The newest version of Sorenson Media’s Sorenson Squeeze 7, an application for video encoding to a wide variety of formats, adds support for NVidia GPU’s and CUDA acceleration.   The end result is a 3x boost in rendering speed, taking those hour-long jobs down to a mere 20minutes.

By utilizing GPUs such as NVIDIA Quadro® professional graphics solutions, the specialized microprocessors that power graphics in professional workstations, Sorenson Squeeze 7 delivers significantly faster encoding times. Sorenson Squeeze 7 automatically recognizes when the user’s primary CPU or GPU may be faster and will use the better resource for the encoding job. The software is optimized for NVIDIA CUDA, the parallel computing architecture created by NVIDIA that powers a variety of their popular GPUs. Internal benchmark tests have shown Sorenson Squeeze 7 is up to three times faster than Sorenson Squeeze 6 when encoding in the H.264 format using GPU acceleration.

Now, that’s only in H.264 for the 3x boost, which as much as Google complains about it is really still the de-facto standard for Web Video.  The new version also adds adaptive bitrate support and several new formats like BluRay and WebM, and is available for $799. for new users. Full details after the break.

Sorenson Media’s New Sorenson Squeeze 7 Accelerates Video Encoding Performance, Saves Time, Streamlines Workflows

  • New Version Leveraging NVIDIA® CUDA™ Architecture Adds GPU Acceleration to Online Video’s Gold-Standard Encoding Application to Significantly Speed Up Encoding Process Times by up to 3X
  • Sorenson Squeeze 7 Transforms Adaptive Bitrate Encoding from a Time-Consuming Nuisance to an Easy, Intuitive Experience
  • Upgrade Also Expands and Improves Video and Audio Format Input and Output Support, Including the Addition of MPEG Transport Streams, WebM and Ogg

SAN DIEGO (Jan. 25, 2011) – Sorenson Media today launched Sorenson Squeeze 7, a major upgrade of the company’s award-winning video encoding application, designed to save users valuable time while significantly boosting performance. Among its key new features are graphics processing unit (GPU) acceleration, adaptive bitrate encoding and myriad new input and output formats.

”The video encoding and publishing workflow is too often weighed down with tedious and repetitive steps that turn what should be an intuitive and painless experience into a time-consuming, even mind-numbing slog,” said Peter Csathy, CEO of Sorenson Media. “Sorenson Squeeze 7 takes the pain and drudgery out of the encoding process with advanced GPU acceleration and automation of all aspects of adaptive bit rate encoding. With this new version of Sorenson Squeeze, video professionals and broadcast organizations can encode and deploy top-quality online video in the formats they use most – and will save valuable time in the process, freeing them up to focus on their core revenue-generating business.”

Sorenson Squeeze 7’s new improvements represent a major leap forward in enabling video professionals and companies to maximize their most valuable commodity – time:

  • New GPU Acceleration. By utilizing GPUs such as NVIDIA Quadro® professional graphics solutions, the specialized microprocessors that power graphics in professional workstations, Sorenson Squeeze 7 delivers significantly faster encoding times. Sorenson Squeeze 7 automatically recognizes when the user’s primary CPU or GPU may be faster and will use the better resource for the encoding job. The software is optimized for NVIDIA CUDA, the parallel computing architecture created by NVIDIA that powers a variety of their popular GPUs. Internal benchmark tests have shown Sorenson Squeeze 7 is up to three times faster than Sorenson Squeeze 6 when encoding in the H.264 format using GPU acceleration.1
  • New Adaptive Bitrate Encoding. Sorenson Squeeze 7 handles all aspects of adaptive bitrate encoding, from encoding multiple renditions of videos at varying data rates to segmenting files and uploading them to the user’s chosen content delivery network. This streamlined workflow frees users from the previously labor-intensive, detailed and time-consuming process involving many steps and tools.

  • New Input and Output Formats. Sorenson Squeeze 7 adds Flash, Apple ProRes, and MPEG Transport Streams to its wide range of existing input formats. New output formats available in Squeeze 7 include WebM, MPEG Transport Streams with H.264 and Dolby AC3 for broadcasters, MPEG-2 elementary streams for Blu-ray authoring with H.264 and VC-1, DVB for cable/satellite/terrestrial television, and digital signage-specific formats.
  • New Audio Only Output Formats. Sorenson Squeeze 7 now supports audio-only output formats such as Dolby’s AC3, AAC, AIFF, M4A, MP3, Ogg, WAV and WMA.
  • New Adobe Premiere Plug-in. With the addition of a unique plug-in for Adobe Premiere (compatible with Creative Suite 4 and Creative Suite 5), Sorenson Squeeze 7 now provides seamless encoding from within every major professional non-linear editing application, including Avid’s Media Composer, Newscutter and Symphony and Apple’s iMovie, Final Cut and Final Cut Pro.

Squeeze 7 builds on what has become the gold-standard, total workflow solution for video professionals. Its productivity-boosting tools – including email and text notification, a secure review and approval process, optimized video codecs and myriad filters vetted by Sorensen Media engineers – all work seamlessly with the Sorenson 360 online video platform.

Pricing and Availability

Sorenson Squeeze 7 is available immediately for electronic download or for shipping in CD form. The suggested retail price for Sorenson Squeeze 7 is $799. Upgrades from previous versions of Sorenson Squeeze begin at $299 (with special limited $199 introductory pricing for Squeeze 6 users). For additional information about purchasing Sorenson Squeeze 7, visit www.sorensonmedia.com/squeeze-pricing.


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