Los Angeles, CA ‚ SIGGRAPH 2005 Booth #1529 ‚ August 1, 2005 -- NewTek, Inc., manufacturer of industry-leading 3D animation and video products, today announced the release of the 64-bit port of the Emmy®-winning LightWave 3D® for Windows XP Pro x64 OS, as part of the release of the version 8.5 update. LightWave® 64 and the version 8.5 update are free to registered owners of LightWave [8]. LightWave's 64-bit version leverages 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.

 "We're very pleased to bring our 64-bit port to LightWave users with the 8.5 release," said Jay Roth, President of NewTek's 3D Products Division. "NewTek's new development team made a commitment to customers for an aggressive schedule for maintenance updates and innovative development, and we've demonstrated that commitment with five updates in the year since the initial release of LightWave [8] and the release of our 64-bit port as part of 8.5. In addition to the new features and enhancements visible on the surface, the team has set the stage for an incredible next generation for LightWave 3D with a progressive redesign of the core during the 8.x cycle. With these developments and LightWave's opening up of 64-bit platforms with professional 3D production tools, NewTek is bringing a new era of excitement and innovation to digital artists everywhere."

 With LightWave 64-bit, content creators working on 64-bit workstations and the new Windows XP Pro x64 OS can complete their work in less time, or 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.

 The LightWave 8.5 update also brings users faster OpenGL performance and the addition of OpenGL hardware shader support ‚ for many scenes this will provide a very accurate preview of the look of the final image or animation in real time, without the need to create test renders. Enhancements have also been made to the dynamics and particle systems, and a new SuperMultishift tool with reusable construction history has been added to Modeler.

"64-bit technologies will change the face of visual effects for film and television," said Emile Smith, Emmy-winning visual effects supervisor for Zoic Studios. "Producers and artists can raise the bar on what we can accomplish within a given time frame, and create awe-inspiring visions more complex and more photo-real than ever before. NewTek's LightWave 3D is a long-standing mainstay for our VFX pipeline and is leading the way into this incredible visual future with professional production tools for the newest and most powerful platforms and processors."

LightWave 64/LightWave v8.5 new features include:

• New OpenGL Hardware shader option using the hardware renderer in OpenGL video cards to display many of the render functions in real-time. Lights, light falloffs, blending images on surfaces, per-pixel lighting will all be available in real-time, with an option to turn this feature on and off.
• New Parts-to-Surfaces tool allows for easier integration of 3D objects created in other applications.
• New MultiShift builds on the original SuperShift functionality and makes it possible to do multiple shifts in a single edit with a history profile that can be saved and applied to other meshes.
• Dynamics now launch a control window that allows you to switch to other applications while calculating dynamics in LightWave.
• Particle dynamics have been improved for accuracy, including interaction with collision planes. A new algorithm also allows large dynamic scenes to load up to 10x faster.
• 104 new configurable keyboard shortcut options.

Pricing and Availability

LightWave 3D version 9.0 is expected to be available in the 4th quarter for 795 € for a single user license. The following purchase options are available for a limited time:

LightWave Full seats:

• LightWave [8] full seat (with English printed manual), Vue 5 Infinite, free update to v9 (with electronic manual): 795 € +VAT /UK RRP: £499 +VAT

For registered owners of LightWave [7.5] or earlier:

• LightWave [8] upgrade (with English printed manual), Vue 5 Infinite, Duo USB dongle swap upon request, free update to v9 (with electronic manual): 449 € +VAT/UK RRP:  £299 +VAT

For Registered owners of LightWave [8]:

• LightWave 3D v9.0 upgrade (with electronic manual), Duo USB dongle swap upon request and Vue 5 Infinite: 395 € +VAT/UK RRP: £259 +VAT

For more information or to purchase, visit: www.newtek-europe.com or call NewTek Europe Sales at +33 (0)5 57 262 262.

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 Fantastic Four, The Adventures of Shark Boy and Lava Girl in 3D, Sin City, The Aviator, Aliens of the Deep, "I, Robot", Spiderman 2, Battlestar: Galactica, Access Hollywood and Entertainment Tonight. Recent game titles include Doom III, Unreal Tournament, and Age of Mythology. 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

--End--

LightWave, LightWave 3D and Video Toaster are registered trademarks of NewTek.
TriCaster and VT[4] 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