SYNTHETIC APERTURE PREVIEWS ECHO FIRE 1.1 AT NAB 2000

New Version Adds Realtime Previews in After Effects

LAS VEGAS - NAB 2000 - BOOTH M10140 -- April 10, 2000 -- Synthetic Aperture today began previewing the latest update to Echo Fire, its video previewing toolkit for Adobe After Effects and Photoshop.

"The number one request we had from users of Echo Fire 1.0 was for realtime previewing in After Effects," said Robert Currier, President, Synthetic Aperture, "so that's what we added to version 1.1. It goes beyond standard RAM preview by showing you your work on a real video monitor, and gives the option of previewing from disk, reducing the need for huge amounts of RAM."

Other enhancements include a screen previewer to provide video preview capability to virtually all applications, drag-and-drop utilities to improve workflow, and support for a range of additional video output cards.

Realtime Previews in Adobe After Effects

Echo Fire 1.1 provides realtime previews of After Effects compositions on an NTSC/PAL video monitor. Previews can be either RAM-based--as with the After Effects' built-in RAM preview--or disk-based, greatly increasing the available preview length. Previews may be saved for repeated viewing and client approval. All of Echo Fire's usual settings--including 16:9 aspect ratio conversion and waveform and vectorscope overlays--can be included in the realtime preview.

Screen Previewing

While Echo Fire directly supports Adobe After Effects and Photoshop, other applications--such as specialized paint packages and 3D rendering applications--can also benefit from accurate video previews. Echo Fire 1.1 adds a screen previewing application which displays a user-selectable portion of the computer desktop on the NTSC/PAL video monitor.

Drag and Drop Simplicity

To output compressed movies to FireWire or other supported output device, Echo Fire 1.1 provides a new drag-and-drop output utility. By dropping one or more movies onto the application, they are seamlessly sent to your output device, providing the ideal way to output footage split across multiple movie files.

Support for Additional Video Hardware

In addition to the FireWire and QuickTime Video Output Component support contained in Echo Fire 1.0, the new version adds support for additional video output devices, including the Aurora Video Systems Igniter and Fuse boards.

Compatibility

Echo Fire is available for PowerPC-based Macintosh systems and is compatible with Adobe After Effects 4.0 and later and Adobe Photoshop 5.0 and later. It requires Mac OS 8.1 or newer and QuickTime 4.0 or later. The video output device must have a QuickTime Video Output Component, such as Apple FireWire or the Pinnacle Systems Targa 1000/2000, or have a specific Echo Fire driver provided. A complete list of supported video boards will be released with the final version of Echo Fire 1.1. For use with FireWire, a DV camcorder or media converter is required. Echo Fire is compatible with NTSC and PAL video systems.

Availability and Upgrades

Echo Fire is slated to be released in May 2000. Registered owners of Echo Fire 1.0 will be eligible for a free upgrade.

About Synthetic Aperture

Founded in 1995, Synthetic Aperture is a provider of practical tools and services for digital video and audio. In addition to Echo Fire, Synthetic Aperture publishes the Video Finesse filters for Adobe Premiere, a line of digital video clip art collections, and the popular free utility Test Pattern Maker.

Further information on Synthetic Aperture may be obtained by calling (949) 493-3444, accessing the company's web site at http://www.synthetic-ap.com, or by emailing sales@synthetic-ap.com.