NEW
ORLEANS, SIGGRAPH 2000, July 26 -- NewTek, Incorporated, manufacturer
of industry-leading 3D animation and video products, today announced
that it is demonstrating the power and groundbreaking graphics capabilities
of LightWave 6 running on a render farm featuring thirteen Apple Power
Mac G4 systems at its SIGGRAPH 2000 booth (#2117).
NewTek is also showcasing LightWave running on Mac OS X, Apple's next
generation operating system, and on a dual-processor Power Mac G4, unveiled
by Apple at last week's Macworld Expo conference.
The network rendering capability showcases NewTek's StealthNET render
controller, the first on the market to allow Internet-based rendering.
![Lightwave [6] box](../../images/articles_0700/Lightwave6_box.jpg)
"We
are very excited about the incredible technical achievements on the
Mac platform. We will be showcasing LightWave on Apple's single- and
dual-processor Power Mac G4s and Apple's forthcoming Mac OS X operating
system," said Brad Peebler, vice president of 3D graphics
of NewTek. "LightWave is optimized to take advantage of the Power
Mac's PowerPC G4 processor with VelocityEngine, Apple's QuickTime technology
and Apple's OpenGL implementation. We have been working very closely
with Apple and the collaboration means tremendous things for NewTek's
Mac users."
"Apple
is committed to making the Mac the premiere platform for 2D and 3D graphics
with new products like dual-processor Power Mac G4s and soon to be released
Mac OS X," said Clent Richardson, Apple's vice president
of Worldwide Developer Relations. "We are excited to see LightWave,
with their great solutions, take advantage of the incredible business
opportunities on the Mac and bring innovative solutions to Mac users
worldwide."
The thirteen Macintosh computers in NewTek's render farm at SIGGRAPH
all will be running the Mac version of LightWave [6], which was designed
to integrate closely with the Mac OS. The render farm configuration
will also enable NewTek to demonstrate its new StealthNET render controller,
which is based on TCP/IP and so enables Internet-based rendering.
StealthNET can link to systems around the world for cooperative rendering
projects, which is increasingly important for large-scale projects such
as movies, TV shows and commercials that may require multiple teams
of animators working at vastly disparate locations worldwide.
NewTek Booth Will Highlight Exciting 3D Animation Advances
Visitors to NewTek's SIGGRAPH booth will be treated to ongoing
demonstrations of the following:
-- Lightwave 6 running on Power Mac G4s featuring the PowerPC G4 with
VelocityEngine, which processes multimedia at blazingly fast speeds.
-- LightWave [6] running on Apple's soon to be released Mac OS X.
-- NewTek's StealthNET render controller.
-- LightWave optimized for Apple's OpenGL implementation, delivering
up to ten times greater performance than software-only rendering.
-- QuickTime, which is used in many areas in LightWave 6.
For example, LightWave's animation preview system uses Apple's QuickTime
technology to generate real-time playback of animation. The artist can
also save a QuickTime file for viewing directly in LightWave or through
the QuickTime Player. LightWave 6 also leverages QuickTime in its audio
implementation, allowing users to import audio for animation, timing
and lip synching. In addition, animators can use QuickTime movies as
background, as texture, or as volumetric light.
These capabilities can lead to dramatic digital video effects (DVEs),
animated texture maps, composited background movies and other dazzling
effects. The QuickTime format is saved in the final rendered animation
in LightWave 6. As a result, users can take advantage of QuickTime compression
to generate movie files that are ready to be streamed on the Internet.
-- QuickTime VR lets users create full panoramas of a scene file or
360 degree views of a 3D object that can be used as real-time media
on the Internet.
"LightWave [6] and the Mac platform have always worked well together,
but the recent technological advancements at Apple are likely to bring
new waves of LightWave users flocking to Mac," said NewTek's Peebler.
"The G4 chip is incredibly fast, and technologies such as QuickTime,
QuickTime VR, OpenGL and the VelocityEngine integrated into LightWave
[6] make the Mac platform a great solution for any LightWave user."
About LightWave [6]
LightWave, a leader in special effects production in the film and
television industry, provides a complete 3D animation feature set. LightWave
[6] offers breakthrough rendering technologies, advanced animation tools
and a new modeling paradigm as well as improved workflow, better control
over texturing, customizable user interface and extensive improvements
to real-time views. LightWave [6] runs on Macintosh, Windows NT, Windows
2000, Windows 98, Alpha and Silicon Graphics systems.
About NewTek
With headquarters in San Antonio, NewTek is a leading provider
of full-featured video editing, animation and special effects tools.
The company's products are used worldwide on projects ranging from home
video to feature film. Recent film and television projects include X-Men
The Movie, Pitch Black, Shakespeare in Love, the latest
James Bond film The World is Not Enough, Roughnecks: Starship
Troopers, "Star Trek: Voyager", "The X-Files",
"Ally McBeal" and "Family Law". Recent game titles
include Daikatana, Deus EX, Torment, HALO, and Kiss Psycho Circus. Contact
NewTek http://www.newtek.com
