By Andrew Cross (Andrewcross) (207.235.86.252) on Friday, November 08, 2002 - 04:56 pm:

VT Users,

An interplanetary alert reminded me it’s time for an update on the State of the Union. and things that have been happening back here in Alien Technology headquarters. (with the members of the team now collectively known as BlackOps). One good piece of news is that our team is expanding... we have recently hired Mike Watkins (and you will start seeing his name pop up all over the place no doubt), who is an excellent engineer and a great addition to the team. Before working on the Toaster team he worked for Adobe, and if you look carefully on the splash screen of PhotoShop Elements (and some other Adobe applications) you will see his name. We are thrilled with the knowledge he brings to the team.

You haven't heard much from us because we've been hard at work. For the past two months we have shifted our focus from fixing bugs in Toaster [2] to working on the next version of the Toaster (sorry, no names or dates yet, but there’s been a lot of progress...) We've also made another patch release for Toaster for release very soon that improves a number of areas including:
- Public beta of the LightWave DVE builder.
- Full frame-buffer and RTV file support for Adobe After-Effects.
- Support for the final shipping RS8 Switcher control surface module.
- Numerous improvements and modifications across the board, setting the ground-work for the next major release.

One other major event that some of you might have spotted is that we recently announced and shipped a Toaster bundle with eyeon Software, makers of the world renowned and incredibly powerful Digital Fusion and DFX+ compositing software. Together, we have announced a limited-time offer for Video Toaster [2] with the full DFX+ package (see our web site for the particulars) for $2495. This is an amazing deal: a full uncompressed, real-time video editing, compositing and graphics suite, including hardware for under $2500! If you want a second seat of Video Toaster, I would recommend you look at this very seriously. It's rare that I am personally excited about a bundle, but this is one that I really am. (I would buy it with my own money if I had any hours left in the day to use it.)

I do not want to say too much regarding the next major release of Toaster other than to confirm that it addresses a number of your most requested features, including Batch Capture. As is always our philosophy, we have tried to do Batch Capture the right way with full support for plug-in deck types, plug-in file recorders and more. Other highlights of the next version include better communication and operation with other applications (including DVD authoring packages... without rendering), much better DV support, WindowsXP compatibility and much, much more. Please don't quiz me on too many more of the details because we will announce them as we approach the ship date. Just rest assured that progress and movement on the Toaster has not diminished (actually, the opposite is trie.)

Anyhow, I hope this have given you some insight into what's happening. I am and will always be more than happy to respond to any emails.

Best regards,

Andrew

By Rui Feliciano (Ruifeliciano) (217.129.43.219) on Friday, November 08, 2002 - 05:42 pm:

Thanks a lot for the heads up Andrew. I really apreciate these kind of updates. It's the kind of things that keep users assured without the need to reveal strategic info about the next version which is always the paranoia companies have...it doesn't matter if you say that the next version will have Batch capture...I don't consider this startegic info because I don't buy products based on a list of features a certain product has, I buy it based on how well it's implemented and integrated on the program.
Anyway, do you think a similar update would be possible on the status of the current LW development?
Also, can you reveal if the next major Toaster version wil give us the possibility of defining masks directly in TEdit, keyframable or not?

Again, thanks a lot for the heads up, It's apreciated.

By Scott Bates (Sbates) (64.146.16.102) on Friday, November 08, 2002 - 07:01 pm:

Thank you Andrew.

By Jack Zabawa (Jackz) (66.27.105.203) on Friday, November 08, 2002 - 09:51 pm:

Thanks Andrew

It sounds like great news to me! I am looking forward to the Lightwave DVE Builder just for the fun of it!

I've just downloaded the D4 Demo.

Thanks Again, you guys keep at it!

VR
Jack Zabawa
VideoKahuna

By Dan Ablan (Dablan) (64.105.116.23) on Friday, November 08, 2002 - 10:21 pm:

Sounds awesome. Thanks Andrew!


Dan

By Ted R. Ruiz Sr. (Ted) (67.117.110.96) on Saturday, November 09, 2002 - 12:09 am:

Thanks Andrew. You know how excited I am!

By Richard D'Eustachio (Dvpguy) (68.45.6.129) on Saturday, November 09, 2002 - 01:24 am:

Thanks Andrew, sounds awesome.

By Faraz Ahmed (Faraz) (66.56.70.198) on Saturday, November 09, 2002 - 01:33 pm:

Sounds really cool, I'm glad to know DVD intergration and DV support will be improved.

