ADPro 2.5 is now available for upgrading. For the first time, you can upgrade your ADPro over the phone via credit card. Here's a press release detailing some of the changes made in ADPro 2.5. Mailings are going out now to registered users. Since you can upgrade via phone, however, we wanted to post this electronically sooner that we have in the past. Upgrade line is: (608) 273 9240 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE AMIGA'S TOP IMAGE PROCESSOR GETS BRAND NEW LOOK AND MORE In what the company terms "the most significant upgrade in its history", ASDG's Art Department Professional (ADPro) now offers unmatched display board support, over 100 pre-written ARexx programs, direct support for the Fargo Primera dye sublimation printer, new file formats and operators, and an entirely new look and feel which dramatically boosts ease-of-use. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Madison, WI, January 14, 1994 ---- ASDG Incorporated, a leading supplier of color imaging and special effects solutions for the television and motion picture industries, announce Art Department Professional (ADPro) version 2.5. According to the company, ADPro 2.5 is "the most significant upgrade in the product's history". ADPro version 2.5 offers a choice of several completely style guide compliant user interfaces. According to company president, Mr. Perry Kivolowitz, "A new and thoroughly modern user interface was our most requested improvement. We surveyed our customers and found that some preferred a list oriented graphical user interface (GUI) for speed, while others preferred a button oriented GUI for ease-of-use. We implemented both and allowed them to be intermixed configurably." The result, says the company, is an easier-to-use ADPro in which no major feature is more than a mouse click away. Comments which typify beta tester feedback to the new user interface include those of Mr. Brick Eksten, of Expert Services. Says Mr. Eksten, "I find the interface to be much faster, and that helps me get more work done." These sentiments were echoed by Mr. Kenneth Wilder, Head Animator with Marmalade, who found the new user interface alone gained him a 20 percent increase in productivity. ADPro's GUI now runs on many third party display boards, such as the Picasso, using RTG (ReTargetable Graphics) technology. ADPro can now render images in a window on the same screen as its user interface, bringing new levels of WYSIWYG performance to the product. Other newly supported third party hardware includes: DPS PAR, EGS, Retina Z-III and Retina, and the Video Toaster. The Amiga's finest image format support has gotten even better with the addition of 6 new file formats in ADPro and 3 new formats in the (optional) Professional Conversion Pack (PCP). To ADPro, the company has added support for Commodore's CDXL animation format, Digital Broadcaster JStream files, FLC and FLI animations, ICO files and direct reading and writing of Workbench icons. The PCP has grown to support files in the SGI, Alias, and Wavefront (both the RLA and RLB varieties) formats. Owners of the PCP should note that, as in the past, their PCP modules will be upgraded as part of the ADPro upgrade. ADPro 2.5 directly supports the revolutionary Fargo Primera printer in its dye sublimation mode (its thermal transfer mode was already supported by ADPro's PrefPrinter saver). "The Primera is a breakthrough due to its low price," said Sales Manager Gina Cerniglia. "We've adapted our state-of-the-art printer support to drive the Primera in dye sub mode including the ability to print huge posters in amazing color." ADPro 2.5 includes more than 100 pre-written ARexx programs, many of which are interactively customizable by the user. Used in conjunction with the latest version of FRED, these ARexx programs can be combined in an infinite number of ways, producing a huge array of full motion special effects automatically. And, ADPro now allows users to define their own ARexx programs which can be incorporated directly into ADPro's configurable user interface. Many other improvements or additions have been made to ADPro such as the ability to perform alpha channel blending with nearly every file format, not just those that support their own alpha channel. Composits can now be performed over a range of colors permitting more flexible chroma keying. New operators include Histogram Equalization and a brush-based Pattern operator. A new program called CineMorph is included which converts streams of images between 24 frame per second film style and 60 field per second video style time bases. ADPro 2.5 also sports greatly improved documentation. ADPro's manual now includes 9 tutorials, many more pictures and diagrams, and an expanded ARexx programming section. The manual has also been reorganized (and its index expanded) based upon customer feedback making it easier to use and more helpful. ADPro 2.5's price will remain unchanged at $299. Existing owners can upgrade for $45 plus shipping and can, for the first time, upgrade via telephone using Visa, MasterCard, or AmericanExpress. For more information, please contact Ms. Gina Cerniglia at ASDG Incorporated, 925 Stewart Street, Madison, WI 53713 or call (608) 273 6585. Expert Services can be reached at (606) 371 9690. Marmalade can be reached at (818) 552 5024. END ----------------------------------------------------------------------