SAN FRANCISCO - MX Entertainment has completed work on a new DVD for Sony Music's Legacy Recordings and artist Herbie Hancock that takes advantage of MX's proprietary Multiangle capabilities, allowing DVD viewers to see multiple streams of video content simultaneously. The DVD features performances from Hancock's "Future 2 Future" tour, and was shot at the Knitting Factory in Los Angeles back in March.
MX Multiangle is MX Entertainment's own MPEG-2-based technology, which lends itself to music-themed DVDs, allowing fans to see alternative angles without interrupting the main program. Picture-in-picture previews let them see the different video streams when alternative content is available, eliminating the need to search for "bonus" content. They can then select the sequence via their remote control.
According to MX president Zane Vella, who co-founded the company back in September of 2001, MX Multiangle allows for the viewing of up to nine simultaneous video streams. That many simultaneous streams, however, would seriously cut into the DVD's storage capacity. In the case of the Hancock DVD, which is the first to employ MX Multiangle, there are 30 minutes of MX Multiangle video sequences.
MX Entertainment produced the video project, shooting with eight Digital Betacam cameras. The facility then spent approximately two months editing the concert's footage, creating DVD menus and authoring the disc using Sonic Scenarist, in conjunction with its MX Multiangle tool.