Panasonic To Offer Blu-ray Player in September - but
article says nothing at all about a PC-based burner
http://news.tmcnet.com/news/2006/03/31/1524943.htm

Toshiba unveils world's first HD-DVD player - only
in Japan at this point - but AGAIN the article says
nothing at all about a PC-based burner
http://www.electricnews.net/frontpage/news-9677524.html

So... there is a player for one standard, and will "soon"
be a player for the other standard... but still no word
about plans to make/sell burners for computer users

Based on past history I will GUESS computer based
burners MIGHT be issued some time in 2007

If my guess holds true... I would also GUESS that
Adobe will have a new product at, or very close, to the
actual release of computer based HiDef burners... but that
is only MY guess, so don't hold your breath waiting!

I don't know what you mean by the statement that HD DVD (or Blu-Ray, etc.) is a totally different standard, that Encore would not be able to handle it. (First of all, how do you guys know that, are you engineers by chance?) I'm not a software programmer, but can't you just add the code necessary to make any piece of existing software do the same thing? Why couldn't there be added presets for new Encore DVD projects -- one for standard DVD, one for HD-DVD (with all its book settings, architecture, etc.), and one for Blu-Ray (with all its necessary settings)? Whether it's two pieces of software or one, why couldn't you just put the two groups of code in one software? Just like Premiere Pro and After Effects are resolution-independent -- you can import anything, at any pixel size, any screen shape, any frame rate, from any device, whatever...and output it at any resolution, frame rate, etc., even to a film recorder. Software is software, you just put whatever specs need to be put in the code. A software/hardware engineer can correct me if I'm wrong on this in relation to DVD.

That said, I do agree with John that WHEN Adobe implements high definition DVD authoring of any sort (NOT IF - it will have to to compete with the overall move to HD production/distribution), it will be later than sooner becaue Adobe tends to focus on the less expensive (relatively speaking) ways of implementing high end technology for the video production industry. (Think of the latest Production Studio package and what they've achieved.) They're not Sonic, but they're not consumerish junk either.

By the way, NEC has recently announced they will be making an internal HD-DVD burner in April (or May, I guess whenever the spec is finalized). (See http://www.macworld.com/news/2006/03/10/nechddvdr/index.php?lsrc=mwrs s)

"This would at least quadruple the retail price of Encore, all for a "feature" that has not become a true standard yet, and is not likely to for many years to come - if ever."

If that's the case, then why bother with all this move toward "affordable HD" (i.e., HDV, etc.)? Does this mean HD is only destined for the elite network broadcaster? What is the point of shooting with your HDV camcorder (there are more and more models coming out) if you can't put it to a final destination for clients (i.e., DVD)? If the software and hardware are too expensive for doing this (and as you say, probably always will be), then there will never be a market for high-def weddings, high-def small budget corporate (or even big-budget corporate because even the big companies like to use DVD playback), high-def you-name-it on the small budget. End users (clients) are not going to go out and buy HDV decks just to be able to play back your finished videos; they're going to want to use DVD's or something similar for compactness and ease of use. High-def DVD production hardware and software MUST come down in price. There IS a market for it. (Heck, just think of videos for trade show displays, etc.)

At least not yet. "Yet" is the key word here for all of this, I think.

Gentlemen, a little common sense. When HD and Blue ray are finally a released spec, and when HD burners are actually sold in PCs' , based on past history, it will take about Adobe about to a year to include it in thier products.

I don't think that qualifies as "just adding code to an existing package". ;)

Lounge...? :p