The Industry's Preeminent Provider of 3D and Visual Effects Solutions Debuts
Latest Releases of Award-Winning 3D Animation, 2D/3D Integration and Web
Content Creation Products
SIGGRAPH, NEW ORLEANS, July 25 /PRNewswire/ -- Discreet, a division of
Autodesk, Inc. (Nasdaq: ADSK) will introduce the latest versions of several of
its award-winning software applications, announce a new platform for the game
community and showcase breakthrough 3D technologies at SIGGRAPH 2000 Booth
#1037. With these announcements, Discreet extends its already significant
leadership position as the preeminent supplier of an integrated family of 3D
and visual effects products for games, post-production, broadcast and the web.
"We firmly believe Discreet is better placed than any other company to
shape the future of digital content creation," said Phillip Miller, senior
director for Discreet software products. "We are the acknowledged leader in
3D animation and modeling, with the world's best-selling product, 3d studio
max(R). We've made dazzling breakthroughs in crowd animation with the latest
release of the powerful companion product, character studio(R) 3. Our
solutions offer the best integration of 2D and 3D tools, with advanced and
seamless integration between products. All this means that Discreet is
positioned as the definitive market leader in the digital content creation
industry."
The acknowledged leader in 3D
Discreet led the 3D animation for the past decade, ever since the launch
of 3D Studio(R) at SIGGRAPH 1990. This year Discreet will present a
technology preview of the next major release of 3d studio max, showing it is
well positioned for the upcoming decade as well.
Key new areas of 3d studio max, featured at the Discreet theater, begin
with sweeping character animation advances including a new IK architecture
with IK solver plug-ins, weighted constraints, and custom manipulators. Unique
visual effects production capabilities include fast and photo-realistic
interactive shading, multi-layered rendering in single passes, and seamless
integration throughout Discreet's product line. Next-generation game
development advances include the latest Direct-X 8 abilities, advanced
modeling and texturing across subdivision surfaces, patches, and polygons, and
custom attributes for bringing data, interface and output together for
seamless coordination. With over 132,000 users and the largest developer
community of any animation product, 3d studio max will continue far into the
millennium as the standard for 3D artists around the world.
Also being previewed at Discreet's booth is a revolutionary initiative
code-named 3d studio gMAX, based on the upcoming 3d studio max platform that
will deliver powerful 3D tools to game players everywhere. This new
technology is set to explode the volume of 3D game content by giving consumers
their own personal tools to create new levels of interaction and
individualized characters for popular game titles.
At SIGGRAPH 2000, Discreet is pleased to launch character studio 3, the
powerful extension to 3d studio max offering dramatic breakthroughs in 3D
character animation. Among the new features are groundbreaking crowd control
and behavioral-based animation, super-fast Physique(R) skinning and major
enhancements to the inverse kinematics tools.
The pioneer in 2D/3D integration
Discreet pioneered the integration of 2D and 3D, and is the only
manufacturer offering truly integrated 2D and 3D solutions throughout its
broad systems and software product range.
Significant advances to visual effects systems inferno(R), flame(R),
flint(R) and effect(R) underscore Discreet's commitment to 2D/3D integration,
whereby 3d studio max models and associated 3D data integrate into the
advanced Discreet systems for realistic integration of 3D into live action
sequences. Film and video digital artists now have access to the broadest
portfolio of animation with the benefit of streamlined integration.
combustion(TM), Discreet's acclaimed software for the Macintosh(R) and
Windows(R) NT platforms, and 3d studio max combine on the desktop or across a
network to share 3D data through Discreet's revolutionary "Rich Pixel Format"
(RPF). The combustion workspace is accessible from within 3d studio max
providing the animator with the power of vector paint and a full compositor
for creating or fine tuning any map within the scene with synchronized
timelines. This bi-directional integration gives 2D and 3D artists windows to
award-winning technology from within respective artistic, intuitive user
interfaces.
The driving force behind 3D on the Web
Discreet is ahead of rich media delivery, providing 2D and -- increasingly
important -- 3D animation streaming. Discreet supports video streaming
publishing in the new edit and combustion releases. With 3d studio max,
Discreet is the center for creating interactive 3D on the web. Supporting 3D
on the web since 1995, Discreet aggressively drives the potential of that rich
media delivery through a series of strategic Internet partnerships, a free
Internet software bundle, and an expanded Open Source initiative. From
television broadcast and interactive games web sites to the vast world of
e-business, Discreet's Internet-enabled partnership technologies deliver rich
2D and 3D content to attract and maintain viewership and website loyalty.
All these technologies are on display at Discreet's SIGGRAPH Booth #1037.
Discreet's products are also showcased in the booths of its partners, leading
technology industry players such as AMD, Compaq, Dell, Digimation, HP, Matrox,
Nvidia, Pulse Entertainment, SGI and 3D Labs.
About Discreet
Discreet, a division of Autodesk, Inc., is a leader in digital content
creation, management and distribution tools. Discreet develops systems and
software for visual effects, 3D animation, editing and production used in the
creation of digital moving pictures for feature films, video, HDTV, broadcast
graphics, interactive games and the Web. Discreet products are used
extensively in film and video post-production, games and multimedia, broadcast
graphics, programming and on-air event coverage. For more information,
contact any Authorized Discreet Reseller, call Discreet at 800-869-3504, or
visit http://www.discreet.com. Autodesk shares are traded on the NASDAQ national
market under the symbol ADSK.
NOTE: Discreet is a division of Autodesk, Inc. 3d studio max, inferno,
flame, flint, fire, and smoke are registered trademarks, and Discreet and
combustion are trademarks, of Autodesk, Inc./Discreet Logic, Inc. in the USA
and/or other countries. All other brand names, product names, or trademarks
belong to their respective holders.
SOURCE Autodesk, Inc.
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CONTACT:
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Valley, 650-968-4033, ext. 2730, or megan_prest@edelman.com, or
Karen Jezdinsky of Edelman, Toronto, 416-979-1120, ext. 252, or
karen_jezdinsky@edelman.com, both for Discreet
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