"This is certainly the future of many presentations. We will never get away from the "personal-touch" of having a human coaching someone one-on-one or even in a group, but this kind of technology will make a big difference in the way we train, meet and present. SmashCast is one company I think we will hear a lot from in the future. They are cutting-edge." -- Gary Kayye, CTS

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 30, 2000-- SmashCast, one of the first rich media application service providers, today launched version 3.0 of its online production studio and broadcast network. SmashCast allows businesses and individuals to turn digital images into professional, rich media web productions, directly from the browser.

Click to see a sample presentation. Best viewed with Internet Explorer

The product and servicer isn't ready yet for most in the presentation community, since so far the licensing has been inked with consumer-oriented Websites such as PhotoPoint.com. But, says founder and CEO Dan Hobin, they have some deals in the works that will eventually mean corporate presentation-creators can use the technology too.

"As an application services provider," explains Hobin, "we don't provide a place for individuals to go. Our customers are the ones doing that. We work with the companies to build templates and storyboards and so far, other than the real estate customers, those templates are consumer-oriented as opposed to business."

other companies photopoint, kodak, hp, zing and they provide a service to the end user, so and we are working on other deals where users canwith storyboards that are there, they can build a presentation from there, they are consumer/MTV type productions, having yet more consumery at photopoint.com, you get the same idea of what it will be like
as opposed to It's not ready

"As bandwidth continues to increase, there is a greater demand for businesses to deliver more compelling, visual content to attract and retain customers," said Dan Hobin, founder and CEO of SmashCast, Inc. "SmashCast Studios make it easier than ever to turn personal images, real estate listings, travel accommodations, or music promotions into high-impact, dynamic web productions."

The SmashCast online production studio and broadcast network service consists of Commercial Studios, Movie Studios, and a Web-based infrastructure, the SmashCast Studio Platform. SmashCast private label Commercial Studios and Movie Studios enable end-users to produce and broadcast dynamic, interactive commercials, corporate presentations, tutorials, and Web Movies by, according to the company, quickly and easily incorporating licensed music, text and custom designed, Flash-animated storyboards with digital images.

The system comes with SmashCast Movie Studios for consumer-oriented content creation. Of interest to presentation-creators will be Commericial Studios.

Commercial Studios

SmashCast Commercial Studios provide a powerful online sales and marketing tool for businesses. Through a simple point and click interface, users can incorporate customized proprietary content with digital images to create professional web productions tailored to a specific customer base. An affordable, do-it-yourself alternative to high-bandwidth videos or other virtual tour solutions, SmashCast Web productions can be generated and instantly broadcast over the Web in minutes. In addition, digital images, text, music and other content can be updated and altered in real time. Built with an HTTP-based API, the SmashCast Studio Platform plugs in to any Web site to bring Studios live in as little as three days, says SmashCast.


Movie Studios

SmashCast Movie Studios offer community Web sites a private label Movie Studio application that plugs in to any Web site, extending online movie-making capabilities to anyone with a browser. Users simply select up to 24 digital photos, choose from a wide variety of professionally designed animated storyboards, and pick a song from a library of popular past and present titles. Their personal Web Movie is instantly ready to broadcast to family and friends, bringing traffic directly back to the online community. The first SmashCast private label Movie Studio is available today at PhotoPoint.com.

SmashCast Studio Platform

Our Related Websites: Digital Webcast Digital Producer Digital DTP DCC Designer

The SmashCast Studio Platform, for those companies wanting to offer this service on their Website, is a , Web-based infrastructure designed to seamlessly integrate with any Web site or Intranet. The SmashCast Studio Platform also hosts and broadcasts every Web production.

The features:

Web-based Editing -- Drag and drop images, incorporate text, and edit content in real time directly from the browser.

Rich Media Content -- SmashCast provides custom designed Flash-animated storyboards, enabling Commercial Studio customers to tailor web productions to a specific audience. Movie Studio customers gain access to a collection of pre-designed storyboards in categories such as babies, birthdays, holidays, vacations, weddings and more. SmashCast offers an online music library of licensed popular soundtracks to accompany any web production.

Hosting and Broadcasting -- The SmashCast Studio Platform has a fully redundant, multi-tier architecture, providing optimal hosting and broadcasting performance through a reliable, high-speed network. End User Requirements IMac/Win 98 or above IE or Netscape 4.0 or above Flash 4.0 or above 28.8 modem speed Image files: JPEG, GIF, BMP, TIFF, PCX

The fee for offering SmashCast starts at about $1,000 a month. Some sites will charge users; others won't.

About SmashCast, Inc.

SmashCast allows businesses and individuals to turn digital images into professional, Web productions. SmashCast private label Commercial Studios and Movie Studios enable end-users to easily produce and broadcast commercials, corporate presentations, educational programs, and Web Movies using digital images, licensed music and Flash-animated storyboards. Current SmashCast customers include Kodak, HP Cartogra, PhotoPoint, Zing, and The San Francisco Giants. For additional information, please visit http://www.smashcast.com .