Chaman Uses alienbrain To Simultaneously Produce Animated Film And Game.

Business Editors & High Tech Writers

SANTA MONICA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 9, 2001

NxN Solution Enables Chaman To Coordinate Teamwork Between Paris,

Biarritz, Montreal And Tokyo In Real-Time

NxN Software, the leading supplier of Digital Production Management (DPM) solutions for interactive entertainment and new media projects, announced today that Chaman Productions and game publisher Namco Japan are using alienbrain(R) with its new Remote Access Server to coordinate both the production of the animated film "Axis" (working title) and the related computer game in France, Canada and Japan.

With the alienbrain DPM solution, Chaman is able to organize large amounts of data and to significantly shorten production cycles.

Chaman is producing the feature-length fantasy film in Paris and Montreal, while the computer game is being developed in Biarritz, France and overseen by the Tokyo-based publisher Namco. The film and the game are scheduled for release in the summer of 2002 in the United States, Japan and Europe.

Managing Film And Game Production

With the huge amount of data needed for the fantasy film -- more than 120,000 images at 5MB each -- Franck Malmin, technical director of "Axis," realized that only a scalable DPM solution would bring such an ambitious project to a successful conclusion.

"With NxN's support we were able to implement the solution during the project and to transfer all the data to the alienbrain server," Malmin stated.

Thirty-five Chaman employees currently use alienbrain in their daily production work.

Note to Editors: A high-resolution image used in the development of the film and game "Axis" (working title) is available.

Open Architecture Allows For Customization

According to Malmin, a crucial reason Chaman chose alienbrain was its open architecture.

"alienbrain is the only solution available that is open enough to be customized quickly and thoroughly to meet our special requirements," he said.

NxN's alienbrain also offered a plug-in to integrate with 3D Studio MAX(TM), a frequently used graphics tool by animation teams.

In cooperation with NxN's Paris-based engineers, Chaman developed customizations for alienbrain. For example, their seven departments share information on each file, but not all need to view each model at the same resolution. alienbrain enabled Chaman to define custom access and resolution for each shot of the film.

alienbrain Speeds Up Production Processes

Chaman has been able to significantly shorten production processes with alienbrain. Prior to introducing the software, five shots of the film were validated in a typical session of approximately five hours. With the alienbrain DPM solution, Chaman is now able to approve 60 files in one session (i.e., the approval process is now 10 times faster than it was without alienbrain). This includes finding the right shot and its final version, previewing the shot, adding comments for each department and approving the file.

Global Teamwork

Chaman employs NxN's Remote Access Server to transfer data between their studios in Paris; Biarritz, France; and Montreal. In order to keep their publisher, Namco, in Japan informed, Chaman installed the Remote Access Server at Namco's Tokyo office, allowing the project manager to connect to development projects across the globe via the Internet.

"Now with alienbrain, we can collaborate between Paris and Tokyo in real-time. I can see exactly what is going on in Paris at anytime, and I can contribute from my office in Tokyo to support the developers of `Axis,'" stated Yuzo Morita, development coordinator at Namco Japan.

alienbrain provides a secure production framework for all members of the team and integrates comprehensive tool sets for media asset management, project tracking, user management, workflow and version control, source code control and cross-site collaboration.

About "Axis" (working title)

Initially created by French authors Chris Delaporte and Patrick Daher, "Axis" is a fantastic, primordial and futuristic world of wild, intertwined roots and trees. Four distinct extraterrestrial communities, made up of completely original characters, inhabit the world. Voiced by Kirsten Dunst, Richard Harris, Anjelica Huston, Keith David, Greg Proops and Michael McShane, "Axis" is a co-production of Chaman Productions, Vivendi Universal's StudioCanal and TVA International IV Inc.

About Chaman Productions

With leading edge tools and top talents in computer graphic image creation and programming, Chaman is a production company specialized in the creation of virtual worlds and a player in two fast growing markets: the video game and the animated film markets. Founded in 1997 by Denis Friedman and based in Paris, Chaman Productions has welcomed investments from Wanadoo Audiovisuel (France Telecom Multimedia).

About NxN Software AG

Founded in 1997, NxN Software is the leading supplier of Digital Production Management (DPM) solutions for the interactive entertainment and new media industries. NxN products provide digital content developers powerful tools and a strong management framework for the entire development process. Companies using NxN Software to manage advanced interactive entertainment productions include many of the world's most renowned game developers, such as Sony Online Entertainment, Electronic Arts and Infogrames. NxN Software has offices in Santa Monica, California, Paris, London and Munich, Germany, as well as distribution partners throughout Asia. For more information on NxN Software visit www.nxn-software.com.

Note to Editors: NxN Software and alienbrain are trademarks of NxN Software AG. All other trademarks and registered trademarks are the property of their respective holders.