ANNOUNCE: 3Dlabs/Kinetix Press Release
Jonathan Hirshon
The following press release details how 3Dlabs-based graphics boards
are the first to truly accellerate 3D Studio MAX into real-time -- I
believe you might find it of interest. Feel free to call if you have
any questions :)
cheers, JH
_________________________
News Release
CONTACT INFORMATION
Neil Trevett, 3Dlabs Inc.
(408) 436-3456
neil.t...@3dlabs.com
http://www.3dlabs.com
Jonathan Hirshon, Horizon Public Relations
(408) 982-2555
j...@horizonpr.com
http://www.horizonpr.com
3Dlabs Ships Heidi Drivers for GLINT 3D Processor,
Wide Range of GLINT Boards Accelerate 3D Studio MAX
GLINT-optimized Heidi drivers shipped in the box with 3D Studio MAX;
Significant speed and quality boost for 3D Studio MAX end-users
LAS VEGAS, NV - April 15th, 1996 -- 3Dlabs(r) Inc. (San Jose, CA)
today announced immediate availability of its GLINT(r)-optimized
drivers for the Heidi(tm) API from Kinetix. The Heidi drivers provide
seamless acceleration for the new 3D Studio MAX(tm) modeling and
animation application, providing 3D Studio MAX users with 3D
interactivity surpassing expensive graphics workstations. 3Dlabs has
been working in close cooperation with Kinetix, Autodesk Inc.'s new
multimedia business unit, for over a year to develop highly optimized
Heidi drivers that directly drive its GLINT and GLINT Delta(tm) 3D
processor chips - the industry's leading professional 3D accelerator
family.
The optimized Heidi drivers directly control the GLINT silicon, and
have been highly optimized to take maximum advantage of GLINT's
extensive rasterization power. GLINT-based boards significantly
accelerate the 3D viewing and interaction speeds of 3D Studio MAX - by
a factor of two to four times depending on scene complexity - compared
to 8 bit software rendering. At this speed, GLINT also provides
enhanced image quality through 16 or 24 bit color depth, deep 24 bit Z
buffers, and by using 3Dlabs' patented, high-precision rendering
pipeline.
3Dlabs and Autodesk are making the GLINT-optimized Heidi drivers
available free of charge to all GLINT board level customers, and the
GLINT drivers are included in the standard 3D Studio MAX distribution.
This enables 3D Studio MAX users to immediately upgrade to any
GLINT-based board to increase their productivity.
3Dlabs' recently announced GLINT Delta geometry pipeline processor is
fully compatible with Heidi and 3D Studio Max. 3Dlabs' Heidi drivers
transparently detect and take advantage of GLINT Delta if present on
any GLINT-based card.
Quotes
"We selected 3Dlabs as a key partner for Kinetix while developing the
Heidi 3D driver architecture, and we have been impressed by the
company's unflagging commitment and expertise," said John Ison,
director of product management at Kinetix. "By working with 3Dlabs to
optimize the GLINT drivers for 3D Studio MAX, Kinetix has been able to
refine our software architecture, while enabling a broad range of
board suppliers to use the GLINT chip to accelerate 3D Studio MAX
functions and features. We have found that GLINT can accelerate 3D
interactivity within 3D Studio MAX by up to four times, while
increasing the visual display quality."
"3D Studio MAX is poised to become one of the most significant 3D
applications on the PC, and the success of Autodesk and Kinetix will
further drive demand for PC-based 3D accelerator hardware on Windows
NT," said Osman Kent, president and CEO of 3Dlabs. "The optimized
drivers we have developed will ensure that GLINT end-users will enjoy
excellent interactivity while using 3D Studio MAX. The Heidi driver
architecture developed by Kinetix is first class, and we look forward
to a continuing close partnership the company to bring 3D acceleration
to other Kinetix and Autodesk applications."
GLINT and GLINT Delta Information
The GLINT 300SX provides unmatched support for advanced multimedia
authoring, modeling, animation, CAD and visualization applications by
implementing 100% of the OpenGL(r) rendering operations in silicon --
including 32-bit color support, Gouraud shading and depth
buffering. GLINT also implements advanced functionality such as
anti-aliasing and alpha blending at rendering speeds of up to 300,000
polygons per second. Due to its broad functionality, GLINT provides
complete 3D pixel processing for Heidi, ensuring that GLINT boards
provide consistent, high value, 3D Studio MAX acceleration.
GLINT Delta breaks the 3D geometry bottleneck by offloading 3D
geometry pipeline processing into a hardwired 100 MFlop processor
capable of processing 1 million vertices/second. Designed as a
companion processor to 3Dlabs' GLINT chips, GLINT Delta typically
doubles a system's 3D performance by reducing CPU loading by up to 70%
and halving PCI bandwidth. GLINT Delta is general purpose and may be
used to accelerate any 3D API, including Heidi for 3D Studio MAX.
