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NewTek Toaster [2]: TV Studio in a Box
 | | (click for enlargement) A pixel track is calculated in Aura 2.5. |
Aura is a resolution-independent paint program with a timeline. If you hit Scan, it will dutifully go off and search the currently selected folder or directory, showing you thumbnails of available video clips. And, you right-click on one of the icons it finds, and it plays it for you. When you choose a clip, it loads its frames into Aura, and breaks these clips into fields. Then, you can paint on each one. With this, you can make some great looking animated titles, that are so good that you'll be tempted to use it instead of Toaster CG. But it does more than just titles. For example, that great effect where one object is in color and all the rest of the picture is in black & white is made easy in Aura (especially if the color you want to isolate is the only example of that color in the frame, something to keep in mind during pre-production). Aura VT lets you quickly isolate one color. And, you don't have to render the final output, either. I'm a big Aura fan, and it's fun to play with all your layers and move them around without having to render anything. Then when you're done, the results can be used on your ToasterEdit timeline. Another trick I tried in Aura 2.5 was pixel tracking, which can be used for corner pinning that is, maybe you want to change the logo on a truck that passes through your shot. It's quick and easy to go to Aura's pixel tracking settings, select the region you want to track, mark in and out points and hit Track, and then it calculates the track frame-by-frame, generating a motion path that can be applied to anything. Wow. It works fast, too. Really fast. Remarkable.
However, if you'd like to create a long credit roll or a long crawl, Toaster CG is the place to be. But I had a problem with the Toaster CG module -- every time I'd try to launch it, the application would crash. Maybe it was just the test system I was using, but not having basic CG capability in a system that calls itself a TV Studio in a Box is lame. Hopefully this is another small tweak NewTek will fix quickly. NewTek officials told me the build of software I tested didn't have a last-minute fix they created for Toaster CG, and assured me that now it works well. I didn't see this for myself, though. In the meantime, I'll take Aura any day.
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 | | (Click for enlargement) FX Monkey makes animation easier |
But wait! There's more! (Sorry). Toaster [2] wouldn't be a real Toaster without at least a subset of LightWave 3D in it, NewTek's excellent 3D modeling and animation package. In Toaster [2] it's called LightWave Express. Even though it's not up to the full strength of LightWave, it has one feature, FX Monkey that makes it unique, especially for editors who find 3D animation a tedious process. Able to script animations by clicking on icons, FX Monkey allow you to be more of a creator and less of a technician. Most editors, if they are going to create any animation at all, do flying logos -- they rarely create complex character animations. It's easy to open FX Monkey, choose the logo you want to work with, click Pick Motions, select a few effects, and wham! It's instant flying logos for dummies. Don't be insulted by this, though. It's sophisticated like LightWave 3D without having to climb that time-consuming learning curve. It's only available in LightWave Express as part of Toaster [2].
 | | (Click graphic for enlargement) Here's LightWave Express's modeler, very much like the full version of LightWave. |
What is LightWave Express lacking? Its interface looks very much like the full version of LightWave (see graphic at right), but, you don't get to have as much control over particles, high end character animations tools, and things like inverse kinematics which allow you to create life-like characters. But it's really advanced for a basic animation package. But I'll use FX monkey instead, whenever I want to make a flying logo or two. And if you get really interested in 3D animation, NewTek is offering what it calls "aggressive upgrade pricing" for LightWave 3D, meaning they'll give you a $1000 discount -- it retails for $2500 but they'll let you upgrade to the full version for $1500. If you bought a Toaster NT after NAB 2000, NewTek will let you upgrade the software for free. If you got your toaster before that, the upgrade is $495. Best of all, these are only software upgrades. And that bodes well for the future, too, because it implies that next time things are improved, there will be only a software update required then, too, and everything will be brought up to date. By the way, if you're looking for a dual-Standard NTSC/Pal version of Toaster [2], its price is $3,495.00. And if you own an Amiga Video Toaster, NewTek shows you its thanks for your loyalty by giving you a $500.00 discount for, as NewTek told me, " just for being cool."
Finally, Toaster [2] is far ahead of where its granddad, the Video Toaster was more than a decade ago. It can handle compressed and uncompressed files, MPEG-1, and native DV (if you have one of those cheap DV I/O cards I mentioned earlier). It mixes uncompressed graphics with compressed video on the same timeline. It has more than just about any producer would ever use in one application. And except for its $995 SDI option and that $1995 breakout box (that you don't absolutely need), it's not nickel-and-diming you to death with options, either. On the downside, I wish Toaster [2] it had some kind of autocapture facility for DV like almost every editing software/hardware combo application includes these days, but hey, you can't have everything, and maybe, since most of this wizardry is done in software, these features are a mere software update away. The best compliment I can pay the Toaster [2], though, is that it feels like it was designed by someone who has actually produced a television program or two. At last!
 Charlie White has been writing about new media and digital video since it was the laughingstock of the television industry. A technology journalist and columnist for the past eight years, White is also an Emmy-winning producer, video editor and shot-calling PBS TV director with 27 years broadcast experience. Talk back -- Send Chazz a note at cwhite@digitalmedianet.com.
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