Digital Equipment Corp. selects TGS for ''3D Office'' application.

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 30, 1996--INTERNET WORLD-- Digital Equipment Corp. and Template Graphics Software (TGS) Tuesday announced that Digital will bundle the TGS 3Space(TM) Assistant with every new Intel and Digital Alpha Windows NT system sold.

Digital has also licensed 3Space Assistant from TGS to use throughout their field sales and VAR channels. TGS 3Space Assistant allows Windows NT and Windows 95 users to import, view, manipulate and edit 3D files from the desktop and from within Microsoft Office applications.

Easy to use, yet powerful, the product delivers an affordable way for AutoCAD(TM) DXF, VRML and Silicon Graphics' Open Inventor content to be shared throughout an organization, using both Intranet and Internet connections.

``Digital has had tremendous success with our Windows NT workstations in a number of 3D graphics markets, including CAD/CAM, digital design and the Web,'' said Bill Glazier, Director of Marketing, Digital's Workstation Group.

``The TGS 3Space Assistant enables our customers to easily share 3D information from popular CAD applications like PTC Pro/Engineer, and to integrate 3D into Word and PowerPoint. Our selection of TGS products insures that our customers will have access to the best 3D/VRML applications available.''

3Space Assistant operates both as a 3D desktop application as well as an embedded OLE server. For the desktop, 3Space Assistant supports drag-and-drop with Windows Explorer, easing the process of viewing 3D files. As an embedded OLE server, the product supports interactive 3D editing via in-place activation within Microsoft Office applications.

3D files created with Autodesk AutoCAD, PTC Pro/Engineer, EDS Unigraphics, as well as ubiquitous Internet 3D/VRML content, can be easily shared and integrated into technical documents, training manuals and presentations. 3Space Assistant can also be used in conjunction with various e-mail products, allowing 3D designs to be shared via the MIME attachment standard.

3Space Assistant can also be configured as a helper application for Internet Web browsers. The product supports standard Windows 95 and Windows NT systems and all OpenGL 3D accelerator boards.

3Space Assistant features include interactive and static viewing of 3D content, input of 3D text annotation, editing controls for colors, lights, materials and backgrounds, support for object texture mapping and transparently streaming of 3D into an Office document. All Windows print devices are supported and a number of 3D models are included with the product.

A localized version of TGS 3Space Assistant will be offered in Japan which supports 3D Kanji text. Application uses of the product include 3D clipart, technical documentation, on-line interactive manuals, 3D e-mail and Web publishing.

``Digital has shown great success with their Alpha-based Windows NT graphics systems, leading to a growing archive of 3D content on the desktop,'' said Terry Baker, president of TGS.

``As 3D has become more pervasive, the demand for access to graphics content within the non-technical community has grown. Digital has shown with this agreement that the TGS 3Space Assistant delivers best of breed graphics technology at an optimal price-performance level, insuring enterprise-wide access and use of interactive 3D graphics content.''

Under the agreement, Digital is providing free evaluation versions of the TGS 3Space Assistant with every new Digital Windows NT system. U.S. list price of 3Space Assistant is $150, with quantity and enterprise-wide pricing available from TGS.

TGS can be reached at http://www.tgs.com on the Web, [e-mail] via e-mail and 619/457-5359, ext. 251 by phone. International customers can use [e-mail] or [e-mail] for direct e-mail contact with TGS overseas offices.

3Space Assistant was developed by TGS using Open Inventor for Win32, the most popular 3D C++ toolkit for Windows NT and Windows 95. Open Inventor(TM) is developed by Silicon Graphics Inc. and source licensed to TGS. TGS provides the Open Inventor C++ toolkit on all major non-Silicon Graphics UNIX systems, as well as PC versions for Alpha, Intel, MIPS and PowerPC systems.

TGS also delivers the Visual 3Space Control, a 3D ActiveX component for Visual Basic and Internet Explorer. Microsoft Corp. bundles a suite of TGS VRML tools, including portions of Open Inventor for Win32, with the Microsoft Visual C++ compiler product.

Digital Equipment is the world's leader in open client/server solutions from personal computing to integrated worldwide information systems. Digital's scalable Alpha platforms, storage, networking, software and services, together with industry-focused solutions from business partners, help organizations compete and win in today's global marketplace.

Template Graphics Software Inc. is a private software firm based in San Diego, Calif. TGS's mission is to enable 3D graphics across the application software market. TGS is considered the leading provider of cross-platform 3D graphics software application development tools, having sold more than 10,000 software licenses representing more than $30 million in cumulative software sales.

TGS's products are based on implementations of industry and de-facto standard graphics software Application Programming Interfaces (APIs). In 1995, TGS teamed with Silicon Graphics to deliver the first-ever VRML browser, Webspace(TM) Navigator. TGS' Open Inventor and VRML-based developer and end user tools are bundled by Microsoft Corp. for Visual C++(R) and by Digital Equipment Corp. for Windows NT Intel(R) and Alpha(R) Systems.

TGS Inc. and its European counterpart G5G S.A. are wholly owned subsidiaries of Total Graphics Solution, N.V., incorporated in the Netherlands and operated from TGS corporate offices in San Diego, Calif. As part of its effort to establish new standards and directions for computer graphics technologies, TGS participates as members of the Microsoft Component Builders, Digital Internet Innovators, ANSI/ISO X3H3 graphics committees, the OpenGL Advisory Board and the VRML Technical Forum. -0-

Note to Editors: Product art is available via http://www.tgs.com/Marketing/Press/. Visual 3Space and 3Space are trademarks of Template Graphics Software Inc. Silicon Graphics and OpenGL are registered trademarks and Open Inventor is a trademark of Silicon Graphics Inc. and are source licensed to Template Graphics Software Inc., Digital, DEC, AlphaServer and AlphaStation are trademarks of Digital Equipment Corp. UNIX is a registered trademark in the United States and other countries, licensed exclusively through x/Open Co. Ltd. Microsoft, MFC, Win32, Windows, Windows NT, Visual C++, Visual Basic, Office and ActiveX are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks belong to their respective companies.

CONTACT: Template Graphics Software, San Diego

Diane Connolly, 619/457-5359; 619/452-2547 (fax)

WWW: http://www.tgs.com

or

The Townsend Agency

Julie Reynolds, 619/457-4888; 619/453-7010 (fax)