Report from NAB 2006 – new NewTek products! 

(Having just returned from the NAB 2006 show in Las Vegas, DigiTek Systems' President Matt Drabick sums up some of the new NewTek products that he saw.)

NewTek announced five new products at NAB 2006: 

The TriCaster PRO is the latest incarnation of the highly-successful NewTek TriCaster live-presentation system. The TriCaster PRO incorporates all of the functionality of the original TriCaster – video editing and title creation software, live-switching and preview between three external video sources with hundreds of 2D and 3D transitions plus importing external displays from PCs and Macs, video playback from its internal hard drives, overlaying titles and other graphics while mixing audio and simultaneously outputting the final mix as composite, Y/C and VGA video plus streaming to the Internet – while adding component video input and output, balanced audio input and output, waveform and vectorscope displays plus auto calibration for matching external video sources, plus both push and pull internet streaming.

The TriCaster PRO (or TCPRO) adds:

The TriCaster PRO was even selected as an NAB 2006 AIM award-winner for best new product announced at NAB 2006!

MRSP for the TriCaster PRO is $6,995.00 (educational price is $6,495.00) while the standard TriCaster remains at $4,995.00. The optional VM external switcher panel is $995.00.

VT[5] is the latest incarnation (there's that phrase again!) of the NewTek VT live-video switcher and graphics creation system. VT[5] is really either a hardware bundle or a software upgrade. The hardware version is called the VT[5] LIVE! while the software upgrade is simply called VT[5]. The VT[5] software works with all previous hardware versions of NewTeks' Windows-based VT card including the VTNT, VT[2], VT[3] and VT[4]. VT[5] is not a version of the VT hardware -- it is a software-upgrade only. The VT[5] LIVE! (the hardware/software bundle that includes the VT[4] card, SX-84 BOB and RS-8 external switcher plus the VT[5] software) uses the same hardware card found with the VT[4]. While the other four new NewTek products were publicly displayed, VT[5] was not, not unless you count the SpeedEDIT demos.

I've heard that VT[5] is a major rewriting of the VT software, not just a new build of the software but actually new code and allows the software to provide important new functions including multiple DSKs.

VT[5] LIVE! features include:
• Includes VT[5] Software, VT-Pro™ Card, SX-84™ Switcher Expansion and RS-8™ Remote Switcher
• Live Switching of up to 8 components, 8 Y/C, 3 SDI or 24 composite sources, with Audio support, Alpha, and Genlock
• Stream live events or finished productions to the web in real-time
• Integrated TBC and Proc Amps for each input
• Resolution independent editing - anything from web streams to HD
• Mix SD and HD clips in the same project
• SpeedEDIT supports all frame-rates and resolutions
• 16:9 and 4:3 aspect support including the CG, editor and DVEs.
• Edit support for MPEG-2, QuickTime and more
• Integrated timeline and storyboard editing
• Real-time keyframeable color correction and blur
• Real-time playback of compressed and uncompressed clips
• Real-time 3D transitions, slow motion and reverse, chroma and luma keying
• DVD Authoring with instant project import and playback
• iVGA turns external PC or Mac computers into switcher inputs across the network
• Real-time DV out in SD resolution
• High-Definition 2D video paint with pixel tracking, filters, more (I believe this is still Aura!)
• LightWave 3D® v9, award-winning 3D graphics and animation
• Optional 8-input SDI switcher

For detailed pricing information on purchasing or upgrading to VT[5] click here!

NewTek only discussed a few new features of the VT[5] software upgrade at NAB 2006. The optional 8-input SDI switcher wasn't shown, but it was said that the VT5] software would support two DSKs, allowing two independent titles or one title plus a corner bug, etc!

A bonus found with VT[5] is the ability to capture, edit and preview HD/HDV material and play it back as an SD stream for recording in real-time. I believe you can still render out the project as HD and then record it to your HD deck via FireWire. In other words, you can edit HD with VT[5], preview it in real-time either as SD to an NTSC monitor or preview the output as HD using a full-size ToasterVision screen going to a computer monitor (yes, it would be RGB instead of YUV) but still an affordable way to edit and view HD material on your existing VT hardware.

