The groundbreaking Lightworks Open Source project enters Phase Two; three-tier membership program, advanced stereoscopic features and expanded 3rd party support
AMSTERDAM – September 8, 2011 -- EditShare®, the technology leader in cross platform collaborative editing and shared media storage, is pleased to announce Phase Two of the Lightworks Open Source initiative. The Phase Two roll out includes a three-tier Lightworks membership program; a slew of new editing and workflow capabilities including a native titling tool, stereoscopic support, and advanced interoperability; as well as a new keyboard designed specifically for Lightworks functions and shortcuts. “The Lightworks Open Source initiative has grown well beyond original expectations. The productive community has provided incredible feedback that has helped us expand the roadmap and understand what is important to them as editors,” says James Richings, Managing Director, EditShare EMEA. “Each phase offers exciting new capabilities culminating in the world’s first cross platform professional NLE, which really changes the possibilities for editors.”
The Lightworks Open Source initiative is the world’s largest open source project for a professional non-linear editing platform. With over 140,000 members, EditShare is rolling out the initiative over four phases. Phase One, completed in November of 2010, introduced Lightworks as a free download and launched the Lightworks Community. The Phase Two roll out includes codec licensing through a three-tier membership program, new must-have editing features, and a new keyboard customized for Lightworks. The company plans to launch Phase Three at the end of 2011, offering the Lightworks editor for all three platforms; Windows, Linux and Mac OS X. Phase Four, the rollout of the open source code to the entire community, is scheduled for completion in Q3 2012. “Our original goal was to complete the roll out of Lightworks Open Source this year, but we had an overwhelming number of requests to support Mac OSX and Linux… so much so, that we re-organized our development efforts to ensure we deliver Lightworks Open Source for all three platforms, ” Richings comments. “While we are expanding the road map, we are already working with 3rd party manufacturers so we can support a wide-range of hardware devices and software plug-ins when Phase Four is complete.”
Lightworks Open Source Phase Two
New Membership Program Expands Toolset and Access to 3rd Party Options
In response to user requests for additional features and 3rd party integration, the Phase Two roll out includes a new three-tier model for membership in the Lightworks Community. The current Free Membership level which includes a free Lightworks license and participation in the very active, online Community forum remains unchanged. Members in the newly created Educational and Professional tiers will pay a small annual fee for access to the full version of Lightworks, including all licensable options such as professional codecs. Richings adds, “We’ve had tremendous response to the free licensing of Lightworks and that unrestricted, no-cost option will continue. We’ve also heard from many people who want added functionalities, such as professional codecs. Some of these features involve additional 3rd party licensing fees. To cover these costs, we’ve created very affordable membership options for educators and professionals who want the extra functionality. For a modest annual membership fee, educators and professionals will benefit from a range of new features as well as enhanced access to the lively, informative Lightworks Community.”
Lightworks Free Membership: no cost per year
Lightworks Educational Membership: £20, €25, $30 per year
Lightworks Professional Membership: £40, €50, $60 per year
New Lightworks Features and Capabilities
New features and capabilities will be available to Education and Professional Lightworks Members on 29th November 2011 and include:
• Native support for professional codecs and other formats
o ProRes
o Red R3D
o DPX
o AVC-Intra
o XDCAM HD and XDCAM EX
o AVCHD / H.264
o IMX
o AVID DNxHD*
*Due to licensing restrictions, Avid DNxHD will be sold separately and available from the web store for £36, €45, $55. This is a one-off cost and not an annual subscription.
• Interoperability
o AAF (with presets for Avid and Pro Tools)
o OMF
o EDL
• Lightworks Shared Projects
o Multiple users can work simultaneously on the same Lightworks Project, collaborating on edits with fast, intuitive user permission controls.
• Lightworks Titling
o A new native Lightworks Titling tool with powerful, GPU-based rendering acceleration and real-time preview offers keyframing with animation and effects capabilities including; gradients, shadows, fade in and out, typewriter effect, rolls and crawls.
• Stereoscopic Support
o Lightworks has an unmatched stereoscopic workflow, with powerful, yet easy to use real-time adjustment tools and codec independent Import / Export options. You can also output Stereoscopic edits through your secondary display or HDMI port. Features include:
• Import
• Editing
• Adjustment/correction
• Export
• Export to a wider range of formats including DVD and BluRay.
• Integration with EditShare Flow (Asset Management) and Ark (Archiving):
o Users can drag and drop clips, subclips and sequences directly from Flow into Lightworks. Through Flow Projects, assistants or archivists can also create Lightworks Projects directly in Flow and prepare media and bins for Lightworks Editors.
• Hardware I/O Support
o Matrox XMIO2, DSXLE2 and MXO2
o Blackmagic Design
o AJA*
o DVS*
* Available early 2012
• Tangent TUBE Support
o Support for the new TUBE protocol gives editors full access to Tangent’s new line of Element control panels.
Lightworks - New Hardware
The new Lightworks Keyboard, available in English UK, English US, French, Spanish, German, Japanese and more, offers dedicated keys for just about every Lightworks function, as well as other useful shortcuts. The new Lightworks Keyboard, along with the existing Lightworks Console, will be available to purchase from the Lightworks web store on 29th November 2011. The new Lightworks Keyboard will retail for £95, €115, $140, and the Lightworks Console for £1,850, €2,330, $2,800.
For more information about the Phase Two rollout of Lightworks Open Source, including new features, membership option pricing and more, please visit the Lightworks Community at http://www.lightworksbeta.com/announcements.
About Lightworks
Academy® and Emmy® award-winning Lightworks was introduced in 1989 as the first and most advanced professional editing system on the market. Its intuitive controls, real-time synchronization, and editing features remain unmatched by top industry alternatives. The Lightworks system is used daily on many news and sports productions around the world, as well as on multiple feature-length motion pictures. Recent films edited on the Lightworks platform include the Academy-Award® winning The King’s Speech, edited by Tariq Anwar; Hanna, edited by Paul Tothill; and Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark, edited by Jill Bilcock. For more information about Lightworks and a comprehensive list of its production credits, please visit http://www.lightworksbeta.com/.
About EditShare LLC
EditShare LLC is the pioneer of a new category of collaborative editing solutions designed for digital media workgroups and production companies. The EditShare system fuels the collaborative creative process for digital media artists by delivering high-quality, high-performance, and cost-effective networked collaborative editing solutions. For more information, please visit: http://www.editshare.com.
©2011 EditShare LLC. All rights reserved. EditShare™ is a registered trademark of EditShare LLC. All other trademarks mentioned herein belong to their respective owners.
Press Contact
Janice Dolan
Zazil Media Group
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(e) janice@zazilmediagroup.com
