AMSTERDAM, Holland, Discreet Logic Inc. today announced that it has entered into a strategic development relationship with Chicago-based Tribune Entertainment, a subsidiary of Tribune Broadcasting, one of America's fastest-growing suppliers of television to the domestic and international markets. The alliance will allow network operation of Discreet Logic's online nonlinear software, edit* v4.0, within a broadcast environment.

The relationship takes the form of an engineering liaison between the companies aimed at building a powerful network editing solution optimized for the demanding requirements of broadcast and post production, and to advance Discreet Logic's edit* nonlinear NT-based editing product in two main areas:

• Development of workgroup editing capability that will allow multiple editors to simultaneously work on the same job while employing a Fibre-Channel based shared storage system.
• Development of a database friendly interface between edit* and external environments that will allow users in broadcast and other environments to log edit* specific data and events in any third-party database for job tracking and control purposes.

Mahmoud Al-Daccak, vice president of products at Discreet Logic, commented, "This industry first network capability gives our customers significant advantages, from broadcasters like Tribune to post production facilities where projects can be distributed across multiple editing seats. Not only are we offering the integration with Tektronix's Profile, but we're achieving a major milestone in network editing that no one else can match today. Working with Tribune and our dealer Metro Video has brought together the technology, expertise and long term broadcast-driven requirements to design serious network editing functionality into edit*."

Tribune already has three edit* systems at WGN Television in Chicago, and have worked closely with Discreet Logic engineers to perfect the integration with the Tektronix ProfileŽ digital video server. The union means that instead of printing to tape from edit*, a broadcaster will have the ability to print straight to the Profile and then go directly live to air without ever having to go to tape.

Ira Goldstone, Vice President of Engineering and Technology for Tribune Broadcasting, added, "Working with Discreet Logic has been a positive and mutually beneficial experience. They really understand what it means to be 'customer driven' and our collective engineering teams are currently working side-by-side to make edit* the best possible product for the broadcast environment."

Metro Video Systems, a Discreet reseller based in Los Angeles, provides the hardware and software integration expertise required by Tribune. John Pankratz, president of Metro Video, concluded, "Leveraging the combined expertise of both Discreet and Tribune to solve these key challenges has enabled us to put together a very powerful solution that is unique in terms of the newsroom editing productivity and connectivity that it offers to broadcasters. edit* is one of the first systems to tap into the full power of NT in a workgroup environment. It is ideal for broadcast applications because it is the most mature release on the popular NT platform and this new capability gives us a significant lead over our competition in terms of network editing."

About Tribune Broadcasting
Tribune Broadcasting owns and operates 18 major market television stations and one national superstation, WGN. Total U.S. television household coverage is 75 percent, with the combined reach of the broadcast stations, the cable and satellite reach of the Superstation and WBDC-TV, Washington, D.C., which Tribune manages but does not own. Founded in 1982, Tribune Entertainment develops, produces and syndicates first-run television programming. In addition, the company owns the Chicago Cubs baseball team. More information on Tribune is available at: http://www.tribune.com.

About Metro Video
Metro Digital Group, Inc., based in Los Angeles, CA, specializes in the sales, integration, and support of Windows NT based non-linear editing products for the entertainment and broadcast industries. With more than 600 digital editing systems sold, Metro has established itself as the leader in the field of digital editing product sales and service. More information is available at http://www.metvid/com

About Discreet Logic
Discreet Logic, recently named as Canada's third fastest growing company by PROFIT Magazine, develops advanced systems and new media software used in the creation of digital imagery and serve three key markets: visual effects, editing and production. Discreet Logic products are used to develop imagery for video, broadcast, HDTV, the web, new media and feature films, including 1998 Summer blockbuster "ARMAGEDDON", and the 1998 Visual Effects Academy Award winners "Titanic" and "Independence Day".

For further information, visit Discreet Logic Website at www.discreet.com or e-mail info@discreet.com. Media Contact: Emma Shield, Tel: 514.954.7151 emmas@discreet.com.

Editor's Note: Discreet Logic and its products are trademarks of Discreet Logic Inc. All other trademarks and registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners