October 15, 2001 - Paris, France

For Immediate Release -
Category : News/ Software/ Interactive 3D Development Software

VIRTOOLS™ and Alias|Wavefront announce the release of the Virtools™ Exporter for Maya®

New plugin provides the smoothest transition from Maya® to Virtools™ Dev 2.0 interactive 3D development software.

October 15, 2001- Paris, France - Virtools™, market leader in the world of interactive 3D development solutions, announces the much anticipated release of the Virtools™ Exporter for Maya®

Combine Maya's powerful 3D modeling and animation software with Virtools™ Dev 2.0's behavioral features and bring life-like interactivity to 3D content. The Virtools Exporter for Maya allows you to export 3D models, lights, cameras, materials, textures and animations into Virtools™ Dev 2.0. Maya' s bones, skin, and vertex colors features are also supported.

Drag and drop interactive behaviors from the Virtools behavior library (more than 400 building blocks) onto exported 3D objects to create interactive 3D applications for e-learning, e-marketing or games, on the web or CD-ROM.

"Virtools is pleased to provide Maya users with our groundbreaking interactive 3D development solutions, making it easier than ever to create amazing interactive 3D applications with Maya's 3D models and animations. Virtools Dev 2.0 becomes a natural progression for Maya users thanks to our new Virtools Exporter for Maya, " said Bertrand DUPLAT, Virtools Founder and President.

"Alias|Wavefront is excited to see this new plugin come to market which expands the delivery options for content created with Maya," said Tom Reyburn, developer relations manager for Alias|Wavefront. "As a member of our Conductor program, Virtools has created a customized tool which streamlines the Maya pipeline for creating interactive 3D content with Maya and Virtools Dev 2.0."

Get the free Virtools™ Exporter for Maya 3 and Maya 4 from the Virtools Support Center's Downloads area.


About Virtools™ Dev 2.0
Virtools' revolutionary technology allows you to create interactive applications by graphically assembling "behaviors" in Dev 2.0's intuitive interface. Flexible and easy-to-use, Virtools' reusable "behavior building blocks" accelerate the production cycle and reduce production costs, maximizing return on investment. Use the "behavior library" or program your own behaviors in C++ with Virtools' Software Development Kit (SDK).


About Maya®
MAYA® is Alias|Wavefront's award-winning 3D animation and visual effects software for film, broadcast television, video, game development and location based entertainment markets. With a perfectly integrated, single environment that is completely customizable, Maya is optimized for maximum productivity. Maya's speed and intuitive set of tools give you the power to unleash your imagination.


About Virtools™:
Founded in 1993, Virtools™ S.A. is the leading provider of 3D interactive media authoring tools - Virtools' mission is to enhance our clients' business performance. Using our advanced real-time 3D content development tools and proven production process, Virtools™ is a market leader in delivering high quality, efficient, cost-effective business solutions for e-learning, e-marketing and game markets, for the web or CD-ROM. Costs and timeframes are kept under control through a scalable set of software and server-based solutions that reduce the risks associated with developing interactive 3D applications. Among the growing lists of customers currently exploiting the Virtools/Maya synergy are Razorfish, Icon Medialab, and CNBDI.

Please visit www.virtools.com or contact us at Virtools S.A., 93, Rue Vieille du Temple, 75003 Paris, France. Telephone: +33 1 42 71 46 86.

About Alias|Wavefront
As the world's leading innovator of 3D graphics technology, Alias|Wavefront develops software for the film and video, games, interactive media, industrial design, and visualization markets. Entertainment customers include Blue Sky, Cinesite, CNN, Digital Domain, Disney's The Secret Lab, Electronic Arts, Industrial Light & Magic, Midway Games, Nintendo, Pacific Data Images (PDI), Pixar, Sega, Sony Pictures Imageworks, Square Co., Ltd., Warner Feature Animation and Weta Ltd.

Alias|Wavefront is a wholly owned, independent software company of SGI™ with headquarters in Toronto and technical centers in Seattle and Santa Barbara. Please visit the Alias|Wavefront website at www.aliaswavefront.com or call 1-800-447-2542 in North America. Readers in Europe can call +800 4125 4125 or 800 791 174 in the Middle East and Africa; 81 3 3470 8285 in Asia-Pacific; and 525 203 0030 in Latin America for the nearest sales office or authorized reseller in their area.


Contacts:
info@virtools.com

Virtools
93, rue Vieille du Temple
75003 Paris
France
Tel: (+33) 1 42 71 46 86
Fax: (+33) 1 42 71 86 53
email: info@virtools.com

Alias|Wavefront Press Contact:
Donna Teggart
Global Public Relations Manager
Tel: +1 416 874 8592
dteggart@aw.sgi.com