NewTek Debuts Next-Gen TriCaster 40

Last summer, NewTek – and its popular TriCaster line of production systems – further established itself as one of the kings of the college sports video production marketplace with the release of the TriCaster 40. Its under-$5,000 price tag raised the eyebrows of live content creators and opened the door to a wealth of new client opportunities for the company.

NewTek has released Version 2 of its TriCaster 40 production studio.

NewTek is looking to build on that momentum with the announcement of Version 2 of the HD multi-camera video production studio.

TriCaster 40 is designed as a low-cost, entry-level solution that fits right into the wheelhouse of many university athletic departments and communications schools.

“What excites us most about the college market, particularly in the US, is the sheer volume of sports games and how cost-prohibitive it has typically been for schools to have all the technology they need to produce a great-looking, high-quality sportscast,” says Carter Holland, EVP of Worldwide Marketing at NewTek. “Both our TriCaster and 3Play products give schools access to what would normally be found in a multi-million dollar production truck – but for a very small fraction of the cost. Any school that wants to produce coverage of their sports teams can now do it on a tight budget, but with the look of a major sports television network.”

Version 2 of TriCaster 40 gives students, schools, corporate video departments, small organizations and communities, video bloggers, and independent producers unprecedented access to tools such as customizable animated transitions, network-style titles and graphics, improved file interoperability and, more.

The workflow of the NewTek TriCaster 40.

“Colleges will love the ability to not only create – but customize – transitions and effects, using something we call Animation Store Creator,” adds Holland. “In addition to the many transitions that come preloaded on the TriCaster, users can also easily create and customize their own graphics with their favorite applications and easily import them into TriCaster for beautiful full color and full motion overlays – even warped video mapped against any 3D surface for truly incredible realism. This is the kind of stuff that has really only been available to very high-end broadcasters until now.”

According to Holland, the latest additions to Version 2 came from conversations with clients, many of which work in the college space.

“When talking with these customers, one of the most common requests has been for more graphics and visual capabilities that enhance the video footage with branded elements, making the look of their shows feel like something you might see on network television,” he says. “We’ve responded to that request with version 2 of TriCaster 40, incorporating a wide variety of templates to create and customize full color graphics, animated transitions, and pristine titles – all of which are common branding attributes in a network broadcast.  There are many other enhancements as well, but the primary focus was to empower this group of customers with more creative and visual control so they can produce content that looks, feels and engages their audience with the same kind of experience they get when they watch traditional TV.

More information from NewTek’s official release:

TriCaster 40: What’s New

With a broad range of new production capabilities, TriCaster 40 now enables video producers to create stunning HD television-style video broadcasts. Users can look forward to:

• Creating more engaging content with network-style, highly designed visuals that deliver a polished, post-production look to live productions, in real time;
• Creating and customizing transitions and effects, using the now included Animation Store Creator to produce full color full motion overlays, audio for both directions and even warped video mapped against any 3D surface for the highest-impact presentations possible;
• Adding a dedicated title station with the included LiveText application for creating unique HD titles and graphics with hundreds of pre-loaded templates, displaying real-time data, and using vector-based drawing tools and extensive text options for designing custom graphics;
• Enhancing the viewing experience with new video formats, recording options and session resolutions to reach more viewers on the platforms they watch;
• Maximizing production efficiency and minimizing disruptions with new workflows for capturing to disk and exporting to external applications for the smoothest content creation; and,
• Improving visual quality and consistency, correcting for variances in the video signal on every input, and tightly calibrating white, black and color levels for every source to broadcast-acceptable standards with preview scopes.

Pricing and Availability
Existing TriCaster 40 customers can purchase the TriCaster 40 version 2 software immediately for $995 US MSRP. From now until July 12, 2013, TriCaster 40 systems can be purchased for $4,995 US MSRP, with the option to upgrade to version 2 software for $995 US MSRP.

Beginning July 12, all TriCaster 40 systems will include the version 2 software, at which time the new system price will increase to $5,995 US MSRP.  An optional control surface for TriCaster 40 is available for $1,995 US MSRP.

International pricing may vary.