AMSTERDAM, The Netherlands, Sep 12, 2002 (BUSINESS WIRE) --

Enables Artists to Realize the Visual Experience with Award-winning Product Line-up

Discreet, a division of Autodesk Inc. (Nasdaq:ADSK), today announced its program line-up for International Broadcasting Convention (IBC) 2002 in Amsterdam, with new and updated solutions that enable clients to realize their creative visions in broadcast, post-production and the web. Highlights include a first public demonstration of burn -- background Linux rendering software that allows Discreet customers to leverage existing Discreet visual effects systems inferno, flame and flint; expanded use of Discreet nonlinear editing and finishing solutions fire and smoke for high-resolution HDTV, DTV and digital cinema work; and demonstrations of 3ds max 5 and character studio 4 software -- the latest releases of Discreet's popular animation and character animation software.

Discreet will showcase its range of nonlinear editing, visual effects, streaming and animation solutions at the RAI Exhibition & Congress Centre, Amsterdam, The Netherlands in Hall 7, Stand-321 (7.321) from Friday, Sept. 13 to Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2002.

    SYSTEMS -- VISUAL EFFECTS, EDITING/FINISHING and INFRASTRUCTURE

Leveraging existing infrastructure and media assets is a cornerstone topic for broadcasters and post-production professionals attending this year's IBC convention. The newly announced burn software will be Discreet's first Linux-based background rendering solution for its visual effects systems -- inferno, flame and flint; burn will allow facilities to further leverage their existing Discreet investments by offloading time- and equipment-intensive rendering jobs onto cost-effective open Linux render farms or individual systems.

burn rendering will take advantage of (Red Hat) Linux systems with inferno 5 and flame and flint version 8 systems, also demonstrated at IBC this year. inferno 5, flame 8 and flint 8 enhancements include: mixed resolution support that enables artists to create without format boundaries including the emerging digital cinema formats; a new timeline for additional editing capabilities for sophisticated, multi-layer effects and composites; unified animation channel for greater control over the design of animated visual effects; and new support for Kaydara's FBX file format. Also shown are Discreet's increasingly popular smoke 5 and fire 5 non-linear editing and finishing systems with new editorial and effects enhancements, OMFI support, support for 4K x 3K images and 12-bit color depth, as well as true 2K 24p real-time playback.

    STREAMING MEDIA

Discreet will show the newest version of its cleaner 6 software for the Macintosh, following its MacWorld New York "Best of Show" debut. The new cleaner 6 for Mac release builds upon cleaner software's position as the industry standard for professional video encoding as an indispensable component to Apple Final Cut Pro, Adobe Premiere, and Avid Xpress DV. The new release features the Apple OS X Aqua User Interface and improved performance throughout the user interface and encoding processes.

    3D ANIMATION & COMPOSITING

Discreet will also showcase its recently-released animation, modeling and rendering software, 3ds max 5, in demonstrations for film, television and broadcast design professional animators. This significant release includes strong features such as multiple radiosity (global illumination) tools, integrated interactive soft-and hard-body dynamics, new character animation enhancements, direct 3D mesh caching, floating license options, subscription support programs, and other product and workflow benefits.

Shipping since January 2002, combustion 2 software continues to be an industry-preferred desktop 3D compositing, paint and animation solution for Macintosh(R) and Windows(R) platforms. combustion 2 has been used in a range of commercials; feature films such as Stuart Little 2, XXX and Simone; and music videos including Ozzy Osbourne's Gets Me Through, U2's Walk On and Mary J. Blige's Dance For Me.

"IBC marks Discreet's unveiling of potent new productivity advances, designed to hit where our clients can benefit most -- return on investment, talent and resource utilization and facility-wide workflow," said Paul Lypaczewski, general manager of Discreet and executive vice president of Autodesk, Inc. "In our effort to deliver unparalleled competitive advantages to Discreet customers we are adding strength to our arsenal of products with the debut of burn, plus new releases of inferno 5/flame 8/flint 8, 3ds max 5 and cleaner 6. With these new products and upgrades we aim to deliver solutions that clients can bank on."

    About Discreet

Discreet empowers moving media professionals to realize the visual experience, transforming their most evocative and ambitious visions into reality. Its range of award-winning systems and software is developed for digital media creation, management and delivery -- across all disciplines from visual effects and editing to animation, game development, web and interactive. 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 is located on the Internet at www.discreet.com.

Discreet is a division of Autodesk, Inc. Discreet, backdraft, burn, character studio, cleaner, combustion, flame, flint, fire, inferno, smoke, and 3ds max are either trademarks or 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.

CONTACT:          Discreet Public Relations
                  Kevin G. Clark, 415/547-2457
                  kevin.g.clark@autodesk.com
                  or
                  Access Communications
                  Tuesday Uhland, 415/844-6267
                  tuhland@accesspr.com

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