Perhaps the biggest news with VT[5] was the addition of professional color-correction tools plus a copy of SpeedEDIT, NewTek's new standalone video editing software. SpeedEDIT replaces the editing software previously included with the VT. If you are a fan of the VT editing software, fear not, because SpeedEDIT is the latest incarnation (!) of that software.

Speaking of SpeedEDIT, NewTek touted the software as the world's fastest editor. While a bit difficult to qualify that claim, the software was indeed very impressive. For years VT owners have been asking NewTek to separate the VT's editing software from the VT card dongle and sell the software as a separate product. That request has been met!

First of all, some of the features found with SpeedEDIT:

I saw SpeedEDIT demoed at the NewTek dealer meeting on Sunday afternoon (April 23rd), at the end-user party that night and at NewTek's booth at NAB 2006. The software retains both the storyboard and timeline editing modes that makes the VT such a joy to work with. You can quickly rough out a project in the storyboard including your transitions and then use the timeline to add multiple video and audio layers with or without filters, sound effects, slow motion, etc.

What made SpeedEDIT so impressive was its ability to mix SD and HD video clips within the same project. That alone is probably worth the cost (MSRP $495.00) of the software. SpeedEDIT also includes a character generator but reportedly no bundled DVD authoring software.

Of course, we need detailed information about the host PC for running both VT[5] and SpeedEDIT. My guess is, the faster the computer the better. Dual dual-core (quad) or dual XEON systems will probably be recommended, with a fast single dual-core processor as runner-up. Single Pentium 4 systems? We'll have to wait and see. . . .

3D Arsenal isn't quite a new product . . . it was previously sold by Toasterdudes. 3D Arsenal has been picked up by NewTek. Regardless of its ancestry, this is a very impressive product. 3D Arsenal allows non-3D animators to create 3D animations, extremely useful for video people who don't have the time and/or temperament to learn how to create 3D animations on their own.

By using NewTek's LightWave 3D animation software at the engine behind the animations, 3D Arsenal provides over 750 easy-to-use templates that allows the user to select an animation templates, preview it in real-time using their 3D logo or video clips, and easily create professional-looking 3D animations. You can also create your own text and then animate it as a flying 3D logo. I highly, highly recommend this program.

If you already have a copy of LightWave 7.5 or higher simply purchase the 3D Arsenal Content Only. If you don't have a copy of LightWave, purchase 3D Arsenal with a copy of LightWave 7.5 instead. Separate versions are available for both Windows and Mac.

LightWave [9] looks closer to release than ever! Already in a public-beta program, the software looked pretty solid at NAB 2006. New features publicly mentioned include

o Timewarp  Time Re-mapping and Warping Shader

o CCTV Shader

o HV Deformer: HyperVoxel Particle Displacement Shader

o Stress Map

o Sketch Image Filter

o New Volumetric Shader

o Node Editor Surfacing

o Relativity 2

o Sticky

o Quaternion Rotations

o Align to Path

o Mesh Editing in Layout

o Workflow Improvements

o Complete Re-implementation of Open GL in Layout

o UI Configuration

o View Renders and Image Files in UI Viewports

o Modeling Improvements

o Redesign of the Core Subdivision Surface Engine

o Expansion of Subdivision Surfacing Tools with Edges and N-sided Polygons

o Edge Selection and Operation Added to Many Modeler Tools

o More Dynamic Dynamics

o SDK Improvements

NewTek demoed LightWave [9] at both the dealer meeting and end-user on Sunday and on the floor at NAB 2006. All I can say is, the software looks awesome!

For more information contact Matt Drabick of DigiTek Systems at 919-790-5488 or via email at mdrabick@mindspring.com

Click here for an NAB 2006 NewTek price list!