Credo Interactive announces LightWave 3D™ and StudioPro™ plugins for Life Forms® Studio 3.0

Life Forms Studio 3.0 now shares common file formats with LightWave 3D and StudioPro, providing intuitive and powerful character movement solutions to LightWave 3D and StudioPro users.

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:

Ken Bryson, Marketing Coordinator kenb@credo-interactive.com (604) 291-6717 Hollie Wendt, Public Relations hollie@earthlink.net (408) 688-1193

ORLANDO, FL., July 21, 1998, Siggraph 1998 - Credo Interactive Inc., leaders in providing innovative tools for 3D character movement, today announced their LightWave 3D(tm) and Strata StudioPro(tm) plugins for Life Forms(r) Studio 3.0. With these plugins, Life Forms users can now share common file formats with both LightWave 3D and Strata StudioPro, providing intuitive and powerful character movement and animation solutions for two of today's top 3D animation packages.

As the first tool dedicated specifically to character movement, Life Forms is the only software that makes character movement a simple, intuitive process. With an incredibly straight-forward and unique figure editor, plus an instant walk generator, Life Forms users can create movement quicker, easier, and more intuitively than previously possible.

With support for LightWave 3D scene files and StudioPro's Hierarchical Motion Format, Life Forms Studio 3.0 users can export movement data directly from Life Forms Studio 3.0 to LightWave 3D and StudioPro. Credo Interactive's LightWave 3D plugin also allows users to import models from LightWave 3D into Life Forms Studio 3.0.

"We're very excited to offer our intuitive and powerful character movement solution to the many 3D animators using LightWave 3D and StudioPro," said Sang Mah, Credo Interactive's Chief Operating Officer, from Siggraph '98 in Orlando, Florida. "As an easy to use, yet ultimately very powerful character movement tool, Life Forms Studio 3.0 will definitely enhance both LightWave 3D and StudioPro's professional-level 3D animation capabilities."

"The LightWave 3D community is looking for efficient and algorithmic creation of human motion," says Brad Peebler, NewTek's Vice-President, 3D Graphics Group. "Credo Interactive's Life Forms Studio 3.0 solves many of these demands and can be used quickly to generate life-like motions for individual characters and even large crowds. This should prove to be great for the LightWave 3D community."

"The availability of Credo's plug-in is a huge plus for our StudioPro users," explains Strata's CEO Ken Bringhurst. "Life Forms(r) Studio 3.0 runs at the head of the pack in the motion capture field - this is a big development."

Using Life Forms Studio 3.0 to either create movement for export to LightWave 3D and StudioPro, or to apply movement data to LightWave 3D models, LightWave 3D and StudioPro users will not only benefit from Life Forms' intuitive graphical interface, but also save production time with many of Life Forms' productivity enhancing features, such as:

* Range editing: increases productivity by allowing movement sequences to be edited over a series of keyframes with one single action - including real time walk generation.

* Support for Motion Capture Data provides a quick, easy, and powerful method for editing mocap sequences, applying mocap data to different models, or converting between mocap file formats.

* Blend Editing: allows user to copy/paste individual body part movements between different models.

* Built-in rendering: provides an excellent environment to preview animations or export for use on the world wide web.

* The walk generator: creates instant, natural, and fully customized walk sequences with intuitive parameters such as velocity, distance, and step count.

* Inverse and Forward Kinematics: provides two powerful options for posing characters. Combining the intuitiveness of inverse kinematics and the precision control of forward kinematics, users will make the most of any animation situation.

* The file browser: saves time by allowing users to preview animation and extract movement without opening extra files.

Pricing and Availability

The LightWave 3D and StudioPro plugins for Life Forms Studio 3 will be available third quarter 1998. Current Life Forms Studio 3.0 users will be able to download the plugins free from the Credo Interactive website. Versions of Life Forms Studio 3.0 shipping in the third quarter 1998 will include the plugins at no extra cost.

Life Forms Studio 3.0

Pricing: SRP - $495 US (special introductory offer! List price - $695 US)***
Available: Now
Platform: Mac + Win 95/98/NT
Compatibility: LightWave 3D, Strata StudioPro (3rd Quarter 1998); Motion Capture
Data (Acclaim and BioVision), Alias/Wavefront, ElectricImage,
Cinema 4DXL, VRML 97, Infini-D, Extreme 3D, 3D Studio Release 4,
Pixel Putty, VRML 1.0, and online 3D worlds.

Future Import/Export Plugins for Life Forms Studio 3.0 will include support for 3D Studio Max (4th Quarter 1998), and TrueSpace (TBA).

*** Life Forms Studio 3.0 will be offered for a special new release price of $495 US for 90 days after shipping commences. The regular suggested price is $695 US.

About Credo Interactive Inc.

Based in Vancouver, BC, Canada, Credo Interactive Inc. is a leader in providing innovative tools and solutions for 3D character movement. Recently identified as one of Canada's top-25 up-and-coming software companies by the Financial Post, Credo Interactive continues to create new and exciting character animation solutions, including the PowerMoves, the ultimate 3D animation library, and Life Forms, an innovative character movement tool for 3D animation, dance choreography, avatar creation, movement planning, game development, multimedia content creation and education.

Life Forms was the first movement tool for 3D character animation and has been used for pre-visualization in such Hollywood features as Jurassic Park, Terminator 2, Batman and Robin, and Barb Wire.

Life Forms is a registered trademark of Credo Interactive Inc.
LightWave 3D is a trademark of NewTek Inc.
StudioPro is a trademark of Strata Inc.
All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.