NewTek Introduces VT[3]^TM Integrated Production Suite

New Real-time, Uncompressed System Sets New Price/Performance Standards for Live Production, Compositing, and Editing

San Antonio, Texas - July 21, 2003 - NewTek, Inc., manufacturer of industry-leading 3D animation and video products, today announced the official shipment of VT[3]^TM, an integrated production suite that provides a comprehensive toolset for all professional video production needs from network broadcast to web streaming.

VT[3] provides real-time layering and effects for video and graphics in virtually any input standard or file format and operates internally in uncompressed D1 component video. NewTek's VT[3] includes integrated timeline and storyboard editing, paint, 3D modeling and animation, titling, keying, live-switching and much, much more.

"The production industry has never seen an uncompressed, real-time broadcast production system at this price point." said Jim Plant, Chief Executive Officer and President of NewTek. "If you value real-time, multi-layer compositing and non-linear editing, coupled with compatibility with all the major 3D and 2D motion graphic packages such as LightWave 3D®, Digital Fusion®, 3ds max®, combustion® and After Effects®, then you'll immediately recognize the advantages of VT[3]."

Live production capabilities include live switching of DV cameras and decks connected via the host system's Firewire ports, as well as switching of 8 component, 8 Y/C or 24 composite sources (or a dizzying array of combinations of the three types) with the SX-8 option. Any of the hundreds of DVEs supplied with the software may be applied to live sources, as well as titling and graphics from the integrated character generator as a downstream key. On the post production side, in VT-Edit^TM the number of layers and effects that can be applied to clips is limited only by the power of the host system. VT[3] includes full 3D control of the position, rotation and scaling of layers, with soft and colored borders, cropping, shadows and many other parameters available. VT-Edit also allows full spline-based control of all animateable parameters. For both live and post production, VT[3] offers component, Y/C, composite or optional SDI output, as well as web-streaming.

VT[3] offers built-in integration for a wide range of popular tools for film and television visual effects, including Digital Fusion®, After Effects®, combustion®, 3ds max®, and more. VT[3]'s built-in frame buffer output support for these applications provides artists with instant feedback on what their shots, graphics elements, and composites will look like at broadcast time. In addition, VT[3] includes a new VT Project Codec^TM that lets any application that supports AVI files use VT project files with no conversion or rendering, allowing VT[3] to integrate into virtually any production pipeline.

"The station has been extremely pleased with VT[3]'s results," said Tim Johnson, Emmy(r) award winning broadcast graphic designer, at CBS-owned KUTV Channel 2, in Salt Lake City, UT. "VT[3] has probably paid for itself 10-15 times already. The real-time uncompressed performance and fast, flexible workflow are just the ticket for a fast-paced production environment where the highest possible quality and complete control of the results are required."

VT [3] Integrated Production Suite overview:

• Ease of use - designed for professionals who need to get work done on time and on budget
• Complete suite of virtual equipment created in software - monitors, decks, switchers, waveform/vectorscopes, audio mixer and more
• Integrated timeline and storyboard editing
• Multiple layers in real-time - as many as your system can handle - not limited by the software
• Real-time keyframeable color correction and blur
• Multi-format and multi-standard editing, with standards conversion on the fly in real-time
• Real-time playback of compressed and uncompressed clips
• Native DV support, component, Y/C, and composite I/O
• Real-time 3D transitions, slow motion and reverse, chroma and luma keying
• 2D video paint with pixel tracking, filters, more
• LightWave 3D, world-class 3D graphics and animation
• Optional SX-8(TM), up to 8-component or 24-composite input Switcher
• Optional RS-8(TM) Switcher Control Surface
• Optional SDI I/O
• Stream live events or finished productions to the Web in real-time

VT [3] New Features include:

• Mix and match any combination of uncompressed, compressed and DV, play resulting project in real-time, instantly
• Full 3D control of layer position and rotation, with shadow, colorcorrection and other effects
• Spline-based control of all parameters in VT-Edit allows virtually every characteristic of a project to be animated
• VT-Edit Project Codec allows use of VT-Edit projects in any application that supports AVI files, without rendering or conversion
• Default file format is AVI file for storing project data. This worksfully with the VT-Edit Project Codec, placing VT-Edit project data into the AVI file.
• Enhanced DV Support
• DV cameras attached to the system are automatically patched into the Switcher
• Native DV playback using an optimized codec and native YUV decompression and compression.
• DV is recorded directly, without decompression/recompression
• Record analog sources to compressed DV in real-time
• Unlimited number of attached DV devices supported
• DV deck control
• VT-Vision(TM) onscreen monitors can be color calibrated to match reference video monitors
• Over 100 new VT-Script(TM) commands
• Per-channel proc-amp can be used to correct computer sources as well as analog sources
• Import and export of EDL (Grass Valley, CMX, Sony, Excel) in VT-DDR(TM) and VT-Edit
• Batch Capture with frame-accurate capture, Recapture, Print-to-Tape
• Per frame timecode support
• Deck manager with presets
• Character Generator - Fully redesigned with major interface and workflow improvements
• Complete justification, alignment, ruler, grid and guide snapping tools
• Flexible layering and grouping controls
• New gradient editor and gradients bin
• Per-page undos and redos
• Improved font rasterization
• Details View within Storyboard, allowing you to enter project settings in a spreadsheet-like mode.
• Tool Shed(TM) - Provides a common plug-in environment to offer high level tools and save user settings (grouped in Tool ChestTMs) for VT-Edit.
• Zebra stripes for 75IRE and illegal video
• Auto Calibration for 75IRE bars, 100IRE bars and video pass-through mode (requires optional SX-8)
• Interactive graph of all the animateable variables of the currentlyselected clip.

Pricing & Availability :

VT[3] is available now in Australia, priced at $AUS6599. Registered VT[2]^TM owners may purchase an upgrade to VT[3] software for $AUS1099.

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