NewTek Introduces VT[3]™, Integrated Production Suite

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

San Antonio, Texas -- July 22, 2003 -- NewTek, Inc., manufacturer of industry-leading 3D animation and video products, today announced the official shipment of VT[3]™, 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 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 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® 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™, up to 8-component or 24-composite input Switcher
• Optional RS-8™ 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, color correction 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 works fully 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™ onscreen monitors can be color calibrated to match reference video monitors
  Over 100 new VT-ScriptT 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 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™ - Provides a common plug-in environment to offer high level tools and save user settings (grouped in Tool Chest™) 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 currently selected clip.

For complete VT[3] product information see: http://www.newtek.com/products/vt/index.php

Pricing and Availability
VT[3] is available now in North America, priced at $2995US. Registered VT[3]T owners may purchase an upgrade to VT[3] software for $595US. Localization is in progress for international distribution. For information on your nearest NewTek authorized reseller, see http://www.newtek.com/dealers.

About NewTek
With headquarters in San Antonio, Texas, NewTek is a leading provider of full-featured video editing, animation and special effects tools including VT[3]™, LightWave 3D® and Aura Video Paint™. NewTek launched the desktop video revolution in 1990 with the release of the legendary VT®. The company’s products are used worldwide on projects ranging from home video to feature film. Recent television and film projects using NewTek software include Children of Dune, Firefly, Taken, Smallville, Star Trek: Enterprise, Star Trek 10: Nemesis, Daredevil, Spy Kids II, We Were Soldiers, Panic Room, Hart’s War, Driven, A.I., Oscar®-nominated Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius, Final Fantasy, Blackhawk Down, The Time Machine and Star Trek: The Motion Picture - Director’s Edition DVD. 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. Website: http://www.newtek.com

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• eyeon Digital Fusion and Digital Fusion are registered trademarks of eyeon Software Inc.
• LightWave, LightWave 3D and VT, are registered trademarks of NewTek.
• Aura Video Paint, and VT[3] are trademarks of NewTek, Inc.
• All other products or brand names mentioned are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.