Pinnacle Systems Ships Lightning 500 Image Management Solution and Offers All Lightning Customers Free Upgrade to Powerful New Software Version 3.2

Business Wire, Sept 8, 1998

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 8, 1998--Pinnacle Systems Inc. (NASDAQ:PCLE), an industry leader and innovator in Windows(R) NT(R) based image management and still store solutions, today announced that it has begun shipment of its feature rich, economically priced Lightning(tm) 500, and will also introduce Lightning Software 3.2.

The Lighting 500 joins the Lightning 1000 as the second member of the Company's Lightning Family of advanced image store solutions.

Lightning 3.2 software is a major technological advancement for all of the products in the Lightning product line, with a host of new features that make Lightning one of the most advanced image storage and management systems in the professional video industry. Lightning software version 3.2 adds new transitions including pushes up, down, left or right, plus slides up, down, left or right. Larger operations requiring a client/server topology for image management can now utilize Microsoft's SQL Server(R) as the database engine.

Further, new 3.2 options include a titling feature that allows Lightning family products to integrate with the Company's PostDeko(tm) character generation application, allowing users to add titles to existing stills in a non-destructive manner. This option allows titles that are added to a still to be altered or deleted at any time. The new Lightning software version 3.2 will be available free of charge to all Lightning customers.

Included with the Lightning 1000, and as an option for the Lightning 500, is a new keyframing option in Lightning software 3.2. The keyframing option allows the operator to create timelined 3D keyframe effects on the built-in DVE and store them as transitions for airing stills or clips. The keyframer option also includes automatic compositing.

This new feature option allows a multi-element still to be brought to air one element at a time -- compositing the elements automatically. Additionally, software version 3.2 allows Lightning 1000 customers to take advantage of live video through layouts. This new feature allows a user to pass video, or play a clip, through a layout or keyframe effect.

About the Lightning Family

All Lightning family products deliver extremely fast on-air performance, combined with broadcast-quality picture processing, and the industry's most comprehensive networking capability, BroadNeT(tm), which is based on the Windows(R) NT(R) platform. Lightning family products provide a complete image management system for broadcast and post-production applications, with built-in, real-time 3D digital video effects including layouts with perspective, virtually unlimited storage capacity, and a fast, proven database which supports non-Roman languages such as Kanji.

As an example of performance, broadcasters can instantaneously play back images in a variety of "over the shoulder" layout configurations without impacting recall time. Additional features which make Lightning the ultimate still store include the ability to easily combine a key from one image with video from another, OLE automation for external software control, support for databases on removable media, database locking, and support for rectangular or square pixels in import/export functions.

Lightning 1000

This is the top of the line Lightning product, offering 1, 2 or 3 channel operation. It is aimed at the high-end broadcast market, in installations where many systems are likely to be networked together. It is available with Digital, or analog and digital input/output. Standard storage capacity is more than 5,000 stills, with internal expansion capability beyond 10,000 stills. With the addition of external disk drives, storage is unlimited.

Lightning 500

This sub $20,000 product is a lower-priced addition to the Lightning product family and includes most of the features of the industry-standard Lightning 1000 systems, and allows customers to add more advanced features as options to the standard product. Lightning 500 systems are available in 1 or 2 channel configurations with either digital or analog I/O, starting under $20,000.

The new Lightning 500 delivers a variety of import, export and cataloguing features, as well as the ability to play back still and moving images. Lightning 500 can hold up to 3,000 stills internally, with additional capacity available across your network. With its fast database search engine and support for 40 different file formats, users can locate files in an instant by number, date, title, category, user, memo and other fields. Lightning 500 has an easy-to-use graphics user interface and pictorial format. Files can also be imported over a network or from the Internet by simply dragging and dropping.

This is a 525/60 only version of the Lightning 1000, offering 1 or 2 channel operation. Lightning 500 is aimed at the mid-range broadcast market, or installations where relatively few (three to four) systems are likely to be networked together.

Lightning 100

Pinnacle Systems is scheduled to begin shipment of the Lightning 100 series Image Management and Storage Systems in October. Priced under $7,000 (US), the new Lightning 100 is Pinnacle's affordable image management system, and is the ideal product for the price-sensitive user. The Lightning 100 offers high-end image management, image import, cataloging, and still image playback. This single-channel solution is available with either analog or digital I/O.