiple mediums. The result is a natural and easy way for users to embrace new technology at their own pace." The range of Astound 1.5 users is fairly broad. One end of the spectrum includes your average presenter who has not yet integrated multimedia into their presentations, but wants to start doing so. At the other end, Astound appeals to multimedia developers who will use Astound in a more sophisticated manner. Astound is becoming an important communication tool in a variety of environments. The range of users for Astound include: Business presenters giving on screen presentations; creators of multimedia kiosks, marketing and demonstration disks; educators looking to improve the delivery of classroom materials; corporations wanting to standardize stan·dard·ize v. 1. To cause to conform to a standard. 2. To evaluate by comparing with a standard. the way they present corporate information to employees as well as customers; developers who want to create sophisticated multimedia presentations without additional scripting and programming; and training firms for use in their classrooms and in the development of interactive training and sales materials. New features in Astound 2.0 for Windows include: Astound Media Manager The Astound Media Manager has been created in response to user requests for easier access and storage of reusable clip art A set of canned images used to illustrate word processing and desktop publishing documents. , animations and videos. Users can catalog, organize and preview clip media, templates, presentations and more. By searching for the right file by keyword, category or file type users can drag and drop A graphical user interface (GUI) capability that lets you perform operations by moving the icon of an object with the mouse into another window or onto another icon. For example, files can be copied or moved by dragging them from one folder to another. any multimedia file directly into their presentation at any time. Slideshow Optimizer Astound's Slideshow optimizer automatically analyzes the user's presentation, then suggests "fixes" for improving its performance. An explanation for each suggested change is available, and the Optimizer can make the change for you automatically. Simplified Text Editing To make presentation creation and delivery even easier, Astound 2.0 allows for automatic formatting of text imported into the product's outliner An outliner is a special text editor that allows text to be structured as an outline. Outliners are typically used for computer programming, collecting or organizing ideas, Getting Things Done, or project management. , and highlighted text builds, in which text points under discussion can transition into place in a variety of colors not of the white race; - commonly meaning, esp. in the United States, of negro blood, pure or mixed. See also: Color and fade out when the next discussion point is introduced. New Chart Types Astound 2.0 for Windows has extensive new charting capabilities including support for bubble charts A chart that uses bubble-like symbols often used to depict data flow diagrams. , spider plots, and pictograms. There are even combination charts which allow users to plot different data series to different chart types. Astound 2.0 for Windows also lets you replace traditional charting elements like bars and lines with moving pictures, eye-popping special effects special effects, in motion pictures, cinematographic techniques that create illusions in the audience's minds as well as the illusions created using these techniques. and high-impact 3D charts that bounce, tumble and grow. Slideshow Control Panel An on screen control panel designed for use during presentation playback gives the presenter control over playback sequence, speed, volume, of their presentation. Through the control panel, presenters can easily access other Astound features such as notation pens or screen black-out. Sound and Multimedia Features Astound 2.0 for Windows now includes new features to allow for easier incorporation of multimedia elements. These include: the ability to add sound effects sound effects Noun, pl sounds artificially produced to make a play, esp. a radio play, more realistic sound effects npl → efectos mpl sonoros and music that continue across multiple slides, the ability to add sound to transitions, the ability to add MCI objects which will trigger any user-defined MCI script at the appropriate point in the timeline (used for controlling laser discs, video cards, sound cards and other external devices), and slide markers that allow users to label specific times during the slide duration for purposes of jumping to these points. Greater Interactivity Expanded interactivity options include users now being able to toggle To alternate back and forth between two states. toggle - To change a bit from whatever state it is in to the other state; to change from 1 to 0 or from 0 to 1. This comes from "toggle switches", such as standard light switches, though the word "toggle" actually refers to object timelines on and off, jumping to slide markers, launching other applications, and controlling video playback. Astound Studio Astound Studio is being bundled with Astound 2.0 for Windows, a $300 value, for a limited time. Astound Studio was created to allow users to have complete control over the quality of the media they use in their presentations. The following is a listing of each of the editors: -0-
-- Astound Sound: The sound editor allows users to record,
edit, cut and paste and even combine .WAV-format sound files for
use in a presentation.
