Sonic Foundry Releases Stream Anywhere

Sonic Foundry, Inc. (Nasdaq: SOFO), a leading developer and marketer of media authoring tools for the Windows[R] platform, today announced the release of Stream Anywhere[TM], its robust, all-in-one media authoring tool for converting audio and video for Web streaming applications.

The powerful yet simple-to-use Stream Anywhere allows both novices and experienced Web developers to quickly and easily prepare audio, video, and synchronized metadata for distribution over the Internet. A truly comprehensive solution, Stream Anywhere fully supports the entire authoring process, from video capture through publishing of the final streaming program in a complete Web page layout. With this versatile media authoring tool, users now indeed have one-stop access to all of the essential video and audio pre-processing operations for re-purposing video content for Web streaming.

Stream Anywhere is unique in its ability to encode multimedia content in either the Microsoft Windows Media Technologies 4.0 or the RealNetworks RealSystem G2 format in a single operation. Media content can either be captured directly from camera or tape or imported in several popular file formats such as AVI, Apple QuickTime, MPEG-1, and MP3. Multiple bit rate encoding is fully supported as well, allowing the user to save a single media file that is capable of adapting to the bandwidth available on the client's media player.

Based on Sonic Foundry's VEGAS[TM] technology, a completely new software architecture optimized for multimedia content creation and streaming media authoring applications, Stream Anywhere features an advanced user interface with a visual timeline for trimming the video clip or synchronizing metadata events to audio and video. In addition, simple processing options optimize the video and audio quality prior to encoding to streaming formats, and as a final touch, an image watermark can overlay a personalized logo graphic prior to encoding the streaming video.

To complete the video conversion to Web streaming, the media player layout is selected and refined as needed, and is then ready for use on a personal home page or streaming media server. Users of Microsoft FrontPage[TM] in particular will find encoded media files already arranged as FrontPage components, ready to be selected and dropped into the Web page design. The versatility of Stream Anywhere makes it an ideal solution for Web development, distance learning and training, personal Web publishing, as well as on-demand Internet broadcasting. To ensure optimum ease-of-use, the software guides the user through each step in the process of authoring streaming media for distribution over the Internet or a corporate Intranet.

At The Weather Channel[R] the multimedia team has implemented the media authoring tool for the popular Web site, weather.com. "Stream Anywhere gives us the flexibility we need to work with the multiple media types we use," said Dan Scherer, Project Manager for Video and Broadband Content. "With this software, we can now streamline our production and use the customization feature to best suit the needs of weather.com."

"Stream Anywhere offers Web developers an efficient authoring environment where they can immediately utilize many of the advanced streaming media features incorporated within both Microsoft Windows Media Technologies 4.0 and RealNetworks RealSystem G2," said Curtis Palmer, Chief Technology Officer for Sonic Foundry. "With the formal release of Stream Anywhere, developers now have access to a single, easy-to-use tool that can handle the entire authoring process, from capturing the video all the way through publishing the Web page layout."

About The Weather Channel

The Weather Channel, Inc., based in Atlanta, is the nation's premier provider of weather information. The only 24-hour international weather network, The Weather Channel is seen in more than 72 million homes nationwide. The Weather Channel Web site, weather.com, is one of the fastest growing sites on the Internet and the world's leading source of weather on the Web. Weather.com offers forecasts for more than 70,000 locations worldwide and features special lifestyle sections and online services that leverage both wireless and broadband platforms to create a one-of-a-kind online experience. Weather.com averages more than 130 million page views per month and is consistently ranked the top single-content news site by Media Metrix. Its marketing and distribution relationships include America Online, AOL.COM, CompuServe, iVillage, MindSpring, AOL's Digital City, and LookSmart; wireless alliances including GTE Airfone, Nokia, AT&T Wireless, Road Runner, SkyTel, and Palm Computing. The Weather Channel is owned by Landmark Communications, Inc., a Norfolk, Virginia-based, privately held media company with global interests.