Alias/Wavefront Launches Maya 4.5 at Macworld New York; Latest Version of Maya Complete Makes World Debut On the Mac.

Business & Technology Editors

Macworld New York 2002

booth 860

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 18, 2002

Alias|Wavefront(TM), an SGI (NYSE: SGI) company, today announced Maya 4.5, the seventh major release of its highly popular Maya(R) 3D animation software.

This new release, being publicly demonstrated for the first time ever at Macworld Expo New York will synchronize Maya for Mac OS X with Maya on other supported hardware platforms. Current Maya for Mac OS X users will benefit from a substantial number of feature additions and enhancements -- including powerful new modeling tools, integrated 3D Paint, multi-processor support for rendering and numerous UI and workflow enhancements. Maya Complete(TM) was recently repriced at USD $1,999(a). Maya 4.5 is expected to ship by the end of September 2002.

"Maya 4.5 for Mac OS X is proof of Alias|Wavefront's continued commitment to unparalleled innovation for Macintosh users," states Alias|Wavefront President, Doug Walker. "The release features an enormous number of developments across every aspect of the product based on feedback from some of the world's best 3D artists. Sales of Maya on the Mac have been extremely strong to date, significantly exceeding even our high expectations; and so, we are very proud to share the innovations of Maya 4.5 first with the talented artistic community gathered at Macworld New York."

"Maya 4.5 is an incredible application and its premier at Macworld underscores the importance of the Mac to high-end 3D animators and effects professionals," said Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO.

Maya 4.5 for Mac OS X

Users of Maya Complete 4.5 will enjoy a number of key advances in modeling, workflow, animation and rendering - Mac users in particular will see a huge leap in Maya functionality as they transition from the former Maya for Mac OS X version, Maya 3.5. User Interface improvements, for example, have been made throughout the software for the purpose of simplifying workflow. Easy access to saved layouts, an improved lasso tool, automatic backup on save, progress bar and new heads up display options help users perform common tasks, faster. Moreover, true 3D paint technology has now been incorporated into Maya for Mac OS X and integrated with Maya Paint Effects(TM) so that any Paint Effects brush can be used for 3D painting.

Maya 4.5 for Mac OS X users will also benefit from the migration of the advanced modeling functionality of Maya Unlimited(TM) into Maya Complete. This toolset features advanced NURBS tools and true hierarchical subdivision surfaces (now with improved texturing options), and provides the ability to convert between all geometry types -- this includes conversion from subdivision surfaces to NURBS. A new Smooth Proxy tool provides additional modeling flexibility for building high-resolution polygonal geometry with a low-resolution proxy cage.

Enhanced snapping tools along with attribute presets and annotation options will improve overall workflow. New animation features including offset attributes on constraints lead the list of animation enhancements. Also, as of Maya 4.5 the Maya renderer will feature volume lighting and ramp shader rendering effects.

Rendering enhancements new to those upgrading from Maya 3.5 include multi-processor support for rendering and Interactive Preview Rendering. Animation features new to Maya for Mac OS X users will include Ghosting, Quaternion-based IK and enhancements to the Trax editor.

"As an artist and creative director I've always been drawn to the Mac," states Dave Taylor, creative director for his own Boston-based interactive media/design firm, Taylor Imaging, and a Maya 4.5 beta tester. "When I began developing interactive 3D content I wanted to go with the premier application, Maya. Having my 2D applications on one set of systems and my 3D application on another just never made sense to me. Now that Maya for Mac OS X has hit feature parity with Maya on other platforms I'm going to be able to streamline my workflow, reduce hardware costs and just have more time to devote to the creative process."

Game and Interactive Development

New polygonal mesh and editing tools, along with a dramatic expansion of the Maya API, will further increase Maya's reputation as the platform of choice for next generation game development and interactive Web applications. As the most substantial API release since Maya 1.0, Maya 4.5 offers even greater access to the API for tool teams and programmers. Of particular interest to game developers are an expansion of the Polygon API and enhancements to the hardware shaders API, the latter of which allows for more flexibility in developing pixel and vertex shaders.

Pricing and Availability

Maya Complete, available for Mac OS X, as well as the Windows(R), IRIX(R), and Linux(R) operating systems, is priced at USD $1,999 and includes modeling, rendering, animation, dynamics, Maya Artisan(TM), Maya Paint Effects(TM) and Maya Embedded Language(TM) (MEL), an open interface for programming and scripting. Maya is available through the Alias|Wavefront network of authorized resellers or may be purchased online at: http://www.aliaswavefront.com. Version upgrades for Maya on Mac OS X are priced at $699.

About Alias|Wavefront

As the world's leading innovator of 3D graphics technology, Alias|Wavefront develops software for the film and video, games, web, interactive media, industrial design, and visualization markets.

Entertainment customers include BlueSky Studios, Cinesite, CNN, Digital Domain, Disney, Electronic Arts, Industrial Light & Magic, Midway Games, Nintendo, Pacific Data Images (PDI), Pixar, Sega, Sony Pictures Imageworks, Square Co., Ltd., Warner Feature Animation and Weta Ltd.

Alias|Wavefront is a wholly owned, independent software company of SGI(R) with headquarters in Toronto, Canada. Please visit the Alias|Wavefront website at www.aliaswavefront.com or call 1-800-447-2542 in North America. International contact numbers include: Northern Europe, Middle East and Africa, [phone]; Germany, East & Southeast Europe, 0049 89 31 70 20; France, Spain and Portugal, [phone]; Italy, 39 039 6340011; Japan, 0120 764 088; and other parts of Asia Pacific, 81 3 3470 8282.

(a) prices are list prices. All prices quoted are in U.S. dollars. International pricing may vary.

The Alias|Wavefront logo is a registered trademark and Alias|Wavefront is a trademark of Alias|Wavefront, a division of Silicon Graphics Limited in the United States and/or other countries. Maya is a registered trademark of Silicon Graphics, Inc., exclusively used by Alias|Wavefront, a division of Silicon Graphics Limited, and the Maya logo, Maya Complete, Maya Unlimited, Maya Paint Effects, Maya Artisan, Maya Fur, Maya Cloth, Maya Live, Maya Embedded Language and Maya Shockwave 3D Exporter are trademarks of Alias|Wavefront, a division of Silicon Graphics Limited. Mac is a trademark of Apple Computer, Inc. registered in the US and other countries. IRIX and SGI are registered trademarks of Silicon Graphics, Inc. Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds. Windows is either a registered trademark or trademark of Microsoft Corporation, in the United States and/or other countries. All other products or companies mentioned are trademarks or service marks of their respective owners. Alias|Wavefront, 210 King Street East, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M5A 1J7, Tel: [phone], FAX: [phone].

for screenshots and press images: http://www.aliaswavefront.com/entertainment/press

NOTE TO EDITORS: In the company name Alias|Wavefront noted in this news release, there is a pipe symbol between Alias and Wavefront. This symbol may not appear properly in some systems.