MENLO PARK, CA (February 26, 2000)-- Accom, Inc. announced that its new AFFINITY nonlinear editing (NLE) system, made its Australian debut on the Apple Computer stand during Digital Media World 2000 in Sydney, Australia.

AFFINITY, distributed in Australia by Rexel Australia Video Systems, is a real-time uncompressed digital 601 editing, effects, compositing, and finishing system designed to meet the demanding needs of creative professionals in high-end broadcast television and video post-production.

AFFINITY features five simultaneous real-time streams of uncompressed or compressed video (Background, embedded Background Key, Overlay, embedded Overlay Key and Title). Compressed and uncompressed clips can be mixed in any project, allowing the user to optimize image quality vs. storage time for each digitized clip. AFFINITY also offers a new real-time frame-based, motion-adaptive Abekas(R) DVE and DveousFX(R) with warps, lighting, and texture effects, offering significantly higher picture quality than field-based DVEs in competing NLE systems.

AFFINITY allows its users to digitize either uncompressed or compressed (2:1 up to 35:1) on a clip-by-clip basis. It is a platform-independent design that is now shipping with software for the Macintosh, with WindowsNT support coming later this year.

AFFINITY's new Dimension.8 software offers precise editing features like true three-point insert/over-write/fit-to-fill editing, clip pinning and track locking, all while maintaining the simplicity of "drag & drop" editing. Dimension.8's new clip grouping allows even non-contiguous elements from any combination of tracks to be joined, then moved or saved as a single element. A new Project-oriented interface also offers full search & sort to simplify management of elements, especially in long-form projects.

AFFINITY media clips are stored in native QuickTime format, which provides seamless interchange with all leading graphics and effects applications. Multiple users can collaborate easily on any project, with simple file sharing between PCs and applications and, with NO proprietary networking hardware or software required. AFFINITY's open architecture and industry-standard QuickTime file system allows every user to choose the most creative tools available for each production. No other NLE system offers the real-time speed, power, and flexibility of Accom's new AFFINITY.

The public launch coincided with the visit of Apple's QuickTime Technology Manager, Jeff Lowe who said, "I believe the Accom AFFINITY is the premier nonlinear digital editing system showcasing QuickTime. It is the only example of its kind of a fully functional nonlinear editing system that uses a resolution independent and file format independent platform. Accom has designed the AFFINITY from the ground up to be a QuickTime only platform running on cross platform computers."

"If you develop under QuickTime one time, you can take advantage of many codecs and APIs that are included. So what this means is that you can create video or other content as a QuickTime file and then save it in many other formats so it is truly a case of author once, publish many," continued Lowe.

As for the ability to create streaming media, which was a hot topic at Digital Media World 2000, Lowe had this to say, "The Accom AFFINITY was set up to be the best possible uncompressed digital video tool. You automatically have the ability to take the output and create a streaming movie. Furthermore, you can compress that same QuickTime file and with no change other than the compression type, go from uncompressed D1 video to something that can go onto a DVD, CD-ROM or stream to the Internet."

Accom is a leader in broadcast and professional video products and prides itself on its stellar reputation, which is recognized throughout the industry worldwide. Well known for its digital disk recorders, hybrid editors, digital video effects systems, switchers and servers, Accom's new AFFINITY joins this industry standard family of products as being the latest in cutting edge technology in nonlinear editing systems.

About Accom

Accom, headquartered in Menlo Park, California, designs, manufactures, sells, and supports a complete line of digital video production, disk recording, and editing tools for the professional worldwide television production, post production, broadcasting, and computer video marketplaces. For more information, visit the Accom web site at www.accom.com.

SOURCE Accom, Inc.

CO: Accom, Inc.; Rexel Australia Video Systems

ST: California, Australia