SYNTHETIC APERTURE RELEASES VIDEO FINESSE 2.0 FOR ADOBE PREMIERE

New Version Adds Expandable Displays, New Filters and Boosts Performance

SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO, CA -- August 30, 1999 -- Synthetic Aperture today announced the release of Video Finesse 2.0, the latest version of its cross-platform video filter plug-ins for Adobe Premiere, now available for immediate shipment.

The new version adds two new video filters--a video noise reducer and a Gaussian blur--bringing the total filter count to nine. The other filters--SA Adjust, SA Bandwidth Limit, SA Dropout, SA Gamut Limit, SA Sharpen, SA Skin Detail, and SA Soften--have been enhanced with new features and further tuned for increased performance. And in response to a popular request, the filter preview, waveform monitor, and vectorscope displays can now be expanded to separate, floating windows that can be arranged and resized as desired.

"We continued to listen to what video professionals were asking for and incorporated their input into this version of Video Finesse." said Robert Currier, President, Synthetic Aperture. "The enlarged waveform monitor and vectorscope displays are easier to read precisely, and the video noise reduction filter salvages footage shot in low-light/high-gain situations, which can be a life saver for event videographers."

Two New Filters

Video Noise Reduction Filter -- Of particular interest to event videographers and others who must often shoot in less-than-ideal situations, this filter removes the video noise often found in low-light images. By using a spatio-temporal filter with adjustable edge preservation, noise can be greatly reduced without causing degradation to the rest of the image, and without the motion artifacts created by other filters. By combining the Noise Reduction and Adjust filters of Video Finesse, video levels can be significantly increased without objectionable noise, letting you salvage low-light footage you might previously have given up on.

Gaussian Blur Filter -- A true 32-bit fourth-order Gaussian blur, this filter can be applied in a traditional manner, or can be applied only horizontally or vertically for special effects. It can also be applied to the entire image, or only to specific image channels, including the red, green, blue, luma, or chroma channels. Blurring only the chroma channel gives the "soft color" look currently popular in television advertising.

Expandable Displays

The filter preview, waveform monitor, and vectorscope displays can now be placed into separate floating windows. The larger size makes the displays easier to read accurately. In addition, the waveform monitor display can optionally display the peak luma reading within a single frame and across a clip, easily locating "hot spots" that may need adjustment.

Filter Enhancements

Version 2.0 also includes enhancements in the seven filters that were included in the previous version of Video Finesse. The SA Soften filter has a greater softening range, and both it and the SA Sharpen filter now have the option of being applied only in the horizontal or vertical direction. In addition, the filters can be applied to the full RGB image, to just the red, green or blue color channels, or to the luma or chroma channels. All filters now have both vertical and horizontal split screen previews.

Enhanced Performance

All filters have been further tuned to increase performance and to take advantage of processor-specific features, with the SA Soften and SA Sharpen filters seeing a particular improvement in rendering speed.

Compatibility

Video Finesse 2.0 is available for Macintosh and Windows systems and is compatible with Adobe Premiere 4.2, 5.0, and 5.1. The Macintosh version requires a PowerPC-based CPU with Mac OS 8.0 or later. The Windows version requires a Pentium or equivalent CPU and Windows 95, Windows 98, or Windows NT.

Availability

Video Finesse is available for immediate purchase. List price for Video Finesse is US $195. Orders placed for electronic delivery directly from the company's web site http://www.synthetic-ap.com are eligible for a discounted price of US $165. A free demo version is available on the web site.

Downloadable upgrades are free for registered users of previous versions of Video Finesse.

About Synthetic Aperture

Founded in 1995, Synthetic Aperture is a provider of tools and services for digital video and immersive imaging. In addition to Video Finesse, Synthetic Aperture publishes 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 their web site at http://www.synthetic-ap.com, or by emailing sales@synthetic-ap.com. Screen shots and sample images are available on the web site.