Monday August 4 9:32 AM EDT
Company Press Release
Mitsubishi Accelerates Animation with the Certification of 3DPro/2mp for
Softimage\3D
3DPro/2mp Compatible With Softimage\3D Professional Animation Software
LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 4, 1997--Mitsubishi Electronics America Inc. today announced successful
certification of the 3DPro(TM)/2mp reference board and drivers, jointly developed by Mitsubishi and Evans & Sutherland, for
use with industry-leading animation software Softimage\3D, from Softimage Inc.
Certification guarantees OEMs and professional animators 3DPro/2mp compatibility with version 3.51 and 3.7 of
Softimage\3D, running on Microsoft Windows NT(R) 4.0. The result is an animation package combining the most powerful
3D graphics chipset on the market with a complete modeling, animation and rendering software solution.
``Success in this industry requires compatibility, reliability and support for customers,'' said Joe Eschbach, assistant vice
president at VSIS Inc. and Mitsubishi Electronics America Inc. ``Mitsubishi and Evans & Sutherland worked closely with
Softimage to provide hardware performance accelerated for the comprehensive feature set of the software. In doing so,
professional animators reap the benefits of the most advanced hardware/software solution available.''
OEM Benefits
To OEMs of the 3DPro/2mp, the certification of the chipset provides a base for their own certification testing. By assuring the
compatibility of the graphics chips, board-level designers will have a faster certification turnaround, resulting in a shorter
time-to-market cycle.
``We expect to announce Softimage\3D certification on the AccelECLIPSE(TM) very shortly so that customers can get
access to the high-performance 3DPro technology,'' said Greg Milliken, vice president of business development at
AccelGraphics. ``The AccelECLIPSE, which uses the high-end capabilities of the 3DPro chipset, is ideally suited for users of
Softimage\3D.''
The Certification
The 3DPro/2mp reference board, and Velocity ICD OpenGL(R) reference drivers both successfully completed a series of
Softimage functionality and performance tests. Different stages of the testing were performed alternatively at Softimage's labs
and Evans & Sutherland facilities, requiring all parties to work closely together. Through certification, the 3DPro/2mp receives
the ``Softimage Certified Logo'' as a symbol of compatibility and quality.
``We are excited about this certification because 3DPro is a powerful OpenGL graphic engine,'' said Patrick DeGrasse,
program manager for the 3D Party Group at Softimage Inc. ``One of our program goals is to direct our customers where to
look for their hardware needs, and now we can confidently send them to the high-end 3DPro products.''
About the 3DPro/2mp chipset
The 3DPro/2mp chipset delivers 32-bit true color, double-buffered 3D graphics at pixel resolutions of up to 1280 x 1024, and
processing of up to 2 million polygons per second with a fill rate of up to 60 million pixels per second (Gouraud shaded,
anti-aliased, z-buffered, transparent, blended and perspective-corrected, bilinear MIP mapped textures).
The 3DPro/2mp chipset achieves its stellar performance by eliminating key bottlenecks commonly found in the pipelines of
competing 3D graphics accelerator solutions. Key components of the 3DPro/2mp chipset include the REALimage(R)
technology developed by Evans & Sutherland Computer Corporation (http://www.es.com) and Mitsubishi Electric
Corporation's 3D-RAM frame buffer memory and Cached DRAM texture memory technologies.
The 3DPro/2mp chipset supports numerous 3D features: Gouraud shading, fog, transparency, anti-aliasing,
perspective-correct bilinear and trilinear MIP mapping, overlay planes, alpha blending, depth cueing, lighting, stenciling,
scissoring and window clipping. The chipset also supports video features: 30 fps hardware and software MPEG support,
YUV/RGB color space conversion, scaling and perspective calculations.
Available drivers for the chipset support the Windows NT and Windows(R) 95 operating systems, and OpenGL, Heidi(TM)
and Direct3D(TM) application programming interfaces.
Availability
The chipset is available for end-users in the AccelECLIPSE professional graphics accelerator from AccelGraphics Inc.
(http://www.accelgraphics.com), and the Fire GL 4000 professional graphics accelerator from Diamond Multimedia Systems
Inc. (http://www.diamondmm.com). The 3DPro/2mp began shipping in volume during the second quarter of 1997.
About Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
Mitsubishi Electric is a transnational corporation that focuses on developing technology-based products for industries ranging
from communications to consumer to industrial markets. Mitsubishi combines its systems level expertise and high-level silicon
process technology to provide chip, chipset and system-on-a-chip solutions.
Mitsubishi Electric groups responsible for the 3DPro/2mp chipset include its Japan-based IC design and wafer fabrication
entities, and VSIS Inc., its Sunnyvale, California-based systems design and engineering company. VSIS Inc. (pronounced
``Vee-sis'') is a Silicon Valley start-up company incorporated in Delaware on April 1996 with 100 percent venture capital
funding provided by Mitsubishi Electronics America Inc. VSIS' mission is to develop new systems-level technologies in new
markets. For more information, visit 3dpro2mp.com .
Trademark Information
Softimage is a registered trademark of Softimage Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Microsoft Corp.
VSIS and the VSIS logo are trademarks, and ``The System Is The Chip'' is a service mark of VSIS Inc., a Mitsubishi Electric
America Inc., group company. Mitsubishi and the Mitsubishi logo are registered trademarks of and 3DPro is a trademark of
Mitsubishi Electric Corporation in the U.S.A., Japan and other countries.
REALimage is a registered trademark of Evans & Sutherland Computer Corporation. OpenGL is a registered trademark of
Silicon Graphics Inc. Microsoft, Windows NT and Windows are registered trademarks and Direct3D is a trademark of
Microsoft Corporation. AccelECLIPSE is a trademark of AccelGraphics Inc. Heidi is a trademark of Autodesk Inc.
Contact:
KVO Public Relations
Paul Karr, 415/919-2026
pkarr@kvo.com
or
Mitsubishi Electronics America Inc.
John Garner, 408/774-3191
garner_john@edg.mea.com |
