Pinnacle Systems Ships Award-Winning Liquid Chrome

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.— Pinnacle Systems, Inc. announced thatit has begun shipping Liquid chrome, a powerful new compositing andediting system that debuted to crowds and accolades at the 2003National Association of Broadcasters convention. Pinnacle has alsounveiled exciting new configuration and pricing options for Liquidchrome, with a starting price of just $14,995 (U.S. suggested retailprice).

Rob Nordvik, Executive Vice President of Video Production, BradKinney Productions said, "I just completed my largest editing projectever, using the new Liquid chrome. Working with the powerful PinnacleLiquid editing environment in conjunction with the extensive newrealtime capabilities was instrumental in completing this project. Withoutstanding codecs and capabilities like realtime 32-bit alpha channelcompositing, the results were stunning. Having a system that gives suchfull-featured realtime capability is very beneficial for us, as well asour clients. Our clients care about money, and Liquid chrome isenabling us to offer them the highest-level work with the speed to keepon budget. The power, stability and ease of use of Liquid chrome hasallowed us to completely replace two of our edit suites, andsubstantially cut back on the use of our third suite."

Liquid chrome enhances the complete line of Pinnacle Liquidnetworked editors, which includes Liquid blue for multi-formatBroadcast environments, Liquid chrome for realtime post settings wheretime and quality are at a premium, Liquid silver for MPEG-2 postediting, and Liquid purple for broadcast software-based DV editingapplications.

Patrick McLean, Senior Product Manager, Pinnacle Systems said, "Wewere thrilled with the welcome Liquid chrome received at NAB, but notsurprised. After all, Liquid chrome was designed to be everythingtoday's postproduction professionals demand. The highest qualitycodecs, including uncompressed, deliver uncompromising image quality.The video effects are second to none. The Pinnacle Liquid editingenvironment features the latest in GUI design and is intuitive toexperienced professionals. The addition of Palladium shared storagewill let facilities use modern collaborative workflow work faster andmore effectively. And with the remarkable price points, no one has tobreak the bank to do their best work."

Designed for professional postproduction, Liquid chrome combinesthree renowned Pinnacle components--Pinnacle Liquid editing software,the TARGA 3000 compositing engine, and the K2 single-chip 3D DVE--intoa comprehensive and cost-effective turnkey editing solution. Liquidchrome features high quality codecs for I-frame MPEG-2 4:2:2 up to 50Mbps, uncompressed and DV25 video formats, as well as extensiverealtime 2D and 3D DVE capability, four realtime video streams,unlimited layering, and Pinnacle Liquid's renowned effects processingthat renders complex, many-layered effects without interruptingworkflow. Liquid chrome gives users a remarkable suite of creativityenhancing software including the powerful TitleDeko Pro charactergenerator, Commotion Pro image editing and compositing, Impression DVDPro authoring, and Pinnacle Liquid CX color correction.

Customer Keith Bogart, Producer/Editor, Zero Gravity Project said,"Taken on their own, each of the advances in Liquid chrome issignificant. The real inspiration, however, is in their seamlessintegration. Every other NLE makes the user feel as if they are movingbetween separate environments for each task. Liquid chrome brings allits power together in a consistent, unified environment so thatworkflow is uninterrupted. It used to be there was only one way togo-the Pinnacle Liquid product line is a serious alternative. Anyoneconsidering a new editing system needs to look at Liquid chrome."

Customers can purchase a complete Pinnacle Liquid chrome turnkeysystem including the Pro Digital & Analog breakout box for $24,995.Turnkey systems including Pro Digital or Pro Analog breakout box areavailable for $19,995 and board and software packages for just $14,995(US suggested retail price). Existing Liquid silver systems can beupgraded for just $6,995 board and software (US suggested retail price)and current TARGA 3000 systems can upgrade for just $4,995 board andsoftware (US suggested retail price).

About Pinnacle Systems, Inc.
Pinnacle Systems provides broadcasters and consumers with cutting-edgedigital media creation, storage, and play-back solutions for use atHome, in the Studio and on the Air. Pinnacle Systems' award winningdigital media solutions are in use around the world for broadcast,video editing, DVD and CDR authoring and on the Internet. A recognizedindustry leader, the company has received eight prestigious Emmy Awardsfor its technical innovations and carries this commitment throughoutall of its product lines. Pinnacle Systems may be reached at (650)526-1600 or at www.pinnaclesys.com.