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LOS ANGELES (Aug. 4, 1997) - Autodesk® Inc. and mental images GmbH & Co. KG today announced that they have entered into a long-term research and development agreement focusing on geometry approximation and modeling technology. The R&D agreement already has produced enhancements to 3D Studio MAX® R2, the next major release of 3D Studio MAX software debuted today at SIGGRAPH `97. Further development efforts will focus on new 3D technologies that will be incorporated into future products.
"Our R&D relationship with mental images is part of our strategy to seek out and incorporate the best 3D graphics technology in the world - whether it is developed here at Kinetix, or by customers, developers or technolgy partners,'' said Jim Guerard, acting general manager of Kinetix™ , the multimedia business of Autodesk. "mental images is recognized worldwide as a leading innovator in rendering technology. Our collaborative technology alliance should produce exciting results for our customers.''
By incorporating mental images technology, 3D Studio MAX R2 will feature NURBS surfaces with facetless tessellation and analytical normals that enable 3D animators and special effects artists to render perfectly smooth surfaces with precise highlights. The same technology also provides view-dependent tessellation, allowing surfaces to reduce in density as their prominence in the scene diminishes and ensuring efficient rendering times with film-quality results. Long-term, the two companies have agreed to jointly explore development possibilities for future geometry approximation and modeling technologies.
"This marks the start of a powerful relationship,'' said Rolf Herken, founder and president of Berlin-based mental images. "Cooperating with the world's leading 3D animation software developer for the PC provides us with a unique opportunity to create innovative technology beyond rendering. Best of all, the true beneficiaries of this effort will be 3D technology and its users.''
Debuted today (see related announcement), 3D Studio MAX R2 is the feature-packed next major release of 3D Studio MAX. Available this fall, 3D Studio MAX R2 is U.S. list priced at $3,495 for a new single-user license.
ABOUT MENTAL IMAGES:
mental images, founded in 1986, is a recognized leader in providing rendering and surface approximation technology to the entertainment, CAD, scientific visualization, architecture and other industries where sophisticated images are required. mental images is a privately held company based in Berlin, Germany. The main product of mental images is the high performance, photorealistic rendering software mental ray™ , which is capable of running on a wide variety of platforms, ranging from workstations and networks of workstations to parallel supercomputers. Customers of mental images include original software developers such as Microsoft Corporation and Dassault Systemes S.A., as well as major industrial end-users such as Mercedes-Benz.
ABOUT KINETIX:
Kinetix develops and delivers affordable content creation tools for professionals such as film and video producers, video/computer game developers, Web content developers, architects, engineers, and designers. The leader in PC-based professional 3D modeling and animation tools, Kinetix provides a full range of products for the application development process, from 2D and 3D creation to assembly and delivery. With headquarters in San Francisco, Kinetix is a division of Autodesk®, the fifth largest PC software company in the world with three million customers in 150 countries. 3D Studio MAX, the company's flagship product, won more than 25 industry awards in 1996. Kinetix products are sold through dealers and distributors worldwide. For more information, contact Authorized Kinetix Dealer or call Kinetix at 800-879-4233. From outside the United States and Canada, fax information requests to +1 415-507-6110 (Latin America), +1 415-507-6177 (Asia Pacific), +33-1-45-11-50-32 (Europe, Middle-East and Africa). For more information on Kinetix call 415/547-2000 or log in with a World Wide Web browser at http://www.ktx.com or www.ktx.com/worldsites/ which provides access to all international sites (Africa, Americas, A/P, Europe and Middle East).
Autodesk, the Autodesk logo, 3D Studio MAX are registered trademarks, and Kinetix is a trademark, of Autodesk, Inc. mental ray and mental images are trademarks of mental images GmbH & Co. KG, Berlin, Germany.
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