Intel And Metacreations Announce Availability Of Specification For Scaling And Streaming 3-D Content

Intel And Metacreations Announce Availability Of Specification For Scaling And Streaming 3-D Content

Availability of MetaStream 3-D PC File Format Specification Expected to Speed Proliferation of Rich, Photorealistic 3-D Content for the Web

Los Angeles, CA - Intel Corporation and MetaCreations Corporation (Nasdaq: MCRE) announced the immediate availability of a specification for scaling and streaming 3-D content on the Web, the MetaStream 3-D file format designed for the Intel Architecture. The open specification, developed by Intel Architecture Labs and MetaCreations, will enable Web application developers to obtain the benefits of the MetaStream format and thus speed the proliferation of compelling, photorealistic, MetaStream 3-D content. The companies intend to jointly continue to develop the capabilities of the MetaStream 3-D file format and companion tools, such as the MetaFlash 3-D camera being brought to market later this year by Kodak and Minolta and MetaCreations newly announced Canoma software.

"Intel is excited that our work with MetaCreations will enable solutions which will advance the quality and availability of content, specifically cool 3-D for the Web," said Stan Mo, director of Software Tools Marketing for Intel. "We expect the e-commerce community to benefit significantly from the ability to quickly capture and post photorealistic 3-D content on the Web for applications such as shopping and on-line auctions."

"MetaCreations is pleased to make the MetaStream specification available to the Web community," said Bob Rice, vice president, Business Development for MetaCreations. "We believe that the core benefits of the MetaStream format--serverless streaming and automatically scalable playback--will make 3-D content much more practical and therefore prominent. When combined with breakthrough photorealistic authoring tools like MetaFlash, MetaStream paves the way for fundamental improvements in communications, especially for e-merchandising."

Intel and MetaCreations today published the open MetaStream file format (.mts) and sample code at http://www.metastream/developer. The companies are also planning to submit the format specifications to Internet standards organizations.

The MetaStream 3-D file format addresses the need for 3-D files that stream efficiently over the Internet and scale to the user's processing power. This, in turn, permits Web developers to generate sites of the highest possible quality for enjoyment by power users, while still assuring satisfactory experiences by users with limited bandwidth and/or computing power. The MetaStream 3-D file format allows online shoppers to inspect and interact with products offered for sale and is currently being used in Web sites including autobytel.com and ModaCad's styleclick.com.

MetaCreations MetaFlash technology employs a specially developed flash and software that converts digital photos into high-quality, texture-mapped 3-D wireframe models that can be output to the MetaStream 3-D file format. The MetaFlash technology has been licensed by Minolta and Kodak and will be brought to market with their cameras later this year. MetaCreations also currently markets software tools for the creation of 3-D content based on the MetaStream open file format. 3-D graphic design software packages Ray Dream Studio 5^TM and Ray Dream 3-D^TM from MetaCreations are MetaStream file format compatible, and MetaCreations Infini-D 4.5 and recently announced Canoma feature built-in MetaStream capabilities. In order to increase the quantity of MetaStream content on the Web, MetaCreations has also made a free MetaStream exporter for 3-D Studio MAX available on the MetaCreations Web site.

Web Developer/User Benefits
By utilizing the MetaStream 3-D file format, Web developers need only author content once, yet are assured that visitors to their site will have the ability to view the highest-possible quality 3-D content. One of the key MetaStream features that makes this possible is scalability, which enables the content to automatically maximize performance and resolution according to available processing power of an individual's computer. As a result, Web designers have the ability to set the detail (frame rate) of these 3-D objects relative to the speed of the viewer's computer, ensuring consistent, high-quality viewing. In addition to scaling for the performance of the user's particular system, MetaStream also provides progressive streaming, which allows users to experience 3-D content from the moment downloading commences similar to streamed audio or video files.

How to Get MetaStream Viewer
The MetaStream viewer plug-in is available as a free download from the MetaStream Web site http://www.metastream.com. Minimum system requirements for MetaStream compatibility are a Pentium processor-based system, a 28.8 modem and a Netscape Communicator® 4.0 or Internet Explorer® 4.0 browser. As previously announced, MetaStream will be shipped by Microsoft as a component of Windows 98 and 2000. A free MetaStream exporter for 3-D Studio MAX is also available as a free download from the MetaCreations Web site, http://www.metacreations.com/products/max250.

About Intel
Intel, the world's largest chipmaker, is also a leading manufacturer of personal computer, networking and communications products. Additional information about Intel is available at http://www.intel.com.

About MetaCreations
MetaCreations Corporation, the Creative Web company, is focused on developing and marketing 2D and 3-D visualization software for graphic artists, and the World Wide Web. MetaCreations' Creative Web strategy is centered on the company's new MetaStream^TM and MetaFlash^TM technologies, and employs an array of MetaCreations' software development tools to accelerate the creation of 2D and 3-D graphics for online applications, and to make fast, interactive use of photorealistic 3-D 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 50 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.