SAN RAFAEL, Calif., Aug. 2 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Autodesk Inc. (Nasdaq: ADSK) and mental images GmbH, the leader in the fast-growing market of high-end 3D and visualization software, today announced an extension to the companies' licensing and development agreement. In the expanded agreement, Autodesk and mental images will strengthen their ongoing relationship and further integrate mental images' mental ray rendering component technology across a broad array of Autodesk design and engineering software products.

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The two companies have worked together since 1997. mental images' mental ray and mental matter are already integrated with Autodesk's 3D products for film, game development and design visualization: 3ds Max and Autodesk VIZ. The current release of Autodesk Inventor, the world's best-selling 3D mechanical design software, also utilizes the mental ray application.

"mental images is greatly honored to extend the relationship with Autodesk," said Rolf Herken, CEO and CTO of mental images. "We believe this is a unique opportunity to greatly accelerate the acceptance of visualization technology, and that it will lead to the successful acceptance and standardization of realistic shading technology for use in design and PLM applications. Furthermore, the inclusion of mental ray into a broad array of Autodesk products will ensure interoperability with mental images' RealityServer technology. We are extremely excited to be working closely with Autodesk in driving the transition to ubiquitous 3D computing and visualization on such a large scale."

"Autodesk customers design and create the world around us, so by integrating mental images' technologies with Autodesk software, we are enabling our customers to render more realistic designs across a wide range of applications," said Carl Bass, COO of Autodesk. "This technology will enable engineers, architects, film and game producers, and designers to create, manage and share more powerful, photorealistic renderings."

The Academy Award-winning mental ray rendering software is used both for cutting-edge visual effects in major motion pictures and for computer-based design of industrial products. The software offers complete control over light scattering and the effects of indirect light in a 3D scene, and enables users to correctly simulate the physical process of light propagation, called global illumination simulation. It is rapidly becoming indispensable for movie studios customers who increasingly demand a high level of virtual photorealism and artistic visual richness as well as builders, architects and engineers who require lighting simulation and design visualization functionality.

About mental images

mental images is the recognized international leader in providing rendering component software to the world's leading manufacturers of professional software solutions for the creation of and interaction with 3D data and sophisticated visualization The world's leading cinematographers use the company's main product, mental ray, to generate images of unsurpassed realism in visual effects and feature animation. mental ray is used by the world's leading automobile and aircraft manufacturers as well thousands of other leading manufacturers to accelerate the design of new products. RealityServer is mental images' next generation product that enables collaborative interactive creation, manipulation, visualization and annotation of existing and newly created 3D content within enterprise software solutions and web services.

Founded in 1986, mental images GmbH is a privately held company based in Berlin, Germany, with a wholly owned subsidiary mental images, Inc. in San Francisco, California. For more information, please visit www.mentalimages.com.

About Autodesk

Autodesk, Inc. is wholly focused on ensuring that great ideas are turned into reality. With six million users, Autodesk is the world's leading software and services company for the building, manufacturing, infrastructure, digital media and wireless data services fields. Autodesk's solutions help customers create, manage and share their data and digital assets more effectively. As a result, customers turn ideas into competitive advantage by becoming more productive, streamlining project efficiency and maximizing profits.

Founded in 1982, Autodesk is headquartered in San Rafael, California. For additional information about Autodesk, please visit www.autodesk.com.

NOTE: Autodesk, Autodesk Inventor and 3ds Max are registered trademarks of Autodesk, Inc., in the USA and/or other countries. mental images, mental matter, mental ray and RealityServer are registered trademarks of mental images GmbH in the USA and/or other countries, licensed for use by Autodesk, Inc. Academy Award is a registered trademark of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences. All other brand names, product names or trademarks belong to their respective holders.

Contact: Kevin G. Clark, 415-547-2457
Email: Kevin.g.clark@autodesk.com

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Web site: http://www.mentalimages.com

Web site: http://www.autodesk.com

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