SAN FRANCISCO, Mar 5, 2003 (BUSINESS WIRE) --

New Software Transforms Digital Content into 60 Delivery Formats Including: support for HD Multi-channel Windows Media 9 Series, QuickTime 6, and MPEG-4 for Web, DVD and Wireless Distribution

Discreet, a division of Autodesk Inc. (Nasdaq:ADSK), today introduced cleaner(TM) XL for Microsoft(R) Windows(R). Based on the latest Microsoft .NET technology, cleaner XL is the next generation successor to its award winning cleaner 5 streaming and encoding software. Now shipping -- cleaner XL builds upon and expands its cleaner legacy as a pioneer in media mastering and streaming. With major performance improvements -- an innovative user interface, and impressive workflow capabilities -- Discreet cleaner XL delivers new and unmatched features allowing professionals to master and encode video content for output to all major digital media formats; from Web streaming and DVD -- to wireless, PDA and mobile distribution.

"Discreet's cleaner XL is one of the first professional tools to ship offering support for the new HD video and multi-channel audio capabilities of Windows Media 9 Series." said Dave Fester, general manager, Windows Digital Media Division. "This offers a state of the art professional tool for media mastering."

Industry analyst, Michael Gartenberg of Jupiter Research, states that streaming video is one of the top three tech choices for 2003. Gartenberg reported, "Streaming (content) quality has never been higher, and the cost has never been lower. New technologies from Microsoft Windows Media, RealNetworks and Apple are near broadcast quality with relatively low bandwidth penalties. If companies host or televise live events, they can now make use of the Internet and streaming video to improve returns on these expenditures at dramatically lower costs." (Computerworld, January 27, 2003)

With the growth of digital content delivery for the PC desktop, DVD and wireless devices, digital media consumers are demanding dramatically improved playback experiences in a wider variety of formats. Discreet helps professionals meet the demand with cleaner XL. To ensure users get consistent results across all delivery mediums, cleaner XL encompasses more than 180 professional presets and high-quality filters with total control over encoding parameters -- allowing compression artists to fine-tune their media for highest quality output. Additionally, the new innovative workflow in cleaner XL makes managing large volumes of work easier. Watch Folders automate the entire process of encoding multiple jobs with drag and drop ease.

"With cleaner XL, Discreet delivers a media mastering and streaming solution that allows all content creators to optimize the quality of their compressed media -- regardless of the output format," said Paul Lypaczewski, general manager, Discreet and executive vice president of Autodesk, Inc. "cleaner XL adds value for all of our customers and markets -- from corporate communications to education and entertainment. Mobile media pioneers can create MPEG-4 for cell phones and PDAs. Teachers can prepare videos of their lectures for the web. Post houses can improve their workflow by creating digital dailies from HD sources that playback on the Web, or from DVD," said Lypaczewski.

New features in cleaner XL

cleaner XL features an innovative document-based interface that allows users to prepare one job while processing others. New Watch Folders, drag and drop capabilities and job templates streamline the workflow and allow customers to complete projects with greater efficiency. Optimized to take full advantage of multiple processors and Intel's new Hyper-Threading technology, cleaner XL delivers accelerated performance gains, making media encoding easier and faster. cleaner XL provides support for 60 of the most important media codec (compress/decompress) formats including new HD video and multi-channel audio capabilities of Windows Media 9 Series, QuickTime 6, MPEG-4 w/ AAC audio, MPEG-2 and Kinoma for PalmOS PDAs. (full cleaner XL feature list)

Pricing and Availability

cleaner XL is available in North America for an SRP of US $599. Upgrade price is US $179. For more information about cleaner XL upgrades, call 1-866-317-1011. International OS language versions of cleaner XL will be available in spring 2003. The Discreet e-store is located at www.discreet.com/purchase. For more information about cleaner XL and Discreet's encoding and streaming media products go to: www.discreet.com/cleanerXL

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/interactive design, and design visualization. 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.

Note to Editors: Discreet is a division of Autodesk, Inc. Discreet, cleaner XL and cleaner are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Autodesk, Inc. /Autodesk Canada Inc. in the USA and/or other countries.

Note: A photo is available at URL: http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/photo.cgi?pw.030503/bb4

CONTACT:          Discreet Public Relations
                  Kevin G Clark, 415/547-2457
                  kevin.g.clark@autodesk.com
                  OR
                  Access Communications
                  Lindsay Stewart, 415/844-6217
                  lstewart@accesspr.com

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