Thursday, November 12, 2009

Sorenson Media Launches Sorenson Squeeze 6

Sorenson Media announced the immediate availability of Sorenson Squeeze 6, a significant update to the gold-standard video encoding software application. Sorenson Squeeze 6 provides the first total workflow solution for video professionals, enabling customers to employ innovative tools - such as email and text notifications and a secure review and approval process - that simplify the overall workflow and allow them to more easily encode and publish their video files on the Internet. Optimized video codecs and new filters have also been added, significantly improving video quality and encoding speed.

Video Management Made Easy
Working in tandem with the Sorenson 360 Video Delivery Network (Sorenson Media’s re-imagined online video publishing platform), Sorenson Squeeze 6 includes a variety of new unique features that make encoding and publishing videos online easier:
- E-mail and Text Notifications. Sorenson Squeeze 6 can now send automatic notifications to clients, colleagues, supervisors, friends or the users themselves via e-mail and text message (SMS) when encoding jobs are completed. With this new feature, users can start an encoding job and walk away, knowing they will be notified immediately when the process is done.
- Review and Approval Workflow. Video professionals can now add their clients’ and supervisors’contact information to Sorenson Squeeze, which will automatically send them secure, password protected videos for review and approval after encoding jobs are completed. This automated workflow is accessible from desktop computer Web browsers as well as the iPhone, enabling busy professionals to review and approve content on the go. After viewing a video, reviewer feedback and comments are immediately sent back to the Squeeze user, thereby streamlining the workflow of today’s video professionals.
- Direct Publishing and Syndication. In addition to seamless publishing to the Sorenson 360 Video Delivery Network, Sorenson Squeeze 6 users can upload high-quality encoded files directly to popular social media sites, such as YouTube and Twitter, as well as to content delivery networks, including Akamai and Limelight.- Enhanced User Interface. The Sorenson Squeeze 6 interface has been re-designed to simplify the video compression workflow and provide easy access to the software’s powerful features, including encoding presets; high-quality audio and video filters; DVD burning tools; and the new review, approval and notification functions.- Complimentary Sorenson 360 Review & Approval Account. Every purchase of Squeeze 6 includes a complimentary one-year Review & Approval account to the Sorenson 360 Video Delivery Network, making Squeeze the first end-to-end encoding and publishing solution.

Higher Quality, Faster Encoding, Expanded Compatibility
Sorenson Squeeze 6 surpasses previous versions of the software in both speed and quality by incorporating and optimizing the latest On2 VP6 and MainConcept H.264 codecs. Internal benchmark tests have shown Sorenson Squeeze 6 is up to 500 percent faster than Sorenson Squeeze 5 when encoding in the H.264 and VP6 formats, both of which are standard formats included with every copy of Squeeze 6. New video filters, including blur, RGB, tint, white balance and timecode, have also been added to improve the quality of any encoded video. New input and output formats have also been added to Sorenson Squeeze 6, including:
- New Input Formats: AVC-Intra and WMV with VC-1 for use in Blu-ray and Microsoft Silverlight
- New Output Formats: AVI, AIFF, DV Stream, Image Sequence, Wave, and WMV with VC-1

To coincide with the release of Squeeze 6, Sorenson Media has also launched an innovative new Preset Exchange, an online repository of professional “video encoding recipes” or presets. The presets in the Exchange have been created by top industry compression experts, thereby providing Squeeze 6 users with direct access to the same encoding tools used by seasoned encoding professionals to get the best quality out of their encoding processes. Because the Preset Exchange is seamlessly integrated with Squeeze 6, users can instantly import new presets into Squeeze by clicking “Install” on the Preset Exchange Web site. Along with previous integration with Avid’s suite of editing applications, Sorenson Squeeze 6 also now works seamlessly with Apple’s Final Cut Pro and iMovie. This process significantly improves workflow times by eliminating the need for cumbersome exporting and importing between applications and enables users to tap into the powerful Squeeze feature set directly from their favorite editing software.