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NewTek's LightWave 3D^® Leading the Way with Support for Multi-Core Processors

Las Vegas, NV, NAB Booth SL1949 – April 18, 2005

LightWave^® first to give digital content creators the advantage of new processor innovations

NewTek, Inc., manufacturer of industry-leading 3D animation and video products, announced today the optimization of their Emmy^® Award-winning LightWave 3D^® for multi- core processor systems. Following NewTek's industry first 64-bit beta announcement, LightWave 3D is leading the industry again as the first professional 3D graphics application to provide optimization and support for multi-core technology. Native multi-core support will be included in the upcoming 8.3 release of LightWave 3D.

Multi-core processor technology will provide the power of two processors on a single chip, allowing LightWave^® to leverage system resources to significantly improve work flow, performance and the speed of the 3D rendering process over the current generation single-core processor systems. For the end-user, multi-core processor technology will offer the best performance-per-watt ratio, offering systems more efficiency and performance while reducing heat dissipation and consuming less power than multiple single-core systems.

Even though LightWave can now run on upcoming multi-core chips, NewTek will continue to license LightWave on a per seat basis with 999 free render nodes; there will be no additional charge for multi-core support.

"We are very enthusiastic about bringing the performance that these new hardware technology advancements offer to our customers," said Jay Roth, NewTek president of the 3D graphics division. "We have placed a high priority on making sure that LightWave takes full advantage of the latest technology. We understand our customers need the maximum level of computing power available - that's why we've made the effort to support multi-core technology right out of the gate. It is our belief that the release of these new technologies will significantly benefit LightWave users."

"We commend NewTek for their leadership role in supporting AMD64 processor innovations, including multi-core technologies," said Ben Williams, vice president, enterprise and server/workstation business, Microprocessor Business Unit, CPG, AMD. "Because NewTek has taken a customer-centric approach, LightWave users will benefit from software that is finely tuned to take advantage of all the performance and efficiency the AMD Opteron^TM processor with Direct Connect Architecture can offer without having to pay pricing penalties."

"The beauty of LightWave is that it offers so much in terms of versatility and cost effectiveness in a 3D production pipeline," said Rob Powers, visual effects artist, James Cameron's Aliens of the Deep. "Now, with NewTek adding native support for the latest hardware advancements of multi-core and 64-bit, we can push the envelope even further and produce better work faster and more efficiently. Once again, NewTek widens the gap and positions LightWave as the solution of choice for 3D artists who require innovative tools."

Pricing and Availability

LightWave 3D® Electronic Full Competitive Upgrade is available for $899 (AUST inc GST), for registered owners of Maya^TM, Softimage^TM XSI, 3ds max®, Electric Image^TM, Strata Studio Pro^TM, Cinema 4D^TM, Truespace^TM, Hash Animation Master^TM, Autocad®, Pro/Engineer® and SolidWorks®. Proof of ownership required to qualify. Registered LightWave® owners will also be able to purchase an additional seat of LightWave® at the $899 price. This special offer is available through April 30, 2005, from any NewTek/New Magic Authorised Reseller. LightWave 3D [8] is available now for Mac and Windows platforms for $2799 (inc GST) full-version and $899 (inc GST) upgrade.

Newtek in Australia and New Zealand

NewTek products proudly distributed in Australia and New Zealand by New Magic Australia.

About New Magic Australia Pty Ltd

About NewTek

With headquarters in San Antonio, Texas, NewTek is a leading provider of full-featured video editing, live production, presentation, animation and special effects tools including LightWave 3D®, winner of the 2003 Primetime Emmy® Engineering Award, TriCaster^TM and VT[4] TM. NewTek launched the desktop video revolution in 1990 with the release of the legendary Video Toaster®. The company's products are used worldwide on projects ranging from home video to feature film. Recent television and film projects using NewTek production tools include Sin City, The Aviator, Flight of the Phoenix, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, Aliens of the Deep, "I, Robot", Spiderman 2, The Last Samurai, Battlestar: Galactica, Firefly, Smallville, Star Trek: Enterprise, Access Hollywood and Entertainment Tonight, Recent game titles include Doom III, Unreal Tournament, Serious Sam for XBox, Age of Mythology, Civilization III, Dead to Rights, Baldur's Gate II, EverQuest and Escape From Monkey Island