--- Forwarded Message from Michael Bush <[log in to unmask]> ---

>Date: Fri, 06 Jun 2003 13:13:39 -0600
>From: Michael Bush <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: RE: #7173.1 DESTINOS on CDrom (!)
>In-reply-to: <[log in to unmask]>
>Sender: [log in to unmask]
>To: "'Language Learning and Technology International Information Forum'"    <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-to: [log in to unmask]
>Organization: Brigham Young University
>Importance: Normal

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I received an off-line query regarding the information on the DVD
version of Destinos:

> Thanks for announcing this great news. May I ask what source
> materials you used?

I thought others might be interested in the answer:

We used BetaPro masters provided by the video house in Vermont that
handles replication and distribution for Annenberg/CPB.

The MPEG-2 encoding was done using VBR (Variable Bit Rate), two-pass,
digital encoding hardware (MPX-3000: no longer made) from Spruce (since
purchased by Apple) and authored using Spruce DVD Maestro. The graphics
and menus were created by our team at BYU. The subtitles were obtained
from data files created at the Air Force Academy for software created
there to run with Destinos on videodisc. We converted those files and
videodisc frame numbers into a format with SMPTE timecode that could
imported into the DVD authoring system. The Spanish subtitles can be
turned off or on with DVD.

BTW Spruce is one of three or so "professional" DVD authoring systems
that has been created (Sonic Solutions and Scenarist are two others in
the same general category) used by the production houses that service
Hollywood's DVD authoring needs.

Apple purchased Spruce a while back and evidence is appearing that the
purchase is bearing more and more fruit (hopefully lots in DVD Studio
Pro 2). For those who care, Spruce's system that we use runs on Windows
NT 4.0. The company was doing a Windows 2000 version, but with Apple's
purchase of course, it never saw the light of day, although I have heard
of a company that sells DVD Maestro running under Windows 2000.

Cheers,

Michael Bush
Associate Professor of French and
Instructional Psychology and Technology
Brigham Young University
[log in to unmask]
http://zola.byu.edu/digital/