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San Antonio, TX -- NewTek, manufacturer of industry leading 3D animation and video production products, unveiled its highly anticipated next generation LightWave [6] software at Siggraph 99.

LightWave [6] is the culmination of over 10 years of development and represents the most significant upgrade to LightWave in the history of the product. NewTek has completely redesigned the LightWave [6] architecture and the animation process with the artist in mind. LightWave [6] advances the state-of-the-art in professional 3D animation by adding a comprehensive set of groundbreaking character animation tools, advanced rendering capabilities, and a refined work environment.

"NewTek has been developing LightWave [6] for over two years. This architectural restructuring of the application has allowed us to modify key components while maintaining the many advantages of the current system," said Brad Peebler, vice president of marketing for NewTek. "By creating a new development environment along with the architecture, we are able to deliver a toolset for animation, modeling and rendering that will make people's heads spin. The new version of LightWave will be significantly different than current incarnations; however, NewTek's usability labs have gone to great lengths to ensure 5.6 users will have a smooth transition. This includes workflow compatibility as well as backward compatibility with existing plug-ins and user data such as object and scene files. By upgrading our cross-platform toolkit, our Intel and Mac versions are more similar than ever. We are especially excited about the recent resurgence of support for the Apple G3's in the graphics industry."

Top Names in Animation at Siggraph '99
Top industry superstars demoed the new software at the NewTek booth during this year's Siggraph. These Hollywood studio authorities have worked on projects such as Titanic, Starship Troopers, Men In Black, Blade, Hercules: Legendary Warrior, Xena, Warrior Princess, Star Trek, Voyager, Babylon 5, and numerous television commercials including "Animal Crackers" and "Metal City." Facilities represented were: Computer Cafe, Digital Domain, Digital Muse, Digimania, Foundation Imaging, Interplay, IXL Animation, Namco, Netter Digital, and StationX Studios.

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, including some of the most widely anticipated recent blockbusters, such as Men in Black, Titanic, Lost in Space, HBO's From the Earth to the Moon, and The Jackal. Contact NewTek at 8200 IH-10 West, Suite 900, San Antonio, TX, 78230. Phone: 210-370-8000, fax: 210-370-8001, website: http://www.newtek.com.