Discreet Unveils Major Advances in its fire and smoke Editing/Finishing Systems; New Platform and Functionality Extend Leadership in Digital Cinema and HDTV/SDTV Finishing.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

IBC 2003

MONTREAL--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 4, 2003

Discreet, a division of Autodesk, Inc.(NASDAQ: ADSK), today announced new platform support and versions of its powerful non-linear editing and finishing systems, fire(R) 6 and smoke(R) 6, to debut at the International Broadcasting Convention in Amsterdam, The Netherlands (booth # 7.421) from September 12-16, 2003. Discreet's editing systems play a pivotal leadership role in digital intermediate workflows for 2K film, high definition television (HDTV) and standard definition (SD) projects, and the new version 6 releases are expected to deliver new pricing, unprecedented performance, mixed resolution workflow, and powerful new visual effects technology from Discreet's advanced image-processing research group.

fire 6 and smoke 6 will feature a new flexible software design for high performance multi-resolution post production, including the ability to work at any resolution at any time, and to mix resolutions within projects and timelines.

"The benefit of smoke 6 to our workflow and productivity will be incredible," said Wim De Rick, smoke 6 beta tester and co-owner of The Matchbox, based in Belgium. "The new mixed resolution architecture increases flexibility and productivity, allowing us to complete high definition projects with greater speed and ease. It's the perfect solution for the complex creative tasks our clients demand."

Linux and Irix Platforms for Greater Choice

fire 6 and smoke 6 will be available on several new platforms. These include the SGI(R) Onyx(R) 350 for fire 6 as well as the Silicon Graphics Tezro(TM) visual workstation and the IBM(R) Intellistation(R) Zpro 6221 Linux workstation (announced separately) for smoke 6.

smoke and fire are designed to extract the maximum performance from any workstation on which they run. smoke on Tezro is capable of playing up to two real-time streams of 10-bit/component, uncompressed RGB, 4:4:4 HDTV (1080i and 1080/24p) allowing for not only the highest picture quality, but extremely fast editing and rendering of effects. The Tezro platform will also enable smoke 6 to deliver real-time 10-bit RGB playback at 2K resolutions for online film editing and more efficient conforming of digital intermediates. fire 6 on Onyx 350 will allow users to interactively work with up to 32 2K layers in the 3D compositing environment.

"Discreet has consistently delivered unique tools, speed, and performance to the artist while offering sound financial return on investment to their facilities," said Paul Lypaczewski, Discreet general manager and executive vice president, Autodesk, Inc. "These new versions of fire and smoke will assist our customers to achieve a new level of creativity, productivity and profitability. With fire 6 and smoke 6 offering 10-bit video I/0 as well as 10 and 12-bit media support, they will be among the most versatile non-linear editing and finishing systems on the market, and the only products to offer the superior quality of 12-bit media."

Landmark New Creative Features for Finishing

fire 6 and smoke 6 will offer a wide range of new creative features including Discreet's powerful next generation Master Keyer; integration of Discreet's Colour Warper(TM) technology for more sophisticated color manipulation techniques; advanced 3D capabilities including bi-cubic deformation of surfaces in 3D; the ability to import 3D models via FBX; new and improved media management and archiving tools including integrated OMF support; and the ability to exchange audio media/compositions with popular applications such as ProTools.

Discreet's Master Keyer is based on powerful new algorithms that enable artists to interact more directly with the image yet provide the intelligence to guide the keying process with greater sophistication and precision. "The new Discreet Master Keyer opens a whole new way of thinking and working," added De Rick. "It's more logical and powerful than other keyers and incorporates intelligence that is very sophisticated at helping me intuitively tackle complex issues such as heavy spill, transparent objects and shadows."

Pricing and Availability

Discreet plans to release fire 6 and smoke 6 in early 2004. For pricing and configuration details, please contact Discreet at 1-800-869-3504 or [phone], or visit www.discreet.com.

About Discreet

Discreet empowers media professionals to realize the visual experience and transform their most evocative and ambitious visions into reality. Discreet's award-winning solutions are designed for digital media creation, management and delivery--across all disciplines from film and television visual effects, color grading and editing to animation, game development, web/interactive, and design visualization. Discreet is based in Montreal, Quebec and is a division of Autodesk, Inc, the world's leading design and digital media creation, management, and distribution company. Product and corporate information: www.discreet.com.

Discreet is a division of Autodesk, Inc. Autodesk, Discreet, fire and smoke are registered trademarks of Autodesk, Inc./ Autodesk Canada Inc. in the USA and/or other countries. All other brand names, product names, or trademarks belong to their respective holders.