By Casey Booey III (Cbooey3) (216.64.180.134) on Sunday, November 10, 2002 - 04:26 am:

Thanks Andrew.


Casey

By Zane Condren (Pav_Guy) (24.93.253.30) on Sunday, November 10, 2002 - 03:13 pm:

sounds like a great chirstmas gift dosent it?

By Andrew Cross (Andrewcross) (216.166.5.3) on Sunday, November 10, 2002 - 09:05 pm:

Thanks for all your support, and sorry for not having got around to this sooner. I'll try to post far more regular updates from this point onwards ... If its been longer than a month since I have posted, someone drop me an email to kick me into shape !

Andrew

By Richard Stallsmith (Lwaddict) (63.125.144.5) on Monday, November 11, 2002 - 12:51 pm:

Jack? oh Jack?

Where did you get the D4 demo?
Hmmmm?

By Greg Johnson (Gjohnson) (65.30.85.94) on Monday, November 11, 2002 - 02:38 pm:

Hi Andrew, thanks for the detailed status, very good news and it is much appreciated.

Have a Great Afternoon!

By TMiyagawa (Taiji_Miyagawa) (24.130.168.159) on Monday, November 11, 2002 - 11:16 pm:

Aliens hard at work as usual, and the product advances. NAB could be interesting indeed.

But can someone tell me what are "plug-in deck types, plug-in file recorders?"

I need batch capture for decks such as PVW2800 and BVW75 BetaSP decks, as well as a DSR8500 DVCAM unit. I've never heard of these referred to as "plug-in deck types or plug-in file recorders."

By Paul Lara (Plara) (66.69.12.235) on Tuesday, November 12, 2002 - 07:14 am:

That just means that each deck type or each file being recorded to (*.edl, etc) is simply a plug-in in ToasterEdit. This means additional functionality can be added on top of TEd, without the need to change TEd's code for future decks or file types.

By Daniel Sternklar (Dsternklar) (68.49.48.242) on Saturday, November 16, 2002 - 01:39 am:

Thanks Andrew for the updates! Can't wait!

d

http://scifi.view3d.tv

By Steve Gross (Steveg) (67.25.232.227) on Saturday, November 23, 2002 - 05:19 pm:

Thanks Andrew for the update. It has been a couple of weeks since Paul tyhought it was in testing. How about telling us when we can expect it. Also, I didn't hear anything about the CG that we have been promised since the first day the toaster was sold. Tell us how the CG is going and if we will see it working soon or not.

By Paul Lara (Plara) (66.69.12.235) on Saturday, November 23, 2002 - 06:38 pm:

---

Quote:

It has been a couple of weeks since Paul tyhought it was in testing.

---

By Tod Cole (Todcole) (68.35.255.144) on Saturday, November 23, 2002 - 10:24 pm:

GJ Guys glad to hear that you are not going to hold out for a long period this time. If I can ever help let me know. Thanks NEWTEK YOU GUYS ROCK!!!

By Richard Stallsmith (Lwaddict) (63.125.144.5) on Sunday, November 24, 2002 - 08:42 am:

BUGS?

Please, take your time...
don't need any more bugs in my money maker.

Keep up the great work!

This Toaster has already paid for itself and then some...and I've only had it for roughly a month or so.

Hmmm...almost time for an SX8.
Helloooooooo WE3!!!

By David Titchenal (Titch) (207.104.56.180) on Monday, November 25, 2002 - 10:05 am:

Hellooooooo Richard. As soon as you have the "O.K.", give us a call. We got your SX8 right here baby.

We3
a.k.a
toaster.tv

By Richard Stallsmith (Lwaddict) (63.125.144.5) on Monday, November 25, 2002 - 01:12 pm:

Will do David...
just got a couple projects to go
and the bucks should be there for it.

Thanks for all your help.

By Stephen Buckley (Original1) (217.32.116.133) on Thursday, November 28, 2002 - 02:58 am:

Andrew,

You may have seen the request for frame accurate insert editing using professional decks in the Toaster General Forum.

Is this a factor in your equations at the moment?

I am sure there are many of us working in a Pro enviroment that would find this useful.

By Richard Stallsmith (Lwaddict) (63.125.144.5) on Wednesday, December 04, 2002 - 11:01 am:

I heard that the last major bug in the next patch was history...

Does this mean we'll be seeing a release soon???

GO NEWTEK!

By Richard Stallsmith (Lwaddict) (63.125.144.5) on Thursday, December 05, 2002 - 10:50 am:

Did someone say, "Update"???