-- Astound Image: The image editor allows users to scan,
retouch, resize and add special effects to photo images.
-- Astound Actor: An Actor is a cel animation consisting of a
sequence of images that, when played in succession, simulate
movement. The actor editor allows users to create or edit their
own actors, or to edit the actors that are included with Astound
for use in their presentation.
-- Astound Video: Astound Video allows users to edit their
video with this built-in digital video editor. Users can
manipulate existing footage by trimming existing footage,
adding clips together with transitions and adding special
effects.
-- Astound Animator: Based on Gold Disk's Animation Works
Interactive software, the animation editor provides the ability
to create complete, self-contained, animated "movies" that can
be played within an Astound presentation (using Astound Video)
or on their own.
-- Astound Draw: Astound features 20 different drawing tools for
quickly creating structured graphics in a presentation.
However, for creating more complex graphics with greater
control, Astound Draw allows users to design presentation
elements with powerful drawing tools, add fancy text effects, or
even blend two objects into an animated morph.
System Requirements To be used efficiently, all computer software needs certain hardware components or other software resources to be present on a computer system. These pre-requisites are known as (computer) system requirements and are often used as a guideline as opposed to an absolute rule. Astound 2.0 for Windows minimum requirements: IBM compatible (computer) IBM compatible - A computer which can use hardware and software designed for the IBM PC (or, less often, IBM mainframes). This was once a key phrase in marketing a new PC clone but now in 1998 is rarely used, the non-IBM wintel personal computer manufacturers such 386 processor with 4MB RAM running Windows 3.1 and a VGA monitor An analog display screen that accepts VGA signals from the computer. See VGA and display adapter. , 8MB is required to run Astound and Astound Studio. Windows-compatible sound card is required for sound. CD-ROM drive A device that holds and reads CD-ROM discs. CD-ROM drives generally also play audio CD discs by sending analog sound to the sound card via a 4-pin cable. For specifications of 10x, 20x, etc. drives, see CD-ROM drives. See CD-ROM, CD-ROM changer, CD-ROM server and CD-ROM audio cable. necessary to access bonus clipmedia CD. Shipping, Pricing and Availability Astound will ship in the Q1 of 1995 and retails for $249.95. It will be carried by national distributors including: Ingram Micro Ingram Micro, Inc. NYSE: IM a Fortune 100 company founded in 1979 and based in Santa Ana, California. It is the world’s largest technology distributor and a leading technology sales, marketing and logistics company. , Merisel, TechData, and will be available through all major retailers. Registered Astound 1.5 users can upgrade to the new version of Astound for $79.95. Users of Microsoft PowerPoint, Lotus Freelance Graphics A presentation graphics program for Windows from IBM Lotus that is also part of the Lotus SmartSuite set of applications. , Harvard Graphics Popular presentation graphics programs for DOS and Windows marketed and supported by Serif Incorporated, Amherst, NH (www.serif.com). Originally created by Software Publishing Corporation, its DOS version was one of the first business graphics packages to allow for the creation of , Action!, Director, Aldus Persuasion An earlier desktop presentation program for the Mac, acquired from Aldus by Adobe. Persuasion was used to create output for overheads, handouts, speaker notes and film recorders and provided sophisticated transition features, such as fades and swipes. , Charisma, and Compel, can purchase a competitive upgrade for $99.95. The competitive upgrade will be available through all major retailers. Company Background Gold Disk, Inc., founded in 1984, produces award-winning multimedia presentation tools and personal productivity products. Other Gold Disk products include: Astound for Macintosh, VideoDirector for Macintosh and Windows, Professional Draw, Animation Works Interactive, Animation Works for Macintosh and Windows, and ScreenCraze II. Gold Disk is privately held and is based in Santa Clara, with international offices in Canada and the United Kingdom. -0- Note to Editors: More in-depth technical information, screen shots, and product box shots are available upon request. CONTACT: Gold Disk Inc., Santa Clara Neil Snyder 408/982-0200 ext. 128 or Michaela Brehm 408/982-0200 ext. 124 |
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