SOFTIMAGE ANNOUNCES NEW CONNECTIONS TO MAYA, 2D3, KAYDARA AND MILKSHAPE PRODUCTS
Posted by Ben on Thursday, August 29 2002

Montreal, Quebec - August 29, 2002 - Softimage Co., a subsidiary of Avid Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ: AVID), today announced the availability of a new set of tools for transporting data between 3-D applications. This latest expansion adds support for Alias|Wavefront Maya®, 2d3 boujou, Kaydara FILMBOX and MOTIONBUILDERT, and the Half-Life, Unreal and Lithtech game platforms via MilkShape. The announcement also fortifies Softimage's continuing 'Connect' initiative, which streamlines 3-D data connectivity via the dotXSITM file format, and addresses the growing numbers of animators and technical directors needing to move 3-D data into or out of Softimage products to take advantage of its unique and industry-leading technology.

The Softimage 'Connect' suite of tools significantly expands the interoperability of SOFTIMAGE®|XSI® and SOFTIMAGE|3D systems with other 3-D formats and applications. It brings together free or open-source tools, including converters and libraries for building custom pipelines, with commercial solutions from partners such as Right Hemisphere®, Born Digital and Okino.

The new suite of tools adds to the existing support for LightWave, Discreet 3ds maxTM, Macromedia Director® 8.5, Realviz® MatchMover® and ImageModeler®, as well as a vast online library of 3-D content in the dotXSI format available from Turbo Squid.

Making the Move from Maya
Maya users now have free access to a public beta of 'dotXSI xchange for Maya', a plug-in allowing users to export content created in Maya to the state-of-the-art SOFTIMAGE|XSI 3-D nonlinear production environment. Once there, users can perfect their work in SOFTIMAGE|XSI using the system's advanced polygonal modeling and animation blending tools, best-of-breed hair/fur simulation, industry-leading interactive rendering with mental ray®, and fully-integrated film-quality compositing environment.

"Since demonstrating the tremendous productivity, creativity, and financial advantages possible with SOFTIMAGE|XSI v.3.0 at Siggraph 2002, we've received a dramatic increase in requests from owners of older technology 3-D products for assistance in migrating to SOFTIMAGE|XSI," comments Michael Sheasby, director of business development at Softimage. "Softimage is pleased to provide a path forward for Maya customers evaluating their next move. This no-cost plug-in for Maya, combined with the very attractive upgrade and competitive trade-in programs and expanding list of plug-ins now available for SOFTIMAGE|XSI, make XSI an even more compelling solution for customers seeking improved productivity and continuous customer-driven innovation."

dotXSI xchange for Maya was created by Softimage in response to customer requests and addresses select classes of pipeline conversion needs. To ensure that the wide diversity of customer conversion needs were addressed, Softimage also worked closely with partners such as Okino, Right Hemisphere and Born Digital; the result is a broad range of conversion alternatives. For example, Okino's tool PolytransTM works natively within SOFTIMAGE|XSI as well as Max, Maya and LightWave; all versions now support dotXSI directly, in addition to formats for BioVision, Acclaim, Microsoft® DirectX®, DXF, IGES, SGI Open Inventor, OpenFlight, Pro/Engineer® SLP, SolidWorks®, Solid Edge, RenderWare, Viewpoint VET, and VRML.

Expanding Universe of Connectivity
The boujou tool from 2d3 provides matchmove technology for 3-D users working with footage from film or video cameras. By adding support for the dotXSI file format, 2d3 has simultaneously expanded its market to legions of SOFTIMAGE|3D and SOFTIMAGE|XSI users, without having to learn the SDK for either product.

"Anything that makes it easier to use state-of-the-art tools together offers a tremendous benefit for our users," says Chris Steele, CEO of 2d3. "The dotXSI file format makes it easy for our users to take advantage of Softimage's revolutionary technology and use the best tool for the job. Because the dotXSI file format is so flexible, we can export a scene with the camera data already calculated and all of the scene geometry set up in a hierarchy, ready for the animator to get on with their work. This new technology will save users a significant amount of time."

Kaydara has introduced a free tool that connects SOFTIMAGE|XSI to the Kaydara products and the FBXT community through the FBX File Interchange Format. This provides users with a path to map animation from any motion capture source to characters created in SOFTIMAGE|XSI, expanding the range of data types supported by SOFTIMAGE|XSI to essentially all modern motion capture formats. Additionally, the converter and upcoming full import/export FBX to dotXSI plug-in provide a simple interchange mechanism for any type of 3-D data between SOFTIMAGE|XSI and MOTIONBUILDER.

"Both organizations have received a clear message from their respective user base requesting better interconnectivity between applications, and are driving to provide a strong interchange pipeline as quickly as possible," comments Jean-Jacques Hermans, senior strategic advisor, at Kaydara. "The addition of FBX compatibility will bring our combined product lines' features to the marketplace, and help our users save time and money by maximizing their content creation pipeline."

MilkShape, a character design/animation tool for preparing models for leading gaming platforms such as Half-life, Unreal and Lithtech has also recently-added support for the dotXSI file format. This allows users to build game characters using the powerful polygonal and subdivision surface modeling tools in SOFTIMAGE|XSI and SOFTIMAGE|3D, and then process them in MilkShape for use in custom "mod" levels of these games.

"Open and well specified file formats such as dotXSI are great for exchanging work between various modeling packages and also games," comments Mete Ciragan, president of chUmbaLum sOft. "MilkShape 3D's adoption of dotXSI further simplifies the pipeline for creating game material, which extends the life of game communities."

Pricing and Availability
Softimage has selected SourceForge.net as a hosting site for the Open Source components of the dotXSI 'Connect' strategy. According to its website, SourceForge.net is the world's largest Open Source development web site, with the largest repository of open source code and applications available on the Internet.

The Maya, 2d3 and MilkShape components are available for immediate download at no cost. A white paper and complete list of projects and details can be found at www.softimage.com/Connect.

The SOFTIMAGE|XSI v.3.0 system is scheduled for release in October 2002 and is available in multiple configurations starting at $6,750 (USMSRP) or $320/month based on a 24-month lease. SOFTIMAGE|XSI can also be purchased through competitive trade-ins starting at $3,750.00 (USMSRP). Customers purchasing new licenses of SOFTIMAGE|XSI between now and the release of version 3.0, will receive the upgrade to version 3.0 at no additional charge when it releases. For full details please visit www.softimage.com.
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About Softimage Co.
Softimage Co., a subsidiary of Avid Technology, Inc., is an industry leader in 3-D animation, 2-D cel animation, compositing and special effects software, designed to address the demands of the film and commercial/broadcast and games/interactive industries. SOFTIMAGE|XSI software, an integral player in Avid's Make, Manage and Move MediaT strategy, is the flagship product offering from Softimage. It is the industry's first 3-D nonlinear production environment providing animators and digital artists the freedom to make professional animation, visual effects and games - from major motion pictures, to cartoons and commercials, to animated content for video games and Web sites. Softimage is proud to count amongst its customers: ILM, R!OT, The Mill, Pixel Liberation Front, Blue Sky Studios, Hybride, Mainframe, Janimation, Quiet Man, PSYOP, Cinepix and Framestore. The Softimage product family is designed to help users innovate, create and collaborate throughout the production process. For more information about Softimage visit www.softimage.com. For more information about Avid visit www.avid.com.