MetaCreations Announces Painter 3D, the Natural-Media Painting Tool For 3D Models.

CARPINTERIA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 10, 1998-- MetaCreations Corp. (Nasdaq:MCRE) Tuesday announced Painter 3D, the Natural-Media painting tool for 3D models and a new addition to the Painter family of application software products.

Based on the award-winning Fractal Design Detailer product, Painter 3D will bring proven paint technology to artists and designers with advanced new features allowing them to paint directly on computer-generated models in real time using more than 100 Natural-Media brushes and image-editing effects.

Painter 3D provides an easy, productive way to create surface maps for 3D objects and characters. Expected to be available in early spring 1998, Painter 3D will run on Windows 95/NT and Power Macintosh.

With expanded file support, Painter 3D will include plug-ins that will enable artists to interactively work with MetaCreations' Ray Dream Studio, Ray Dream 3D and 3D Studio MAX from Kinetix.

With support for OBJ, 3DMF and DXF file formats, Painter 3D will allow 3D designers to easily import a file in these formats and begin painting directly onto the model.

An extensive selection of brushes currently available in MetaCreations Painter 5 will also be available in Painter 3D, allowing artists to apply surface properties like texture, bump, reflection, highlight and glow directly onto their 3D models.

"Painter 3D fills an established need for 3D digital artists to generate realistic and artistic textures on 3D models in real time. By incorporating the Natural-Media painting technology found in our other Painter family products, digital artists will be instantly familiar with the professional tools and functionality of Painter 3D," said Frank Casanova II, MetaCreations vice president of product management and design.

Key new features in Painter 3D include simultaneous map painting that will allow 3D designers to create multiple maps such as texture and bump at the same time using the same strokes. Map sharing will allow artists to attach one image map to multiple objects, so as changes are made, they will be applied to all objects. For example, using a model of a spider, the artist will be able to apply one map to all the leg objects.

Multiple-object management will let 3D designers isolate individual items and view their hierarchy with image-to-object relationships. New model-view controls and user-interface enhancements will allow digital artists to customize palettes and streamline their work-flow.

Pricing and Availability

Painter 3D is expected to be available for a suggested retail price of $449 and at an estimated average selling price of $299 from MetaCreations by early spring 1998. MetaCreations will offer an upgrade path from Detailer to Painter 3D for $149. Customers who purchased Detailer after Feb. 10, 1998 are eligible for a free upgrade. All Detailer owners who purchase the Detailer-MAX Transporter will also be eligible for a free upgrade. For more information about Painter 3D or other Painter family products, customers may call 800/846-0111.

Systems Requirements

Windows 95/NT: 486DX, Pentium or greater, Windows 95 or Windows NT 4.0, minimum 16 MB of available RAM (32+ MB recommended), SVGA video (true-color recommended) and CD-ROM drive. Power Macintosh: Mac OS 7.5 or later, minimum 16 MB application RAM (24+ MB recommended) and CD-ROM drive.

MetaCreations, the visual computing software company, designs, develops, publishes, markets and supports software tools and enabling technologies for creating, editing and manipulating computer graphic images, digital art and Internet/online content on the desktop for both professionals and consumers. Working with distributors in North America, Europe and Asia, MetaCreations' professional and consumer software is available in more than 70 countries.

The company's headquarters is located in Santa Barbara County at 6303 Carpinteria Ave., Carpinteria Calif. 93013; telephone [phone]; fax [phone]. The company also has significant operations in Scotts Valley, Calif., and Princeton, N.J. MetaCreations' International Operation Center is located at Wilson House, Fenian Street, Dublin 2, Ireland. Tel: [phone]; World Wide Web server http://www.metacreations.com. -0-

Painter 3D, Painter 5, Ray Dream Studio, Ray Dream 3D and Detailer are trademarks of MetaCreations Corp. Natural-Media is a trademark of MetaCreations Corp. which may be registered in certain jurisdictions. 3D Studio MAX is a registered trademark of Autodesk Inc. All other trademarks or registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners. (c)1998 MetaCreations Corp. All rights reserved.

CONTACT: MetaCreations Corp., Carpinteria

Kevin Clark, 408/430-4218

[e-mail]

Dorothy Eckel, 805/566-6464

[e-mail]