Sony Computer Entertainment has announced new UMD-Video authoring software called "UMD Composer." It creates UMD disc images, and consists of the following components:
Stream Composer: Audio/video/subtitle encoding, multiplexing, Clip Info creation (Multipass encoding support)
Stream Viewer: A viewer for stream files
Playlist Composer: For creating Playlist files
Script Compiler: For compiling UMD Video Script
Resource Compiler: Create resource files from source XML, compiled scripts, PNG still images, etc.
Interactive System Viewer: Emulation of interactive menus and such in a PC environment
PSMF Composer/AT3 Tool: Creation of video and sound displayed in the PSP's Cross Media Bar (XMB)
Image Generator: Creates UMD disc image
Image Checker: Verification of created UMD disc image
UMD Composer can also create interactive members using a script language based on JavaScript.
Using this tool, authors can author, encode, and even create disc images for UMD-Video. Images can be recorded to a DVD-R, and playback can be verified using an emulator. The DVD-R can be sent to a press factory, where a UMD-Video will be created. Sony Computer Entertainment estimates UMD Composer to be around 200,000 yen, and the emulator software to be around 15,000 yen.
At the "Movie TV Technology 2006" convention, Sony held a demonstration of the new software. Impress Watch was on hand at the event, and took pictures. At the demonstration, Sony played a H.264 video with a resolution of 720 x 480 that was created with Stream Composer. Sony also stated that most UMD-Video titles currently on the market are recorded in H.264/MPEG-4 AVC with a resolution of 720 x 480.
The official website for UMD Composer is here:
https://www.universalmediadisc.com/umdcomposer/