FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MetaCreations to Deliver New Tool for Web Advertising Headline
StudioTM to Bring Powerful Broadcast-Quality Animation to Web Banners
Carpinteria, CA - February 1, 1999 - MetaCreations Corporation
(Nasdaq: MCRE) announced today dynamic new software for Web design
professionals who want to create animated, broadcast-quality Web
advertising banners. Headline StudioTM will contain all the necessary
tools in an easily accessible format to quickly create animated GIF
banner ads for the Web that can be viewed on any browser at multiple
bandwidths. Planned to be available for the Windows and Macintosh
platforms via e-commerce and electronic distribution later this month
and on retail shelves in March, the release of Headline Studio
represents the next component of the company's new 'Creative Web'
strategy.
"The dramatic increase in commerce on the Internet has significantly
raised the bar for the development of compelling Web advertising,"
said John Dearborn, senior vice president of marketing at
MetaCreations. "Headline Studio specifically addresses this need,
providing designers with TV-like effects and animation to help
differentiate their advertisements while capturing customer attention
and minimizing bandwidth requirements."
Benefits Professional Web Banner Designers Headline Studio 1.0 will
deliver all the necessary tools for creating compelling, animated Web
banners in one streamlined application. With video effects such as
walk-ins, dissolves and fades for images and text (either lines,
words or individual letters), Web authors will have newfound design
freedom while decreasing the time it takes to produce an ad. Because
Headline Studio is an integrated solution, designers can author
animated GIF banner ads in a few minutes rather than the hours
previously necessary. Headline Studio 1.0 includes customizable,
Web-safe color palettes, unlimited undo, and the ability to determine
GIF animation size and frame rate after the animation has been
designed. Before Headline Studio, designing banners was much like
designing a slide show. Now, designing banners is like producing a
television commercial for the Web.
"Web authors now have unlimited freedom in banner creation, because
Headline Studio completely reinvents the workflow for banner
animation design," said Chris Miller, vice president and director of
marketing at Capps Digital Studio/Leo Burnett Company. "Headline
Studio represents the numerous products needed to piece together a
compelling Web banner condensed into a single, simple application."
"Before Headline Studio, designers were forced to use two or three
different programs to properly author GIF animation files, and the
animation had to be designed in a cumbersome frame-by-frame process,"
said Mark Zimmer, chief developer of Headline Studio and co-developer
of MetaCreations' Painter. "By determining frame rates after
designing an animation, Headline Studio enables designers to develop
multiple banner ads at different bandwidths from one master, all
within one application."
Available for Download in February
Headline Studio will represent the first of MetaCreations' product
line to be distributed via e-commerce, featuring the ability to
electronically purchase and download the application simply and
easily. Customers may visit the Headline Studio Web site at
http://www.metacreations.com/products/hls for more information, or to
easily purchase and download the software. A packaged retail version
of Headline Studio is planned for delivery approximately one month
following the electronic release.
Additional Features in Headline Studio
Split text: Divide text into individual lines, words or characters
for complete control over animation possibilities.
Instant preview of GIF animations: Streamline creation time with
the ability to view animations on the fly.
Dozens of animation parameters: Whether you want text and images to
flow smoothly into your banner, "fade" in from a motion blur, or even
bounce like a ball, Headline Studio speeds animation by providing
dozens of parameters that can be applied to any object for instant
action.
Color palettes: Users can choose from preset "Web-safe" color
palettes, create custom palettes within Headline Studio, or import
palettes from MetaCreations' Painter 5.5 Web Edition, or Adobe
Photoshop.
Pricing and Availability
Headline Studio is planned to be available in February 1999, via
electronic distribution. A packaged version for retail distribution
of the product will be available approximately one month following
the electronic release. The MSRP is expected to be US$249 with an
average selling price of US$199.
Minimum System Requirements
Windows: Pentium Processor, Windows 95/98/NT4 with Service Pack 3 or
later, 32MB free RAM, 5 MB free HD space for installation.
Power Macintosh: Mac OS 8.0, 32 MB free RAM, 5 MB free HD space for
installation.
About MetaCreations
MetaCreations Corporation, the Creative Web company, is focused on
developing and marketing 2D and 3D visualization software for graphic
artists, and the World Wide Web. MetaCreations' Creative Web strategy
is centered on the company's new MetaStream and MetaFlash
technologies, and employs an array of MetaCreations' software
development tools to accelerate the creation of 2D and 3D graphics
for online applications, and to make fast, interactive use of
photorealistic 3D on the Web practical and pervasive. MetaCreations
offers a complete product line of award-winning graphics desktop
software for both professional users and consumers, and its products
are available in more than 70 countries. The company is headquartered
in Santa Barbara County, California, and has development centers in
Scotts Valley, Calif., and Princeton, N.J., as well as an
International Operations Center in Dublin, Ireland. MetaCreations can
be reached on the World Wide Web at http://www.metacreations.com.
For more information, contact:
Dorothy Eckel
Public Relations
805/566-6464
deckel@metacreations.com
Teresa Bridwell
Corporate Communications
805/566-6274
teresab@metacreations.com
