ArchVision and Luminova announce RPC support for Maya

Press Release

ArchVision and Luminova announce RPC support for Maya

 

San Diego, California USA, July 28, 2003 -- ArchVision, Inc. and Luminova, internationally based developers of advanced rendering solutions, announced today the pending release of RPC support for Maya® software through a new RPC mental ray® Shader plug-in developed by Luminova. Visitors to the ArchVision booth (#3045) at the SIGGRAPH Conference being held in San Diego, California this week will get a sneak preview of the new product.

The new RPC Plug-in for Maya will provide support for all versions of RPC Content including RPC Automobiles and will be distributed exclusively by ArchVision and its channel partners.

The release of RPC support for Maya adds to the growing number of applications in use by design visualization professionals around the world supporting ArchVision’s image-based RPC Content solutions. "We feel this is an important step in broadening the ability to use RPC content on the leading design visualization software platforms in use today," said Randall Stevens, President and CEO of ArchVision, "Working with Luminova on this important plug-in has been a great experience and I’m sure the Maya community will benefit from the results for years to come."

Maya has become an increasingly popular visualization tool for architects and designers. "RPC is a welcomed addition to the plug-in support available to Maya users. This is an important extension for designers using Maya who need to incorporate realistic people, trees, automobiles and other objects into their visualization projects," said Craig Dean, Conductors™ program manager at Alias.

"Archvision have made image based rendering techniques a viable commercial reality with their RPC technology. Combined with mental ray, the worlds leading rendering technology from mental images® and Maya from Alias, RPC represents the most efficient means of attaining realism with minimal effort. The smooth integration of RPC into the mental ray is a tribute to Archvision's well written tools" said Paul Arden, Technical Director of Luminova, "we feel that important technologies such as RPC will greatly extend the abilities of mental ray and tools which integrate its advanced rendering technology such as Maya".

The RPC plug-in for Maya is expected to begin shipping in the 4th quarter of 2003.

ArchVision is a Conductor partner in the Alias third-party plug-in developer program. There are currently more than 90 conductor partners taking part in the Alias® Conductor program.

About ArchVision, Inc.

ArchVision is the leader in the development of image-based content creation, management and delivery solutions. In addition to its RPC Plug-in technology, ArchVision's products include a growing library of RPC content ranging from people, trees and shrubs to image-based automobiles and other popular objects. ArchVision currently serves customers located in over 70 countries around the world. RPC is the image-based rendering technology of choice for many of the leading animation, CAD, real-time simulation, and 3D modeling software packages on the market today. Native and plug-in RPC support now exists in 3ds max, Autodesk Viz, Bentley MicroStation, AccuRender from Robert McNeel & Associates, Revit, Piranesi from Informatix, Adobe Photoshop, Graffiti RenderPro, Cubicspace’s rtre, and SGI® Performer™. For more information, call ArchVision at 859-252-3118 or visit us on the web at www.archvision.com.

About Luminova

Luminova is the foremost provider of physical-based computer modeling and photorealistic 3D visualization capabilities. Luminova possesses a large and well-established team of specialists dedicated to the creation of physical-based output. This, coupled with their very large proprietary in-house rendering facility, extensive object library, state-of the-art production processes and large resident software development team, enables them to generate and manipulate 3D output more rapidly, reliably and cost effectively than conventional providers.

Luminova has been selected by a large number of blue chip companies to optimize and accelerate the communications process in a wide variety of strategic and high profile programs, for example, Lockheed Martin, Smiths Aerospace, Ford Motor Company, Toyota, Opel, UK Ministry of Defence, Alstom Transport, Astra Zeneca, Accenture, Akzo Nobel, British Airport Authority, Caterpillar/Perkins Engines, JCB, General Electric, and many others.

Luminova has established internationally recognized centers of excellence in Cambridge UK and Melbourne Australia. For more information, call Luminova on +44 1223 234 975 or visit us on the web at www.luminova.net .

About Alias

As the world's leading innovator of 3D graphics technology, Alias develops award-winning software and provides custom development and training solutions for the film, video games, web, interactive media, industrial design, education and visualization markets. In 2003, the company was awarded an Oscar® for Technical Achievement from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for its development of Maya software, the professional 3D animation and effects package. Alias also offers a powerful range of services for new to advanced users in the most demanding environments. Learning Tools and Training, Support, and Professional Services help meet rigorous production deadlines. Entertainment customers include: Acclaim Entertainment, Inc., CNN, Core Design Limited, Digital Domain, Disney, Electronic Arts, Industrial Light & Magic, Factor 5 LLC, Midway Games, Nintendo, Pacific Data Images (PDI), Pixar, Sega, Sony Pictures Imageworks, Square Co., Ltd., Warner Feature Animation and Weta Ltd.

ArchVision and RPC are trademarks of ArchVision, Inc. Alias is a registered trademark and Conductors is a trademark of Alias Systems, a division of Silicon Graphics Limited in the US and/or other countries worldwide. SGI and Maya are registered trademarks and Performer is a trademark of Silicon Graphics, Inc. in the US and/or other countries worldwide. Maya is exclusively used by Alias Systems, a division of Silicon Graphics Limited. Oscar is a trademark and design mark of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences. mental images and mental ray are trademarks registered in the United States and/or other countries.

All other trademarks are owned by their respective companies.