Softimage Unveils SOFTIMAGE|XSI 6.5 and SOFTIMAGE|FACE ROBOT 1.8 Software at SIGGRAPH 2007

Company announces new features, packaging, and pricing for SOFTIMAGE|XSI 6.5 and enhanced game export pipeline in SOFTIMAGE|FACE ROBOT 1.8

SIGGRAPH 2007, San Diego (Booth #503) – August 6, 2007 –Softimage Co., a subsidiary of Avid Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVID), today announced the latest versions of its 3D animation software packages: SOFTIMAGE®|XSI® 6.5 and SOFTIMAGE|FACE ROBOT® 1.8.  Softimage also announced plans to repackage its Essentials and Advanced versions of SOFTIMAGE|XSI 6.5 software to meet the specific needs of artists and studios, respectively. The latest version of SOFTIMAGE|FACE ROBOT will offer enhancements for game development pipelines, along with hours of new training material. SOFTIMAGE|XSI 6.5 and SOFTIMAGE|FACE ROBOT 1.8 software are expected to be available Fall 2007, and the company will demonstrate these new products at the SIGGRAPH 2007 convention in San Diego, CA (August 7-9) www.softimage.com/events/sig07.

“Since our founding by Daniel Langlois, twenty years ago, Softimage has always prided itself on helping 3D artists unleash their creativity and to make the impossible come to life,” said Marc Stevens, vice president and general manager for Softimage. “Once again, we have been listening to our customers and prospects and we followed their advice when we made these improvements to our features, packaging and pricing.  We believe that the changes we are making will set a new standard for value and productivity in the industry,”

New in SOFTIMAGE|XSI 6.5:

Both SOFTIMAGE|XSI 6.5 Essentials and Advanced software will include more than thirty enhancements that were developed for key customers such as Lionhead Studios, Valve, EA, Animal Logic, Nerdcorps, Pandemic and NCSoft.  Some of the new enhancements, which improve production efficiency and meet the specific workflow needs of the game development, visual effects and visualization industries, include:

• HDR (high dynamic range) rendermap support;
• Additional SDK  (Software Developer’s Kit) APIs (Application programming interface);
• UV Editing enhancements (2D image data on a 3D model); and
• Enhanced audio support.

In addition, each SOFTIMAGE|XSI 6.5 application delivers specific features designed to meet the needs of target customers:

• SOFTIMAGE|XSI 6.5 Essentials – equips artists with the features they need to create compelling 3D characters and content for games, film and television. The Essentials version now includes Hair & Fur, and Syflex Cloth capabilities. The price for Essentials will increase to $2,995 USMSRP; maintenance remains unchanged at $799 USMSRP, and upgrades remain unchanged at $999 USMSRP. XSI 6.5 Essentials will only be available to new customers and customers on active maintenance.

• SOFTIMAGE|XSI 6.5 XSI Advanced – enables technical directors and studio IT managers to set up and run a creative animation facility with a robust toolset, including everything in the SOFTIMAGE|XSI 6.5 XSI Essentials package, plus Behavior, a crowd and behavioral simulation system, as well as five additional XSI Batch rendering licenses. The price for Advanced will decrease to $4,995 USMSRP and maintenance will decrease to $1333 USMSRP.

Growing Third-Party Developer Community

Since Softimage opened its rendering application programming interface (API) for the SOFTIMAGE|XSI 6 software, the community of third-party developers for SOFTIMAGE|XSI has shown impressive growth. While mental ray® software from mental images® remains the deeply integrated core renderer in XSI software, the open API allows rendering technology partners to develop and integrate their respective render engines with a similar level of integration and control into SOFTIMAGE|XSI software. Several rendering partners who are already evaluating integrating their technology into XSI software have announced – or are expected to announce –  shipping products at SIGGRAPH 2007.

SOFTIMAGE|FACE ROBOT 1.8

SOFTIMAGE|FACE ROBOT is an advanced software package that delivers life-like 3D character facial animation for use in games, film and television, and offers greater speed and control than any other commercially available solution. SOFTIMAGE|FACE ROBOT 1.8 will offer specific new features that focus on game development pipeline efficiencies, including:

• Crosswalk, MOTOR (motion transfer), Delta Referencing and Animation Layers, all of which are built on the SOFTIMAGE|XSI 6 core;
• A new shape rig export system – allowing users to export entire head blend shapes for use in XSI and Autodesk® Maya® software;
• Improved game export pipeline – offering auto-enveloping, which delivers more accurate and higher quality results;
• Enhanced training materials including:
• Seven ready-to-use preset head models
• 23-part training video covering the Face Robot tuning process.

For Softimage Face Robot 1.8 pricing, please contact your Softimage sales representative.

About Softimage Co.

Softimage Co., a subsidiary of Avid Technology, Inc. provides intuitive, production proven tools that free 3D artists to create the world’s most compelling characters in the film, broadcast, post-production and games industries. Its flagship product, SOFTIMAGE|XSI is the most complete and intuitive character animation solution available. Easily integrated into any CG production pipeline, XSI software enables 3D artists to create the most lifelike character performances. SOFTIMAGE|FACE ROBOT is the first commercial toolset that accelerates facial animation that empowers 3D artists to create, refine and repurpose high-quality, lifelike facial animation in less time than traditional solutions. For more information about Softimage, please visit www.softimage.com.

About Avid Technology, Inc.

Avid Technology, Inc. is the world leader in digital nonlinear media creation, management, and distribution solutions, enabling film, video, audio, animation, games, and broadcast professionals to work more efficiently, productively, and creatively. For more information about the company’s Oscar, Grammy, and Emmy award-winning products and services, please visit: www.avid.com.

© 2007Avid Technology, Inc. All rights reserved. Product features, specifications, system requirements, and availability are subject to change without notice. Promotions and discounts are subject to availability and change without notice. All prices are USMSRP for the U.S. and Canada only and are subject to change without notice. Contact your local AVID office or reseller for prices outside the U.S. and Canada. Avid received an Oscar statuette representing the 1998 Scientific and Technical Award for the concept, design, and engineering of the Avid Film Composer® system for motion picture editing. Digidesign, Avid’s audio division, received an Oscar statuette representing the 2003 Scientific and Technical Award for the design, development, and implementation of its Pro Tools® digital audio workstation. Avid, Digidesign, Film Composer, ProTools, SOFTIMAGE, FACE ROBOT and XSI are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Avid Technology, Inc. or its subsidiaries in the United States and/or other countries. mental ray and mental images are registered trademarks of mental images GmbH in the USA and other countries. Oscar is a trademark and service mark of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Emmy is a registered trademark of ATAS/NATAS. Grammy is a trademark of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, Inc. All other trademarks contained herein are the property of their respective owners.