MONTREAL--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 9, 2003--Discreet, a division of Autodesk Inc. (Nasdaq:ADSK), announced today that it has entered into an exclusive strategic alliance with Colorfront, a privately-held software development company based in Budapest, Hungary, to jointly develop, market and sell a powerful new generation of digital color correction systems.

The details of the agreement provide for the joint development of a new digital color grading solution based on both Colorfront and Discreet technology. Colorfront will carry out core product development, with certain components provided by Discreet. The new product -- expected to be announced and launched April 2003 at NAB in Las Vegas -- will be part of the Discreet inferno, flame, flint, fire, smoke and backdraft systems product line.

"Digital film production has shown tremendous growth over the last two years with a rapidly increasing number of films being processed entirely digitally. This provides an exciting opportunity to bring innovative technologies to market that better address the emerging needs of our clients," explains Bill Roberts, Discreet Product Manager. "Our partnership with Colorfront will combine the skills of two leading technology companies in this field to provide new digital intermediate solutions in a faster, more cost effective manner."

Colorfront has been in partnership with Discreet for several years, having developed the Color*star -- digital film grading and color correction, and Star*dust -- film mastering and image restoration sparks (plug-ins) for Discreet's inferno, flame, flint, fire and smoke systems.

"As Discreet enters into this strategic partnership, we are excited to work closely together with Colorfront on this new technology," explains Marc Petit, vice president of systems product development at Discreet. "They have a deep understanding of film production and have built a solid reputation for innovation and product quality within the post-production industry. Together we will be able to deliver outstanding new solutions for our customers with a sophisticated digital intermediate workflow."

"We are delighted to be working with Discreet in bringing this technology to market," explains Mark Jaszberenyi, Colorfront Founder and CEO. "Discreet is established as the leading supplier of high-performance post-production systems, and we believe that credibility will give us the extra momentum we need to successfully bring our new technologies to market."

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.

About Colorfront

Colorfront is a recognized software development company creating professional tools for the film and video post-production industry. Colorfront's leading color correction technology is currently being used by top facilities around the world, recently by PostHouse to digitally grade the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Color*star is the industry-first software plug-in for digital film grading, advanced selective color correction and creative look creation for film, HDTV, and video. 2001 NAB Pick Hit Award-winning Star*dust provides the most complete arsenal of sophisticated tools for film mastering and restoration available as a plug-in for Discreet advanced systems. Colorfront is headquartered in Budapest, Hungary and can be found on the web at www.colorfront.com.

Note to Editors: Discreet is a division of Autodesk, Inc. Discreet, inferno, flame, flint, fire, smoke, backdraft and sparks are either registered trademarks or 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.

--30--am/sf*