First Professional 3D Solution for 64-bit Platforms Unveiled at Los Angeles Event

Los Angeles, California -- December 14, 2004 -- NewTek, Inc., manufacturer of industry-leading 3D animation and video products, today demonstrated the forthcoming 64-bit implementation of Emmy®-winning LightWave 3D® at an exclusive event in Los Angeles. LightWave® 64-bit was shown on an AMD Opteron™ system running Windows® XP Professional x64 Edition beta OS. Currently in beta at a limited number of sites, LightWave's 64-bit port was demonstrated before an audience of film and television visual effects producers, game developers and artists and press at The Highlands Hollywood in Los Angeles, from 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM PST.

"We recognize the needs of our customers to always deliver leading edge 3D graphics and visual effects. That's why we've worked hard to make LightWave 3D the first professional 3D application to take advantage of the powerful capabilities of the 64-bit computing platform," said Jim Plant, President and CEO of NewTek. "With 64-bit LightWave 3D, NewTek is once again leading the way with technology that enables digital artists and producers to meet the ever higher expectations of their clients and make the best use of powerful new technologies, such as AMD's Opteron™ and Microsoft's Windows XP Professional x64 Edition."

"By working closely with partners such as AMD and its 64-bit hardware technologies, NewTek has yet again been able to maximize its core competency as an innovator and leader in Digital Content Creation tools by being the first to unveil a 64-bit professional 3D animation application to the public," said Michael Kornet, Vice President of Business Development for NewTek. "Upon its release, our large user base will reap the benefits of this technological innovation."

"For the last 4 years, NewTek has been working on the development of a 64-bit version of our award-winning LightWave 3D software application, including our plug-ins," said Andrew Cross, PhD, Senior Vice President of Engineering for NewTek. "Literally millions of lines of code have been ported to and optimized to take full advantage of 64-bit technologies. The 64-bit LightWave version has now been fully running and tested internally for over a year, and recently was released to external beta testers. As we had expected, the feedback that we have gotten in this process has been astonishing and as such we feel that it is time to demonstrate this technology publicly for the first time."

LightWave's 64-bit version will leverage the increased memory available with 64-bit systems plus the power of the new processors and faster RAM access to provide digital artists with a streamlined workflow that allows them greater flexibility and creative freedom. Content creators will be able to complete their work in less time, or to do more complex work than could previously have been done within a given time and budget. The ability to utilize much more RAM allows the artist to create more complex and realistic scenes as well as to produce images at higher resolutions for film, high-definition television, and print.

"AMD and our cutting-edge collaborators like NewTek are revolutionizing the creative process for digital artists around 64-bit computing," said Charlie Boswell, director of Digital Media and Entertainment, AMD. "AMD64 technology running LightWave 3D on the Windows XP Pro x64 Edition helps remove traditional technology bottlenecks that typically force professional content creators into making artistic compromises."

"We are excited by NewTek’s commitment to deliver a 64-bit native application that will take advantage of the Windows XP Professional x64 Edition platform," said Will Poole, Senior Vice President of Microsoft’s Windows Client Division. "Windows XP Professional x64 Edition in combination with the 64-bit edition of LightWave 3D will enable new levels of performance and creativity for digital artists and producers and provide the ability to bring more complex and realistic animation and video to market faster."

Technology speakers at the event included Jim Plant, President and CEO of NewTek, and guests Charlie Boswell, Director of Digital Media and Entertainment for AMD, and Jay Kenny, Product Manager Microsoft Windows, for Microsoft. In addition to the technology demonstration, the event included a number of special presentations by award-winning visual effects professionals: Emile Smith, Visual Effects Supervisor for Zoic Studios; Steve Pugh, Visual Effects Producer for Eden FX; Aristomenis Tsirbas, Director/Artist for MeniThings; and David Ebner, Senior Visual FX Supervisor for CafeFX.

Pricing & availability

The 64-bit version of LightWave 3D is not currently available for commercial sale. It is available only to a limited number of pre-determined beta site locations.

LightWave [8] for Windows and Macintosh platforms is available through NewTek Europe and its resellers for a suggested retail price of 1 395 € plus VAT/ UK £995 plus VAT (special offer until December 15th, 2004: 1 395 € inc. VAT/UK RRP £995 inc. VAT + Realviz ImageModeler 4.0 included for FREE). Current LightWave users may upgrade to LightWave [8] for a suggested retail price of 495 € plus VAT/£345 plus VAT (special offer until December 15th, 2004: 495 € plus VAT/£345 plus VAT + Realviz ImageModeler 4.0 included for FREE). To locate the nearest authorised reseller or distributor, see our locator at http://www.newtek-europe.com/uk/purchase/resellers.html.

About NewTek and NewTek Europe.

Newtek Europe is based near Bordeaux, in South West France and deals with Newtek product distribution, communication and technical maintenance for all customers around Europe, Russia, Africa and the Middle East.

With headquarters in San Antonio, Texas, NewTek, Inc. is a leading provider of full-featured video editing, animation and special effects tools including Video Toaster™ and LightWave 3D^®, winner of the 2003 Primetime Emmy^® Engineering Award.

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 LightWave 3D^® include "I, Robot", Spiderman 2, The Manchurian Candidate, Exorcist: The Beginning, Garfield, Hellboy, Van Helsing, Triplets of Belleville, The Last Samurai, Torque, Children of Dune, Battlestar: Galactica, Firefly, Taken, Smallville, Star Trek: Enterprise, Matrix Reloaded, Collateral Damage, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Agent Cody Banks, Daredevil, Spy Kids II, Oscar^®-nominated Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius, Final Fantasy, Blackhawk Down.

Recent game titles include Doom III, Burnout 3, Unreal Tournament, Serious Sam for XBox, Age of Mythology, Civilization III, Dead to Rights, Baldur's Gate II, EverQuest and Escape From Monkey Island.

Information about LightWave 3D^®:
http://www.newtek-europe.com/uk/products/lightwave/index.html

LightWave 3D^® artists interviews:
http://www.newtek-europe.com/uk/community/lightwave/index.html

LightWave 3D^® Projects List:
http://www.newtek-europe.com/uk/products/lightwave/projects.html

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- LightWave and LightWave 3D are registered trademarks of NewTek.
- VT[4], VT[4] Live, VT[4] Post, VT[3], VT[3] Live, VT[3] Post, VT[2], VT-Edit, Aura Video Paint, LightWave Express, VT-CG, VT-Vision VT-Scope, VT-DDR, Tool Shed, Tool Chest, SX-84, SX-8, RS-8, LScript, Digital Confusion, HyperVoxels, Endomorphs, Intelligentities, Motion Mixer, Morph Mixer, HardFX, SoftFX, ClothFX, MultiMeshes, Particle FX, P.A.V.L.O.V., Skelegons, SkyTracer, and Vmaps are trademarks of NewTek, Inc.
- All other products or brand names mentioned are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.

Press contact:

Audrey-Jane Belin
Marketing & Communication Department
mail to: aj@newtek-europe.com

Newtek Europe
Europarc
17 avenue Léonard de Vinci
F-33600 PESSAC
Tel:+33 (0)5 57 262 262
Fax:+33 (0)5 57 262 261
www.newtek-europe.com