Solana Beach, Calif., November 14, 2006 – CineForm^®, Inc. and Wafian™ Corporation today announced that Xbox 360™, the videogame and entertainment system from Microsoft, has selected the Wafian HR-1 direct-to-disk recorder running CineForm Intermediate™ image processing software as part of its production workflow to bring standard and high-definition TV shows and movies to Xbox Live^®  Marketplace in the U.S. 

Beginning November 22^nd, Xbox 360 gamers can access standard and high-definition content available for download using the VC1 compression format.  The originating content, which derives from various tape and disk-based sources, is first pre-processed using advanced CineForm Intermediate software running on the HR-1.  The processing includes adaptable inverse telecine algorithms to remove duplicate fields, plus optional deinterlacing and spatial image resampling.  The result is a 10-bit CineForm Intermediate file that is archived for future use, and is also used as the source for coding into the VC1 distribution format. 

“Our need to prepare the first 1000 hours of content before launch on November 22nd placed big demands on our project team,” said Scott Stacey, Program Manager for Xbox Live Content Distribution.  “The high quality bar of our HD and SD video delivery, combined with the need for super fast turn-around required us to invent a new content creation workflow.  As we evaluated multiple options, it soon became apparent that the high visual quality and comprehensive feature integration delivered by the CineForm-Wafian solution provided the best workflow for our demanding requirements”.

“It’s exciting to play an important role in an industry-leading program like Xbox Live Marketplace”, said David Taylor, CEO of CineForm, “but our development clock was running from the first phone call.  To meet the aggressive Xbox Live production schedule, we needed to quickly develop new features for our CineForm Intermediate software and successfully integrate them into the HR-1. But we couldn’t be happier with the result – we’re now well prepared to support the industry’s growing need for content reformatting, archiving, and delivery.”

“We’re excited to have HR-1 recorders play a key role in the Xbox Live Marketplace ingest process”, said Jeff Youel, President of Wafian Corporation.  “The HR-1 platform provides a powerful and flexible tool for ingesting hours of HD and SD video into the superior CineForm Intermediate format.  Unique features like record triggers, real-time inverse telecine and SD de-interlacing developed in partnership with CineForm, make the HR-1-based workflow compelling, simple and efficient.”

About CineForm and CineForm Intermediate

CineForm, Inc., located in Solana Beach, California, develops software products for use by media professionals in high-resolution acquisition and post-production applications. Powered by CineForm Intermediate, CineForm's acclaimed products provide unmatched visual quality and real-time performance within an editing environment while enabling an online compressed digital intermediate workflow that runs on affordable Windows desktop PCs. For more information, contact CineForm at 858-345-2645, or visit CineForm’s website at www.cineform.com.

About Wafian and the HR-1

Wafian Corporation, located in Solana Beach, California, creates Direct-to-Disk HD video recorders to enable affordable, high quality, and efficient workflows for the film and broadcast markets.  The Wafian HR-1 is the first 10-bit Direct-to-Disk HD Video Recorder using the award winning CineForm Intermediate format.  For more information about Wafian Corporation, visit their website at www.wafian.com or call 858-863-4166.