Softworks and Alacrity supported mixed formats and resolutions in real time and project output in different resolutions without re- rendering. Softworks offered the Lightworks User Interface and toolset in a software only package for laptops or office workstations. Under Gee Broadcast ownership, new product releases resumed with the release of the Lightworks Touch range, and the Alacrity and Softworks ranges for SD & HD editing. In 1999 it was sold on to the newly formed Lightworks Inc., then owned by Fairlight Japan, and then purchased by Gee Broadcast in May 2004.

OLE Limited was founded in 1989 by Paul Bamborough, Nick Pollock and Neil Harris. The free version cannot export to DVD or Blu-ray, but can export to a hard drive (since Lightworks 14). Export to YouTube (H.264/MPEG-4) up to 720p.Export to Vimeo (H.264/MPEG-4) up to 720p.Ability to import a range of file types.The free version comes with a limited number of features: In July 2020, a Lightworks product manager confirmed that they 'Still hope to announce something in the future' about Lightworks' open source development. However, no source code of the program has been released.

The development of an open-source version was announced on April 11, 2010.

Lightworks won a 2017 EMMY Award for being one of the first to create digital nonlinear editing software. It was an early developer of computer-based non-linear editing systems, and has been in development since 1989. Lightworks is a non-linear editing system (NLE) for editing and mastering digital video.

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