Ritek, which claims to be the largest optical disc manufacturer in the world, has formed a new company division, dubbed Ritek Digital Studios, that will specialize in multimedia software development.
The new division will specialize in studio services for the DVD-Video, DVD-Audio and DVD-ROM formats. Services will include menu graphics and animation design, interactive software and Web-link development for the Mac and Wintel platforms, video standards conversion, video editing and compression, audio editing and encoding, subtitle formatting, authoring and specification/compatibility testing.
Ritek Digital Studio will include three offices, including a DVD compression, encoding and authoring (CEA) facility in Glendale, CA, for Hollywood movie and music studios. The other locations include Pennsylvania and Taiwan.
The facilities will operate seven days a week with a worldwide compression and authoring capacity of 20 titles per week. Supported product lines will include CD, CD-ROM, CD-Audio, DVD-Video, DVD-ROM, DVD-Audio, CD-R, CD-RW, DVD-R, DVD-RAM, DataPlay, MD, MO and Flash Memory Cards.
Robert Seidel, formerly the senior director of multimedia at Warner Advanced Media Operations (WAMO), will oversee the new division as VP of new technology.