SYNTHETIC APERTURE'S ECHO FIRE 2.1 NOW AVAILABLE FOR MAC OS X

Realtime Video Previewing Under Mac OS X 10.2 "Jaguar"

SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO, CA -- November 18, 2002 -- Synthetic Aperture today announced Echo Fire 2.1, an upgrade to its digital video previewing and productivity software for Adobe After Effects and Photoshop, which adds Macintosh OS X support as well as new features.

"Mac OS X is rapidly becoming the preferred choice for motion graphics designers, so we wanted to combine the features of OS X with Echo Fire's proven previewing functions," said Robert Currier, President, Synthetic Aperture. "By bringing Echo Fire 2.1 to Mac OS X, we now cover all the major operating systems, including traditional Mac OS 9, the latest Mac OS X 10.2 Jaguar, as well as Windows 2000 and XP."

Clipboard Previews

To accommodate applications which have no built-in video preview function, Echo Fire 2.1 adds clipboard previews. Generating a video preview is now as simple as copying an image to the system clipboard, a capability that virtually every application has. Clipboard previews bring true video previewing to 3D applications, paint programs, or virtually any other application that generates or displays images.

Flexible Video Output Options

Echo Fire 2.1 supports a wide variety of video output devices from Apple DV FireWire to uncompressed SDI cards. To maximized choice, Echo Fire is designed to work with any device which includes a QuickTime Video Output Component.

Compatibility

Echo Fire 2.1 is available for PowerPC-based Macintosh systems running Mac OS 8.6, 9.x, and Mac OS X 10.2. A version of Echo Fire 2.1 is also available for Windows 2000 and XP. A complete list of supported video cards is available on the company's Web site. For use with FireWire, a DV camcorder or media converter is required. Echo Fire is compatible with NTSC and PAL video systems.

Pricing, Availability and Upgrades

Echo Fire 2.1 is available immediately. List price for Echo Fire is $275. Registered users of Echo Fire 2.0 may download a free update. Upgrades from Echo Fire 1.x are $49. Echo Fire is available through a network of resellers and directly from Synthetic Aperture.

About Synthetic Aperture

Founded in 1995, Synthetic Aperture is a provider of practical tools for digital video and audio. In addition to Echo Fire, Synthetic Aperture publishes the Video Finesse filters for Adobe Premiere, the Color Finesse advanced color corrector for Adobe After Effects and Apple Final Cut Pro, 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.