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Sony is bringing professional quality to your homemade music and movies, this week shipping Screenblast, which aims to place once-complex audio and video tools into the hands of digital hobbyists.

At $69, Screenblast is designed to make those tools affordable for everyone, according to Sony.

"Most of today's software is defined by its utility," says Andrew Schneider, Screenblast senior vice president and general manager. "But Screenblast is designed to make computers entertaining and fun. We priced it for the consumer market, in order to meet the growing demand for digital and music creativity."

Schneider acknowledges that Screenblast has "many competitors" in the software category, but calls it the only end-to-end creativity package now available. The program provides features needed to create a professional-style movie or recording, and a Web page will offer an ongoing series of tips, tricks, white papers, and tutorials on producing a more polished digital product.

The site is open to everyone, even those who have not purchased Screenblast. It also provides online tech support for the first line of questions, with access to a 900 phone line available for users who need (and will pay for) more-personal support.

Supporting Sony

Screenblast software works across the PC platform and could be installed on, say, a Dell PC connected to a Panasonic camcorder. Still, the software and the accompanying Web site are optimized to support Sony equipment such as memory stick hardware and PC Link. "We look at Screenblast as a way to complement Sony hardware," Schneider says.

Since movie files are still too large to send easily by e-mail, the Screenblast Web site allows 50MB of storage and a personal URL for each user to upload films. Users can keep the files private or submit them for consideration as featured videos accessible to the entire community.

Screenblast's video software lets you add numerous features to your movie. You can choose to make the results look like an old Western, a silent movie, or a sepia-toned classic. A feature called "chroma keyer" allows you to place the subject in front of any location; for instance, you can transform the subject into a superhero racing across the sky. You can then add titles and effects at the click of a mouse. As Schneider says, "you can shoot a company picnic, and make it a lot more fun to watch."

"Storytelling has been around as long as the human race," Schneider says. From cave painting to new forms of communication, people exhibit the innate desire to create and tell a story, he says.

"Recently, [filling that role] we've seen e-mail and instant messaging, along with a whole series of digital devices," he adds. Sony's tools provide "a new way to tell stories and share life's everyday moments," he says. "Making your own movie doesn't need to be event-driven, and you can tell the story to one person or 1 million."

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