Software Offers Faster Performance, Enhanced Animation Workflows, Expanded Physics Capabilities and Improved Interoperability

NEW ORLEANS, Aug. 3 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- At SIGGRAPH 2009, Autodesk, Inc. (Nasdaq: ADSK) announced a new version of its real-time 3D character animation software -- Autodesk MotionBuilder 2010. This latest release offers faster overall performance, productivity-enhancing animation workflows and expanded real-time physics capabilities. MotionBuilder has been used to create numerous entertainment projects, including "Beowulf," "Gears of War 2," "Shaun White Snowboarding" and "Resistance 2."

MotionBuilder 2010 will also ship as a part of the Autodesk Entertainment Creation Suites and the Autodesk Real-Time Animation Suites, leveraging the software's improved interoperability with Autodesk Maya and Autodesk 3ds Max software and making it more affordable to incorporate the technology into digital entertainment workflows.

"Autodesk MotionBuilder is an ideal tool for high-volume game animation pipelines, director-driven virtual cinematography and real-time character simulations," said Stig Gruman, vice president, Autodesk Digital Entertainment Group. "The enhanced capabilities and accessibility of the 2010 release will help to further reshape the creative decision-making process, as more and more creative visionaries adopt the technology for virtual cinematography and pre-visualization work."

"I haven't been this excited about a MotionBuilder release since I was first introduced to the software in 2003," said CJ Markham, lead animator at Rockstar Games London. "The physics tools and solutions are amazing, and it feels much faster than the older versions. Compatibility with my 64-bit processor and the ability to use all 12 gigs of my RAM makes plotting long scenes with multiple characters a breeze."

    New Feature Highlights
    Accelerated Performance
    --  Improvements to and memory optimization of the core engine help
        provide superior performance when handling large scene files.

    --  The nonlinear editing capabilities of the Story Tool are now faster
        than ever, enabling more rapid handling of data for cinematics and
        motion editing scenes.


    Productivity-Geared Animation Workflows
    --  Enhanced pose control support enables animators to capture poses and
        apply them to another object for rapid reuse of animations.
    --  Support for user-defined keying groups enables animators to work more
        efficiently with custom rigs, props, cameras, and lights, as well as
        define their own methodology for setting keys.

    --  The Actor tool has been exposed in Python scripting language, helping
        users save time by automating the setup and transfer of motion-capture
        data onto a character.

    Expanded Physics and Character Simulation Capabilities
    --  Joints can now be used to connect multiple simulated objects together
        for the purposes of a simulation. This means that users can hook props
        onto their character and have the secondary animation automatically
        solved by the physics engine.

    --  A new pose-to-pose workflow gives animators the ability to guide or
        match their ragdoll simulations to user-defined poses.

    Enhanced Interoperability
    --  MotionBuilder 2010 has been integrated with the latest version of
        Autodesk HumanIK middleware. Also, the MotionBuilder pose controls,
        character controls and character definition list can now be used when
        working with the HumanIK plug-in.
    --  The character templates in MotionBuilder have been updated, providing
        improved support for 3ds Max Biped.
    --  Autodesk Softimage 2010 software now includes the MotionBuilder
        Template rig, facilitating character data exchange between
        applications.

    --  Support for Qt user interface elements within MotionBuilder enables
        developers to use an industry-standard user interface toolkit to help
        build Open Reality software development kit (SDK) plug-ins.

Autodesk Digital Entertainment Creation Suites

Autodesk's new Entertainment Creation Suites and Real-Time Animation Suites give artists and production facilities access to a range of powerful creative tools at more than 35 percent* cost savings, compared to purchasing each product individually. With Autodesk FBX 2010 data exchange technology, the suites provide a cohesive, efficient pipeline. Used together, the products in these suites help artists maximize creativity and optimize productivity.

Pricing and Availability

Autodesk anticipates that MotionBuilder 2010, as well as the new Digital Entertainment Creation suites, will be available in August 2009. The 32-bit version of MotionBuilder 2010 software will be supported on the Windows XP Professional operating system (SP2 or higher). The 64-bit version of MotionBuilder 2010 software will be supported on the Windows XP Professional x64 Edition and the Windows Vista Business x64 Edition operating systems.

The Autodesk suggested retail price for MotionBuilder 2010 software is US$3,995*. The Autodesk suggested retail price to upgrade from MotionBuilder 2009 to MotionBuilder 2010 is US$995*. Autodesk Subscription with Gold Support for MotionBuilder is available for purchase at the Autodesk suggested retail price of US$795* per year.

*International pricing may vary.

About Autodesk

Autodesk, Inc., is a world leader in 2D and 3D design software for the manufacturing, construction, and media and entertainment markets. Since its introduction of AutoCAD software in 1982, Autodesk has developed the broadest portfolio of state-of-the-art Digital Prototyping solutions to help customers experience their ideas before they are real. Fortune 1000 companies rely on Autodesk for the tools to visualize, simulate and analyze real-world performance early in the design process to save time and money, enhance quality and foster innovation. For additional information about Autodesk, visit www.autodesk.com.

Autodesk, AutoCAD, FBX, HumanIK, Maya, MotionBuilder, Open Reality, Softimage and 3ds Max are registered trademarks or trademarks of Autodesk, Inc., and/or its subsidiaries and/or affiliates in the USA and/or other countries. Python is a registered trademark of Python Software Foundation. SIGGRAPH is a registered trademark of the Association of Computing Machinery, Inc. All other brand names, product names or trademarks belong to their respective holders. Autodesk reserves the right to alter product offerings and specifications at any time without notice, and is not responsible for typographical or graphical errors that may appear in this document.

2009 Autodesk, Inc. All rights reserved.

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SOURCE Autodesk, Inc.

CONTACT: Brittany Bonhomme, +1-416-874-8798, brittany.bonhomme@autodesk.com, or Karen Raz, +1-310-450-1482, karen@razpr.com

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