INDUSTRY

GridIron Software, a leading developer of grid computing solutions, today announced GridIron X-Factor 1.5 for Adobe After Effects Professional 6.5. In addition to faster preview processing, X-Factor 1.5 now speeds rendering of the Adobe After Effects Render Queue, enables the use of large, high-resolution digital video files on network drives and Storage Area Networks (SANs), and supports the enhanced security features of Windows XP SP2. Launched at the International Broadcasting Conference (IBC) in Amsterdam, GridIron X-Factor 1.5 is a software extension that uses grid computing technology to increase the speed of the preview and rendering capabilities of Adobe After Effects Professional 6.5 by dividing and distributing the work ordinarily performed on a single computer among several computers joined together in a network. GridIron X-Factor for Adobe After Effects has been rapidly adopted by video professionals to provide faster preview processing and rendering of motion graphics and effects for film, video, DVD and the Web. The new capabilities were developed in response to requests from users working in high-resolution formats for film and high definition (HD) broadcast. Nitrous Ltd. is a rapidly expanding post facility that is using X-Factor for graphics and video creation. Nitrous Ltd. offers the latest in high-end editorial, 2D motion graphics, 3D animation and compositing for clients including ABC Sports, BMG, Cinemax, ESPN, HBO, HBO Sports, MTV, Rockstar Games and TV Land. Compositing with products like Adobe After Effects Pro in conjunction with X-Factor by GridIron enables Nitrous designers to optimize their workflow and further tap into their creativity. As a result, graphic effects are easier to create, at less cost and with more believable results. "Working with GridIron's X-Factor allows us to make multiple revisions without waiting for long renders. ABC Sports loved what the X-Factor software did for our delivery time, which is a key factor in their selection of post-production vendors," said Nitrous Creative Director Daniel Burns. "GridIron's X-Factor has completely changed the post-production landscape because it allows us to stay competitive with larger production houses and effectively produce more content under the same production deadlines." A key X-Factor 1.5 enhancement is the ability to process the Adobe After Effects Render Queue. While preview processing speeds the creative process, many broadcast professionals use the After Effects Render Queue and render options to generate final renders of HD projects. GridIron X-Factor 1.5 provides the same linear performance improvement for processing of the Render Queue that it provides for preview processing. With X-Factor 1.5, Render Queue processing will take place twice as fast on two machines than on one, three times faster on three, and so on. Professionals working with very high resolution digital video for film projects will benefit significantly from new X-Factor support for network drives. Given the large size of data used for film projects, often in the range of several terabytes or more, film professionals typically store footage centrally on large network drives or SANs. GridIron X-Factor 1.5 accommodates network storage configurations and allows the benefit of faster processing and rendering to be realized without requiring compute nodes to have high-capacity disc drives. GridIron X-Factor 1.5 also makes it possible to take full advantage of new security and network features included in the Windows XP SP2. GridIron is demonstrating X-Factor at the Adobe booth (10.100) at IBC. Pricing and Availability GridIron X-Factor 1.5 will be available in October 2004 for both Windows and Macintosh OS X. The enhanced support for network drives and Windows XP SP2 is included with X-Factor Basic edition, and Render Queue processing will be included as a feature of X-Factor Unlimited edition. Current users of X-Factor can upgrade from version 1.0 to 1.5 at no charge, and the pricing of X-Factor remains unchanged. The Basic edition of X-Factor 1.5, which allows use of X-Factor with Adobe After Effects Professional 6.5 on two additional computers to double the speed of preview processing and rendering, can be downloaded at no charge at http://www.gridironxfactor.com/download. X-Factor Plus edition is available for $99 per CPU, which allows X-Factor to run on more than two computers and provides additional features to efficiently manage multiple remote computers, such as selecting which computers to use, checking for the availability of plug-ins and fonts, and distributing or deleting source footage. At $1,995, X-Factor Unlimited provides all the features of X-Factor Plus, and allows an Adobe After Effects workstation to use X-Factor for significantly improved performance with an unlimited number of additional computers. The X-Factor Plus and Unlimited license upgrades can be purchased at http://www.gridironxfactor.com.