Latest Update to LightWave® Boasts Major New Features

All New Material Shaders, Depth of Field, Photoreal Motion Blur, Along with Global Illumination and Final Gather Delivered in Free v9.2 Release

San Antonio, Texas -- April 25, 2007 -- NewTek, Inc., manufacturer of industry-leading 3D animation and video products, today announced the release of the first free update for Emmy ® Award-winning LightWave 3D ®. Version 9.2 offers new Material Shaders for easy and accurate representation of real-world surfaces, depth of field, global illumination and anti-aliasing improvements that offer better results in less time, a true 3D motion blur that mimics live-action film and new modeling and selection tools for improved workflow. The LightWave ® v9.2 update is now available free to registered owners of LightWave v9.

"We've set high standards for what we expect to achieve in the development of LightWave," said Jay Roth, president, NewTek 3D division. "With accurate real-world material simulations, unbelievably photoreal motion blur, global illumination, depth of field and anti-aliasing the LightWave render engine has been elevated to a new level far beyond the beautiful renders for which it was already known."

"I did a test shot for the new Fox series Drive of 2 people on a motorcycle traveling down the road and it's just the most amazing render I've ever done, right out of LightWave, no compositing, it looked completely photoreal," said Jarrod Davis, CG supervisor, Zoic Studios. "LightWave's new motion blur is great for spinning tires, it's spot on perfect. And using the new radiosity we're able to get much more realistic renders. It’s so subtle yet so apparent."

LightWave 3D, version 9.2 Includes:

• Improved depth of field, which offers more realistic results and realtime preview
• A new photoreal, 3D motion blur, which mimics the blur captured on live-action film
• Global Illumination and Radiosity improvements to provide faster and higher quality renders, including the new Final Gather mode
• New Material Nodes, which duplicate real surfaces in a simple one-step manner
  • Dielectric - A physically accurate glass and liquid shader
  • Conductor - A physically accurate metal shader
  • Sigma - A node for sub-surface scattering
  • Simple Skin - A physically accurate skin shader with sub-surface scattering
• New anti-aliasing technology including a new pass technique and new sampling patterns which allow an artist to produce better results in less time
• New modeling and selection tools like Create Rows, Select Entire Loop, Select Entire Surface, Select Entire Part, Select Path, Loop Expand and Loop Contract to improve workflow

Pricing and Availability The LightWave ® v9 Training Bundle is available through April 30, 2007 at authorized NewTek resellers in North America for a suggested retail price of $895US. The LightWave v9 Training Bundle includes the LightWave v9 printed documentation set, along with 5 coupons worth hundreds of dollars in FREE training materials. Purchasers will receive the training materials by redeeming the coupons directly with the publishers. Registered owners of LightWave 3D ® [8] or earlier are eligible to purchase an upgrade to LightWave v9 for $495US. On July 1, 2007 the suggested retail price for a full license of LightWave v9.2 will increase to $895US with PDF documentation and $995US with the printed manual set.