D e s i g n - e n g i n e . c o m 2 0 0 3 : . Alias: Major enhancments made

Alias to Release New Rendering Application and Major Enhancement of Industrial Design Software
Alias ImageStudio and Alias StudioTools, premier industrial design solutions for automotive and product designers, accelerate design workflow

Alias Systems, a Silicon Graphics, Inc. (NYSE: SGI) company, announced this month that it will release in September a completely new application for rendering called Alias ImageStudioTM, along with a significant upgrade to Alias StudioToolsTM, computer-aided industrial design software. An improved version of Alias PortfolioWallTM, a presentation tool for digital images, will be available at the same time. These new and enhanced software products will make numerous improvements to the overall workflow of automotive and product design.

“Our goal is to advance the art of industrial design by providing the most productive 2D and 3D design software tools available anywhere in the world,” says Peter Mehlstaeubler, Alias Vice President, Product Development. “We continue to build on this goal by bringing another set of innovative improvements to all aspects of design, especially in the areas of sketching, visualization, concept and Class A modeling.”

Alias StudioTools 11
Alias® continues to evolve the StudioTools family to offer a more efficient, more productive industrial design solution. In particular, modeling enhancements dramatically improve the process of both concept modeling and technical surfacing.

New tools in this release speed the creation of rolled surface edges, allowing designers to efficiently model edge finish details. Modeling enhancements include the ability to quickly represent cut and parting lines on concept models, allowing designers to quickly add details and experiment before taking the time to create final geometry.

New image manipulation functionality added to the integrated paint tools streamlines the concept design workflow. New color correction and replacement tools provide a designer with all the sketch and photo manipulation functionality required to fine tune a concept, eliminating the need to move to a different application. Also new are image deformation and warping tools for stretching or pulling an entire sketch or parts of a sketch, which makes concept experimentation quick and easy.

Enhancements in the ability to project and visualize sketches onto 3D concept models further enrich a unique and powerful design workflow that combines sketching and modeling for rapid concept development and evaluation. Other enhancements provide more reliable data transfer to CAD and make it possible to handle very large data sets from scanners.

Comments from Beta Users of StudioTools 11

“StudioTools 11 has a cleaner, more efficient interface, as well as a number of enhancements that allow us to create anything our clients can imagine,” says Kyle Houchens, Owner, The Outside Digital Art and Design. “A new tesselator creates very clean stereo lithography files for rapid prototyping, and the sketch tools just keep getting better. We get everything necessary to go from art to part while maintaining exact design intent. I look forward to each new release of StudioTools, since I am assured that our competitive edge will get just a bit sharper.”

“I find the new interface is excellent. I enjoy the clean streamlined appearance and find it helpful in speeding up my work flow,” says Chevis Watkinson, Senior Industrial Designer I.D.S.A., National Presto Ind. “I also greatly enjoy the enhancement made to the sketching tools. I find less need to jump between various programs to achieve the desired results I need. Overall I'm pleased with this new upgrade and look forward to continual enhancement of this product. It helps me achieve a higher quality design within what seems to be shorter and shorter deadlines.”

Alias ImageStudio
ImageStudio has been created to advance the art of design rendering and communication. It is for the designer who is primarily concerned with concept modeling, but who also needs top quality rendered images for making presentations. It allows designers to quickly transform 3D files created in StudioTools or CAD packages into appealing, informative rendered images.

While the art of 3D rendering normally requires a high level of technical software skill and can take months to master, ImageStudio makes it possible to create professional rendered images in a fraction of the time. Now designers can spend less time preparing 3D rendering for presentation and more time designing and modeling. ImageStudio requires just a few hours to learn. First time users are able to create an image in an average of just one hour, bypassing complex shader and lighting set up requirements.

Once a 3D file is imported into ImageStudio, a designer sets the stage by choosing from a customizable library of environments that are like virtual photo-shoot setups. Different hard surface materials may be applied such as car paint, rubber, plastic, glass and metals; and logos or other decal effects may be added.

ImageStudio uses mental ray® technology and supports state-of-the-art “Image Based Lighting” for high quality, realistic images. The software accepts 3D files from StudioTools, Maya® and most CAD applications via the industry standard IGES data format. Rendered images can be saved in common image formats such as BMP, TIFF or JPEG.

Alias PortfolioWall 1.6
PortfolioWall is an easy to use presentation tool that assists design teams in quickly accessing, presenting and annotating visual 2D and 3D data. The latest release has a more contemporary interface, as well as data handling and productivity improvements.

PortfolioWall 1.6 also includes an enhanced 3D data viewer featuring higher image quality, more efficient handling of large data sets, diagnostic shading tools and tighter integration with StudioTools software.

Cost, Availability and System Requirements
Pricing for StudioTools 11 starts at $7,500 USD. Products in the family are DesignStudioTM, StudioTM, AutoStudioTM and SurfaceStudioTM. The software runs on Windows® XP, Windows 2000 and SGI® IRIX® operating systems.

ImageStudio starts at $3999 USD. PortfolioWall 1.6 starts at $3000 USD. Both products run on Windows XP and Windows 2000.

All three products are scheduled to ship in September 2003.

Alias is also offering the DesignStudio Productivity Pack which includes DesignStudio software and three training tools for $3999 USD. The Pack includes all the necessary self-paced learning resources to get up and running successfully, plus bonus training materials valued at $300 USD.

Note: International pricing may vary.

About Alias
As the world’s leading innovator of 3D graphics technology, Alias develops software for industrial design and visualization markets, film and video, games, web and interactive media. The company’s design customers include AT&T, BMW, Boeing, Fiat, Ford, General Motors, Honda, Italdesign, Kodak, Kwikset, Mattel, Price Pfister, Renault, Rollerblade, Sharp, Trek Bicycle, Teague and Timex.

In 1997, John Gibson, Rob Krieger, Milan Novacek, Glen Ozymok and Dave Springer were awarded a Technical Achievement Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for the development of the geometric modeling component of the Alias PowerAnimator system. StudioTools is based on this software code.
Alias Systems is a wholly owned, independent software company of SGI with headquarters in Toronto and custom development center in Santa Barbara.

Please visit the Alias web site at www.alias.com or call 1-800-447-2542 in North America. International contact numbers include: Northern Europe, Middle East and Africa, +44 (0) 1494 441273; Germany, East & Southeast Europe, 0049 89 31 70 20; Italy, 39 039 6340011, France, Spain and Portugal, +33 1 44 92 81 60; Japan, 35 797 3500; other parts of Asia Pacific, 81 3 3470 8282 and Latin America, 770 393 1881.

Alias is a registered trademark and the Alias logo, the swirl logo, the StudioTools logo, PortfolioWall, ImageStudio, StudioTools, DesignStudio, AutoStudio, SurfaceStudio and Studio are trademarks of Alias Systems, a division of Silicon Graphics Limited in the US and/or other countries worldwide. Maya is a registered trademark of Silicon Graphics Limited used exclusively by Alias Systems, a division of Silicon Graphics Limited. SGI and IRIX are registered trademarks of Silicon Graphics, Inc. in the US and/or other countries worldwide. Windows is either a registered trademark or trademark of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. mental ray is a registered trademark of mental images GmbH & CO. KG. in the United States and/or other countries. All other products or companies mentioned are trademarks or service marks of their respective owners. Alias, 210 King Street East, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M5A 1J7, Tel: 416-362-9181, FAX: 416-369-6140.