mental ray Advanced Rendering Solution Now Available

Montreal - June 8, 2000 - Discreet, a division of Autodesk, Inc. today announced that this week it began shipping version 2.1 of mental ray®, the photorealistic, programmable and scalable interactive rendering software from mental images®, and the mental ray connection to 3D Studio MAX®. Integration of the powerful mental ray renderer directly with 3D Studio MAX software provides Discreet's 120,000 plus 3D Studio MAX customers a compelling option for the most advanced rendering solution for digital content creation. mental ray is available as a separate product through select Discreet TM 3D Studio MAX resellers worldwide.

mental ray is a high-performance, photo-realistic raytracing and scanline rendering software that produces images of unsurpassed quality and realism. It is widely acknowledged to be the most advanced and extensible 3D rendering solution for the demanding needs of the film and video effects markets. mental ray version 2.1 is the first and only commercially available rendering software that combines the physically correct simulation of the behavior of light with full programmability for the creation of any imaginable visual phenomenon.

"We are very pleased about the availability of mental ray as part of the Discreet line of products. Expanding our relationship with Autodesk allows us to make mental ray easily accessible to a much wider user base than before," says Rolf Herken, president and director of research and development of Berlin-based mental images. "The Discreet product line proves to be an excellent framework for the integration of our mental ray rendering technology as well as the ongoing integration of our advanced surface approximation and modeling technology."

"At NAB 2000, we demonstrated rendering with mental ray 2.1 directly from 3D Studio MAX and the feedback was tremendous," says Phillip Miller, senior director of Discreet Software products. "Animators find the connection transparent, easily controlling mental ray features with already familiar 3DS MAX tools to achieve phenomenal results in very short order."

Because of mental ray's unique support of incremental changes of scene modifications and its inherently parallel nature supporting host and thread parallelism, users will be able to shorten the rendering-related phases of the content creation process dramatically, thereby increasing overall image quality while reducing cost. The mental ray server's ability to float across a wide range of platforms such as Microsoft Windows NT, Linux, and numerous types of Unix, including Solaris and IRIX, provides the users with an additional degree of freedom.

Pricing and Availability
mental ray is available for purchase either on a per computer basis, for up to two or four processors, for a list price of US$2,995 or $5,495, or as a per processor floating license priced between US$1,000 and $2,500 depending on the number of seats requested. The mental ray connection to 3D Studio MAX is included with each mental ray purchase and requires 3D Studio MAX R3.1 for operation. Customers and interested parties can contact their regional Discreet Sales Office ( www.discreet.com ), or call 800-869-3504 or 514-393-1616 for more information.

About mental images
mental images GmbH & Co. KG, founded in 1986, is a recognized leader in providing rendering technology to the entertainment, computer-aided design, scientific visualization, architecture and other industries that require sophisticated images. Users of mental ray include most of the leading special effects and digital film studios, game developer companies, and companies in automotive and aerospace industries. For more information, please visit mental images' web site at www.mentalimages.com.

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 www.discreet.com . Autodesk shares are traded on the Nasdaq national market under the symbol ADSK.

Press contacts:
Megan Prest, Edelman, Silicon Valley
650-968-4033 ext. 2730
megan_prest@edelman.com

(c) 2000, Autodesk, Inc. 3D Studio MAX and Character Studio are registered trademarks and Discreet and combustion are trademarks of Autodesk, Inc., in the U.S. and/or other countries. inferno, flame, flint, frost, fire, smoke, wire, and stone are registered trademarks and backdraft is a trademark of Discreet Logic, Inc., a subsidiary of Autodesk, Inc., in the U.S. and/or other countries. mental images and mental ray are registered trademarks of mental images GmbH & Co. KG in the U.S. and in other countries.

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