Major Upgrade Announced and Shipped Simultaneously at SIGGRAPH 2001
SIGGRAPH - LOS ANGELES, Aug. 14 /PRNewswire/ -- NewTek, Inc., manufacturer
of industry-leading 3D animation and video products, announced and shipped
LightWave 3D version [7] late yesterday evening. LightWave [7] is a major
upgrade to their award-winning, professional 3D software. With hundreds of
new features, plus significant improvements in the entire product's speed and
stability, this major upgrade comes as a result of many development and beta
test hours. NewTek announced that the product is available immediately for
both the Mac (OS 9 and OS X) and Windows platforms.
Michael Hulme, Senior Artist for Namco Hometek said, "The power has been
there for quite some time now, but in LightWave [7], acess to that power has
been opened up like never before. The amount of control is amazing!"
"LightWave [7] is a testament to the awesome power and scalability of
LightWave's new architecture and its talented development team -- rock solid
stability, hundreds of killer new features, and massive workflow and usability
enhancements," commented LightWave 3D artist Julian Johnson.
"As the LightWave development team was working on version [7], the
excitement grew as features and improvements fell into place," said Brad
Peebler, Executive Vice President of 3D Graphics for NewTek. "By working
closely with our users, we were able to create a software package that is both
elegant and powerful. A stable and feature-laden release, we feel that with
LightWave [7] artists will be able to achieve the highest quality effects,
more efficiently, for projects in any 3D market."
Feature Highlights
LightWave [7] includes hundreds of new features, including the following:
-- Motion Mixer for non-linear animation
-- Sasquatch Lite for built-in hair, fur and landscape creation and
rendering
-- Sprites mode within HyperVoxels, which can now be seen in OpenGL in
Layout
-- Digital Confusion, a new depth-of-field filter
-- SkyTracer 2 for universally accurate sun positions and sky creation
-- Combination Move / Rotate tool within Modeler
-- Soft reflections and refractions
-- Spreadsheet-style scene editor
-- Voxel Baking for advanced smoke and liquid effects without extensive
render times
-- Airbrushing between morphs
-- Several new Light options
-- Rail Modeling tools for interactive scale, rotate and stretch
-- Particle FX enhancements including simple crowd simulation, fluid
dynamics, interparticle collision and new nozzle types
-- Squash and Stretch tools in Layout
-- Speed and workflow enhancements
"It seems like such a short time after 6.5 was released," said John Gross
of Eden FX. "These guys have really been cooking! The new features and
improved workflow of LightWave [7] make it a joy to work with."
LightWave 3D is also one of the tools that ESC artists are utilizing. This
software allows users to handle any request thrown their way. With LightWave
3D, all the facets -- modeling, animation, and rendering -- are faster and
provide a higher quality result. ESC is working on the effects for The Matrix
Sequels, which are currently in production.
LightWave 3D is versatile enough to make the transition to and from all
kinds of projects. Proven for years in television, film, and games, LightWave
3D is also being used to create graphics for print, web, industrial design,
architecture, medical imaging, and anywhere else a 3D package is needed. A
full, robust program, LightWave 3D includes soft-body dynamics, particles,
hair and fur, plus unlimited render nodes; LightWave 3D ships with all the
tools an artist needs to create.
Pricing and Availability
LightWave [7] is available immediately for a suggested retail price of
US$2495. LightWave [7] is available for Macintosh OS 9 and OS X-native, and
for Windows 98, 2000, Me and NT4, and is running on AMD, DecAlpha and Intel
processors. Product is available through NewTek's channel of authorized
resellers and distributors worldwide.
About NewTek
With headquarters in San Antonio, Texas, NewTek is a leading provider of
full-featured video editing, animation and special effects tools including the
Video Toaster, LightWave 3D and Aura. 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 film and television projects using NewTek software
include Driven, A.I., Final Fantasy, The Time Machine, How The Grinch Stole
Christmas, The 6th Day, Jurassic Park III, Charlie's Angels, X-Men The Movie,
Pitch Black, Dracula 2000, Star Trek: Enterprise, Roughnecks: Starship
Troopers, Star Trek: Voyager, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, The X-Files, The
Family Guy, Ally McBeal, Dune: The Miniseries, Dawson's Creek and Family Law.
Recent game titles include Deus Ex, Serious Sam, Twisted Metal: Black, Quake 3
Arena, Moto Racer World Tour, Giants for PS2, Baldur's Gate II, EverQuest,
Planescape: Torment, Dead To Rights, and Escape From Monkey Island. Contact
NewTek at 5131 Beckwith Blvd, San Antonio, TX, 78249. Phone: 210-370-8000,
fax: 210-370-8001, website: http://www.newtek.com or
http://www.lightwave3d.com.
NOTE: LightWave 3D is a trademark of NewTek. All other products or brand
names mentioned are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective
holders.
SOURCE NewTek, Inc.
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Related links:
http://www.newtek.com
CONTACT:
Hollie Wendt of Wendt Communications,
+1-831-688-1193, or hollie@earthlink.net, for NewTek, Inc.
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