ICE Debuts Adobe After Effects 'ON ICE' Version 3.0 With Industry's First Speedup To Core After Effects Compositing

Fruit of Adobe partnership and Adobe's first-ever OEM deal for After Effects Production Bundle; 3-7 times greater performance in core After Effects geometrics, motion blur, and compositing; dramatically reduces rendering time, boosts creativity, increases facilities' revenue-making capacity

WALTHAM, MA.-- ICE and Adobe Systems Incorporated announced Adobe After Effects 'On ICE' version 3.0, a new high-performance compositing solution with never-before performance enhancements to the core functionality of the After Effects application. For video professionals creating broadcast programming, corporate videos and Web images, After Effects 'On ICE' version 3.0 delivers 3 to 7 times the performance of a G3 450 Mhz system when animating position, scale, and rotation with Motion Blur applied - a typical need of digital video professionals. This added performance 'On ICE' saves hours of rendering time, boosts creativity, and increases the revenue-making capacity of post-production facilities without adding staff or new desktop systems. The fruit of Adobe's first-ever OEM agreement for the After Effects Production Bundle, After Effects 'On ICE' version 3.0 provides more freedom for experimentation in creating stunning dynamic media projects for broadcast programs, TV commercials, corporate videos, and more. In a separate announcement today, ICE debuted its second-generation BlueICE hardware and an optional BlueICE SDI Video daughter card that allows uncompressed video capture and playback within After Effects 'On ICE' version 3.0.

Powered by high-performance BlueICE hardware, After Effects 'On ICE' version 3.0 solutions are available in two versions that cut the entry point for ICE technology in half. These are: the Basic Edition for $3,995, including new Basic BlueICE hardware, After Effects Production Bundle license, and ICE's ICEfx for After Effects award-winning effects tools; and the Ultra Edition for $7,995 , leveraging ICE's new Ultra BlueICE hardware for the most powerful graphics performance available in desktop Macs and PCs. Special upgrade pricing is available through September 1999 for existing ICE and After Effects customers. After Effects 'On ICE' version 3.0 will be available in September 1999 from ICE's reseller network and at http://www.iced.com.

Adobe After Effects software is the industry's leading desktop compositing tool, with scores of professional artists leveraging its functionality. The new After Effects 'On ICE' version 3.0 takes After Effects to the next level, providing blink-of -the-eye interactive responsiveness and lightning-fast finished rendering across the entire application, not just with plug-in special effects filters. Its gives users greater freedom to experiment in any compositing task, to perfect the 'right look,' to complete more projects, and to gain a vital competitive edge. The combination of high-performance After Effects 'On ICE' version 3.0, new BlueICE hardware, and SDI video delivers a comprehensive compositing solution from video capture to content creation to distribution. Users can leverage their ICE investment throughout the project workflow by adding other video compression and repurposing tools that use the same ICE hardware.

"Every professional relies on After Effects's Motion Blur to smooth animations so they don't appear computer-generated, but it requires too much rendering time," said Mike Andrews, president of Gotham Pictures, an independent studio in New York that evaluated early versions of After Effects 'On ICE' version 3.0. "For its superfast Motion Blur alone, After Effects 'On ICE' version 3.0 is worth the price. But together with its other enhancements, it's a 'killer app' that's a must-have for my business. Anyone thinking of spending a flamingly high price on a high-end system to add capacity today would do better by checking this out."

What's New in After Effects 'On ICE' version 3.0:

  • After Effects' Geometrics, Motion Blur and Compositing 'On ICE'
-- By leveraging new features in the recently released After Effects 4.0 software, ICE's After Effects 'On ICE' version 3.0 lets the core After Effects application move at the ultrafast pace of ICE. User productivity skyrockets, and facilities can create more jobs, service more clients, and gain more revenues. Artists can fully refine every treatment they desire, experimenting and perfecting their work. With a wide palette of superfast effects, After Effects 'On ICE' version 3.0 gives users the tools to deliver maximum visual impact.
  • An After Effects 4.0 Production Bundle License
-- Full compatibility and same interface as After Effects 4.0, so no learning curve is required. Facilities can tap into the skills of thousands of trained After Effects users worldwide.
  • OMF Compatibility
-- Avid users get take full advantage of the power of After Effects 'On ICE' version 3.0.
  • SDI Video I/O Option
-- For highest quality uncompressed real-time capture and playback, with no additional PCI slots required.
  • Greater Price/Performance
-- For the added performance of ICE's latest generation hardware at a lower cost.

"When we surveyed our customers recently about what they wanted to see added to After Effects, the number one request was for added performance features. When combined with After Effects, ICE's high performance desktop video solutions create a unique opportunity for customers to increase the rendering capacity of their system, saving them substantial time and money," said Steve Kilisky, product manager for Adobe After Effects. "This OEM agreement between ICE and Adobe continues a long-standing relationship that focuses on how we can best serve our customers." "ICE is the first company to provide a comprehensive integrated desktop compositing solution with such high-end functionality, and we are proud to have Adobe's support and continued partnership," said Bob Sullivan, president and CEO of ICE. "Thousands of After Effects users today are driving hard to find ways to work more productively as competition forces project prices down. We are exactly the tool for the times. We intend on making After Effects running on 'ICE'd Stations' the predominant content creation and distribution platform of the industry."

About ICE Founded in 1994 and based in Waltham, MA, Integrated Computing Engines (ICE) is a leader in desktop special effects, finishing and distribution solutions used by professional producers of video, film, Web graphics, DVDs, CD-ROMs, and other moving images. The ICE hardware/software architecture easily integrates into standard MacOS and WindowsNT platforms, turning desktops into affordable super-fast systems.