The Elemental Accelerator 2.0 plugin costs a nausiating $249 but promises to boost performance by up to 11x when compared to CPU-only H.264 video encoding.

NVIDIA is offering exclusive discounts of up to 50 percent on plug-ins from Elemental Technologies, Boris FX, Red Giant Software and proDAD when purchased at NVIDIA.com.

Among the plug-ins being offered is the NVIDIA CUDA(TM) architecture-based Elemental Accelerator 2.0 for Windows from Elemental Technologies (MSRP $499 discounted to $249). By leveraging the CUDA parallel computing architecture, this new plug-in offloads H.264 video encoding to the Quadro GPU, enabling Adobe Premiere Pro CS4 users to experience a performance increase of up to 11X when compared to CPU-only video encoders. Now available on a range of Quadro GPUs, Elemental Accelerator 2.0 supports the creation of Blu-ray DVDs and web content using Flash. In addition, NVIDIA and Elemental Technologies are bringing accelerated H.264 video encoding capabilities to Mac Pro users for the first time with the new Elemental Accelerator 1.2 for Mac OS X running on the Quadro FX 4800 for Mac.

"The enhanced performance of Elemental Accelerator 2.0, combined with an expanded line-up of Quadro GPUs, delivers exceptional value and increased productivity to a wide range of video professionals," said Sam Blackman, CEO of Elemental Technologies. "The Quadro GPU's CUDA architecture has enabled the Elemental Accelerator to offer faster than real-time H.264 encoding speed for Blu-ray and web production, while delivering exceptional image quality with H.264/MPEG-4 AVC files."

In addition, customers using NVIDIA's latest Quadro GPUs are eligible for exclusive discounts on plug-in solutions from Red Giant Software, Boris FX and proDAD. Available on the NVIDIA web site, these plug-ins allow users to further harness the power of the Quadro GPU to experience dramatic time savings over conventional CPU-only solutions when creating compelling 3D visual and lighting effects.

"The ability to develop real-time motion graphics and effortlessly perform color correction are very important developments for Adobe CS4 users," said Sean Safreed, product director of Red Giant Software. "The work we have done with NVIDIA on our GPU-accelerated plug-ins enables a creative professional to tap into the power of the Quadro GPU in their system, and freely experiment with a wide range of visual effects and color control, thereby enhancing the creativity of their final production."

The full line of Quadro GPUs are optimized to enable GPU-acceleration across the entire family of Adobe CS4 applications including: Adobe Premiere Pro, After Effects, Flash and Photoshop. From importing files and editing multi-video streams, to previewing video content, video professionals can now optimize their work-flow and enhance the creative process.

"Quadro GPUs offer the best performance for Adobe CS4 professionals," said Jeff Brown, general manager, Professional Solutions Business Unit at NVIDIA. "Offering GPU-accelerated plug-ins to Adobe videographers and enabling them to choose the Quadro FX solution that best fits their budget illustrates our commitment to delivering performance and value to the Adobe user community."