Informix Unveils Media360, the Industry's First End-to-End Media Asset Management Solution.

AMSTERDAM, Holland--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 9, 1999--

Beta Customers and Partners Applaud the Power and Flexibility

of Web-Based, Complete Solution

Making further strides in helping customers solve their complex business problems, Informix(R) Corporation (Nasdaq:IFMX), the technology leader in enterprise database-powered solutions, today announced Media360(TM), an end-to-end media asset management solution designed to help businesses manage their valuable digital assets throughout the enterprise.

Informix's Media360 solution addresses the business problems encountered by every organization that needs to create, store and distribute content. This includes traditional and new media companies, broadcasters, film production, radio, retail, publishing, finance, education, government and brand management organizations.

"Effectively managing media assets is a critical success factor not only for entertainment companies but for a wide variety of Internet-driven firms," said Wayne Kernochan, senior analyst with The Aberdeen Group. "The problem is becoming more complicated due to the growing need for managing digital video, audio, text and images and other documents. Media360 provides an exceptional combination of both breadth and depth for each stage in the media asset lifecycle."

Media360 Features and Benefits

Media360 is an end-to-end solution powered by Informix Internet Foundation.2000(TM), Informix's integrated platform that delivers true object relational technology. Media360 is tightly integrated with leading content creation tools, web publishing, e-commerce and analytic solutions. Media360 makes it easy to find existing content so that it can be re-used -- by creating a central, corporate repository of information -- content and media assets -- and using the web to make that content accessible throughout an organization. It also capitalizes on the Web to create new revenue opportunities -- publishing, distributing, selling or licensing content in new markets.

"Informix has been working with the largest broadcast and publishing companies in the world over the last 18 months to understand their content management requirements," said Carolyn Layne, vice president of the Informix Media Business Group. "We built Media360 from the ground-up to meet the requirements of today's demanding markets and manage the entire workflow of media assets. Media360 was designed to anticipate the needs of our customers now and in the future."

Media360 reduces production costs by making media assets accessible for collaboration, thereby enabling the re-use and efficiencies that are required for complex projects. It generates a faster product cycle by managing all content online and implementing a digital workflow. And it helps preserve information that might deteriorate if it was left on paper, film or tape.

Media360 is designed to be flexible and scaleable. The solution has no limits on the size of the database, number of users, type or complexity of media assets. Because it is based on the Informix Internet Foundation.2000 extensible architecture, it also allows new data types to be created as needed. Media360 integrates media with valuable data in existing hierarchical or relational databases or business processes.

"Media360 links the media tools necessary to create an integrated media asset management environment," said Layne. "We share metadata and content with solutions from a number of key media partners, including Avid, Compaq, EMC, ENPS, Iceni, Intline.com, LuraTech, Media Access Technologies, MCI WorldCom, Omnibus, Optibase, Pro-Bel, SGI, Sintec, Sony, StorageTek, Sun Microsystems, Telemedia, Verity, Virage and Wam!Net."

Media360 Product Suite

The Media360 product suite consists of five modules including the Media360 Core Module, Video/Audio Module, Document Module, Image Module and Compound Document Module. The Media360 Core module is a complete content management system, including automated workflow, metadata management, check-in/check-out, version control, browsing, archive management and Web publishing. With the Media360 Core module, users can manage any kind of media, including video, audio, images, text, office documents and HTML. In addition, users can create custom asset types and asset collections.

The Media360 Video/Audio module adds integration with leading video and audio catalogers to automate the bulk loading of content, and integration with video and audio streaming solutions for content distribution. Later modules will extend Media360 functionality to include extended features for high-end document and image management.

Customers

Media360 was co-developed alongside CNN's "low resolution browse system," and is being beta tested by a wide range of media companies including Weta Digital and Telecinco.

The CNN Solution

For CNN, Informix's media asset management application, based on the Informix Internet Foundation.2000 and DataBlade(R) technology analyzes more than 25 video programs an hour, 24 hours a day. Each video program is viewable and searchable while being processed to meet CNN newsroom's stringent deadlines. The system processes and indexes more than a 12,000 video clips, keyframes, and timecode-indexed textual information each week.

Media360 allows more than 300 CNN editors, writers and producers at three Atlanta-based CNN networks to search and browse video from up to forty simultaneous satellite feeds in real time at their desktops. The Informix solution significantly enhances CNN's ability to leverage their incoming sources and get stories to air faster with the most appropriate content available.

"The massive volume of clips we evaluate for reuse poses quite a challenge to efficiency," said Kevin Ivey, vice president of research and development, basic technology at CNN. "Informix provided a solution that solved our problem of how to best monitor, store, share, edit, and compile critical information. It also allows for new ways to create and present a broad range of digital content, while significantly reducing costs associated with bringing stories to air."

Weta

Weta Ltd., the Southern Hemisphere's premier visual effects facility, will use Media360 to archive and manage up to 1,500 special effect shots that the company will create during the production of Peter Jackson's screen adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings. Weta has created award-winning special effects for films such as CONTACT and The Frighteners.

After closely evaluating competitive products, the company chose Media360 because it needed an end-to-end system that could handle at least 60 terabytes of model, animation, texture and image data that will be produced over the course of the $260 million, three film project.

"The creation of visual effects for film is a very data intensive process," said Jon Labrie, Weta's chief technical officer. "A shot that passes in a mere 5 to 10 seconds may contain dozens, sometimes hundreds of separate image elements-and each of these elements may be the end result of many other operations. The majority of visual effect shots we will produce for Lord of the Rings will be very complex, and will include computer-generated images that interact with human characters. Weta needed an asset management system that is powerful, flexible, and easily extensible. Media360 is the only solution that met all of those criteria. It's in a class by itself."

Approximately 80 Weta artists and 40 production staff will use Media360 to create, manage, and search a library of shots. The Informix system supports complex queries for particular types of shots and images. A key factor in Weta's choice was Media360's object relational capability. Media360's functionality will accommodate Weta's object work model, and allows each department to have a customized view and workflow.

Telecinco

Informix has developed a digital multimedia archive with the Spanish TV Company Telecinco that is at the forefront of digital archive technology. Media360 has enabled Telecinco to gain competitive edge by being one of the very first European broadcasters to exploit its digital video assets online.

Telecinco's archivists and journalists can access video footage and associated operational data with much greater speed and precision, allowing them to use the material more effectively as a result. By deploying this system, Telecinco will also be in the vanguard of companies addressing the needs of future consumer-led video-on-demand services.

"Using this advanced technology, Telecinco has very quickly implemented innovative business processes that allows us to maintain a position at the forefront of European broadcasters," said Jose Luis Romero, director of Telecinco's IT division. "Media360 has improved our work processes and provided great savings in both time and money."

Informix will exhibit Media360 with customer demonstrations throughout the International Broadcasting Conference in the Rai Center, Hall 3, Booth 142.

About Informix

Informix Corporation, based in Menlo Park, Calif., provides innovative database solutions that assist the worlds' major corporations to attain competitive advantage. Informix is widely recognized as the technology leader for corporate computing environments ranging from small workgroups to very large parallel processing applications. Informixs' database server, application development tools, superior customer service, and strong partnerships enable the company to be at the forefront of major information technology solution areas including media and publishing, data warehousing, high performance OLTP, and Web/e-commerce. For more information, contact the sales office nearest you or visit our Web site at www.informix.com.

Note to Editors: The following are trademarks of Informix Corporation or its affiliates, one or more of which may be registered in the U.S. or other jurisdictions: Informix(R), Informix Internet Foundation.2000(TM), DataBlade(R) and Media360(TM).

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