3D Studio MAX Compatible GLINT Cards and Systems - Shipping Today The
following is a partial list of vendors that are shipping GLINT-based
cards or systems that provide high-value Heidi-based acceleration for
3D Studio MAX.
AccelGraphics Inc. ships the AccelR8(tm) and AccelPRO(tm) family of
GLINT-based boards that include GLINT and GLINT Delta. AccelGraphics
uses it's own industry leading graphics software technology which
includes AGI's proprietary Heidi driver with its hardware products.
Contact: Greg Milliken, (408) 467 5021, greg_m...@ag3d.com.
Densan Inc. ships the PCI-300SX GLINT-based board in Japan. Contact
Zhang Yuanli, +81 3 3329 3871.
Diamond Multimedia ships the FireGL(tm) GLINT-based board. Contact:
Ed Huang, (408) 325 7930, e...@diamondmm.com.
Elsa Inc. ships the GLoria(tm) family of GLINT-based boards. Contact:
Joy Li, (408) 935 0350, sa...@elsa.com, http://www.elsa.com.
Force Inc. ships the 3DE-300SX based board in Japan. Contact: Kenyu
Uema, +81 3 5350 2350, ue...@tau.bekkoame.or.jp.
Fujitsu Microelectronics, Inc. ships the Sapphire(tm) Designer GLINT-based
board.
Contact: Hiten Patel, (408) 922 9770, hpa...@fmi.fujitsu.com,
http://www.fmi.fujitsu.com.
NeTpower Inc. ships the Calisto(tm) Pentium(r) Pro-based workstation
with Elite2(tm) GLINT-based graphics. Contact: Rael Morris, (408) 522
5112, rael_...@netpower.com, http://www.netpower.com.
Microstep ship the AGC-3D GLINT-based board. Contact: Ping Hu, (818)
964 5048, msi...@ix.netcom.com.
Omnicomp Graphics Corporation ships the 3DEMON(tm) and 3DEMON Delta
series of graphics accelerators that use the GLINT Delta. Contact:
Kelly D. Stuart, (713) 464 2990, omnicmp@ phoenix.net,
http://www.phoenix.net/~omnicmp.
Symmetric Inc. ships the GLyder(tm) GLINT-based card that includes
GLINT Delta. Contact: Perry Copus, (214) 931 5999,
pco...@symmetric.com, http://www.symmetric.com.
Company Information
Kinetix develops and delivers affordable content creation tools for
professionals such as film and video producers, video/computer game
developers, Web content developers, architects, engineers, and
designers. The leader in PC-based 3D modeling and animation tools,
Kinetix provides a full range of products for the application
development process, from 2D and 3D creation to assembly and delivery.
With headquarters in San Rafael, Calif., Kinetix is a division of
Autodesk, the fourth largest PC software company in the world with
three million customers in 130 countries. Kinetix products are sold
through dealers and distributors worldwide. Visit Kinetix on the
World Wide Web at http://www.ktx.com, or contact the company at
800-879-4233.
3Dlabs is a worldwide supplier of merchant chips, software and core
technology for 3D graphics. With over 10 years experience in 3D
graphics, the company's products enable chip, board and system
manufacturers to integrate advanced 3D capabilities into their
products for such applications as multimedia authoring, CAD,
simulation, virtual reality, interactive TV and video games. 3Dlabs
has consistently led the industry in being first to deliver successive
generations of 3D devices that precisely meet the emerging needs of
the 3D market. In a recent article the company was positioned as the
"First member of the next generation of chip companies" by the
influential Red Herring magazine. In January 1996, 3Dlabs' GLINT and
PERMEDIA silicon were honored with a First Place Computer Graphics
World Editor's Choice Award for outstanding innovation.
3Dlabs Inc. is headquartered in San Jose, CA., was founded in April 1994, and
is privately owned.
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3Dlabs and GLINT are registered trademarks and Delta is a trademark of
3Dlabs Inc. Ltd. Autodesk and 3D Studio are registered trademarks and
Heidi, 3D Studio MAX and Kinetix are trademarks of Autodesk Inc.
Microsoft and Windows are either registered trademarks or trademarks
of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries.
OpenGL is a registered trademark of Silicon Graphics Inc. AccelR8 and
AccelPRO are trademarks of AccelGraphics. FireGL is a trademark of
Diamond Multimedia. GLoria is a trademark Elsa Inc. Sapphire
Designer is a trademark of Fujitsu Microelectronics. NeTpower is a
registered trademark and Elite2 and Calisto are trademarks of
NeTpower, Inc. 3Demon is a trademark of Omnicomp Graphics
Corporation. GLyder is a trademark of Symmetric Inc. All other
trademarks are acknowledged.
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___________________________________________________________________________
Jonathan Hirshon 408-982-2555 - voice
Principal 408-982-2556 - fax
Horizon Public Relations 408-832-6676 - mobile phone
www.horizonpr.com - HOME PAGE
"Ask yourself where you'd rather be -- then try to figure out why its not
right here." -- JH