Newtek Debuts Video Toaster 3

Reprinted from a NewTek press release:

NewTek, Inc., manufacturer of industry-leading 3D animation and video products, today announced that they will unveil Video Toaster [3], the next generation software for NewTek's integrated PAL/NTSC live- and post-production studio-in-a-box, at NAB 2003, Booth #SL2844. The update provides hundreds of new features and work-flow improvements, including enhanced integration of Video Toaster with a wide range of popular hardware and software video and graphics tools.

"It's hard to believe that a simple software upgrade could significantly improve a product I had already come to love and depend upon for my work, but Video Toaster [3] does that and more," said Paul Goldberg, Hollywood – New York, Ltd. "With the capability to position, scale and rotate layers in 3D right in the editor, along with ability to animate virtually every characteristic with the spline controls, I'm not sure what you cannot do in Video Toaster [3]."

ToasterEdit's real-time uncompressed layering and compositing is supplemented with 3D positioning, rotation and scaling of layers, with soft and colored borders, cropping, shadows and many other parameters available. ToasterEdit now features full spline-based control of all animateable parameters. Additionally, ToasterEdit projects can now be imported into all mainstream 3D, editing, compositing, streaming and DVD authoring applications with no rendering using the new ToasterEdit Project Codec developed for Video Toaster [3].

"That fact that Toaster projects can now be used directly within any application that supports AVI files, with no conversion or rendering, is a major boost to integration with other production tools, allowing Toaster to become an integrated part of almost any production pipeline," said Andrew Cross, Senior Vice President of Engineering at NewTek. "On top of key architectural advances, we have made hundreds of work-flow and interface improvements, giving the user unprecedented power to customize the interface to fit their production needs and style, and a variety of tools and wizards make production tasks faster and easier than ever. Our goal is to offer the most complete, flexible and integrated tools for live and post production, at an affordable price, and Video Toaster [3] takes this commitment to a whole new level."

In Video Toaster [3] DV cameras attached to the computer are now automatically detected and made available as live sources for switching, just as though they were attached directly to Video Toaster's inputs, and an unlimited number of DV cameras may be connected at once without significant overhead. The ToasterVision virtual monitors now include Proc-Amp controls that allow for calibration of a computer monitor to reference video monitors. Video Toaster [3] also includes a completely redesigned CG, as well as new advanced batch capture and EDL features.

"Video Toaster makes virtually anything possible," notes Tim Johnson of KUTV Channel 2, Salt Lake City, UT. "During my work week I'm busy driving the Toaster at the local television station, producing on-air graphics, station promos and local commercials. On the weekends, I help produce content for religious services to be streamed out on the web for a community outreach program. When NewTek says Video Toaster is a complete TV studio-in-a-box, they're not kidding."

New Features in Video Toaster [3] 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 ToasterEdit allow virtually every characteristic of a project to be animated.
  • ToasterEdit Project Codec allows use of ToasterEdit 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 ToasterEdit Project Codec, placing ToasterEdit 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 propriety 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.
  • ToasterVision onscreen monitors can be color calibrated to match reference video monitors.
  • Over 100 new ToasterScript commands.
  • Proc-Amp can be used to calibrate computer sources as well as analog sources.
  • Import and export of EDL (Grass Valley, CMX, Sony, Excel) in ToasterDDR and ToasterEdit.
  • 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-chest – Provides a common plug-in environment to offer high level tools (grouped in ToolChests) for ToasterEdit.
  • Zebra stripes for 75IRE and illegal colors.
  • Auto Calibration for 75IRE bars, 100IRE bars and video pass-through mode (requires BOB).
  • Interactive graph of all the animateable variables of the currently selected clip.

    For a complete list of the new features in Video Toaster [3], see http://www.newtek.com/products/videotoaster/info/vt3. For information on Video Toaster's full feature list and available options, see http://www.newtek.com/products/videotoaster/info/.

    Pricing and Availability
    Video Toaster [2], regularly priced at $2995US, will be $2495US from now until Video Toaster [3] ships, and those purchasing during this special promotional period will receive the Video Toaster [3] software update at no additional charge for the downloadable version, or may purchase a convenience upgrade on CDs for $99US. Price of the Video Toaster [3] software update, when it becomes available, will be $595US for registered Video Toaster [2] owners. Price of Video Toaster [3] to be announced on release, but no less than $2995. Video Toaster [3] relies on the cutting-edge technology of the SSE2 instruction set, and will require Intel P4 or AMD Opteron processors to run. For information on the nearest NewTek authorized reseller, see http://www.newtek.com/where-to-buy/reseller-locator.html.

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