June 18, 2001 - Sunnyvale, CA - Eovia Corporation today began worldwide shipping of Carrara Studio(tm), a new full-service 3D design application that fulfils professional needs with entry-level accessibility at an entry-level price. The program is available for MacOS(r) and Windows(r). Carrara 1.1 is at the heart of the Studio package, an intensively beta-tested and rock-stable revision of the popular original release. With the inclusion of several additional features, Carrara Studio renews the promise of "3D for All" as the matured offspring of the highly successful Ray Dream Studio and Infini-D. The latest release culminates 10 years of 3D software research and development. Eovia is offering substantial upgrade discounts to owners of both legacy programs, as well as an upgrade path from Carrara 1 to Carrara Studio. For current registered Carrara 1 users, the 1.1 updater alone is available as a free download. Eovia Corporation was founded by 3D enthusiasts devoted to furthering the "Ray Dream way of life." Eovia acquired Carrara when the previous owner, Metacreations, divested all its graphic design applications. Eovia subsequently merged with TGS and took over distribution of the TGS award winning 3D NURBS modeling application, Amapi 3D(tm). As a limited-time offer, a free, fully working Amapi 3D version 5 is included on the Carrara Studio CD. "We listen carefully to the 3D community and work closely with users," said Antoine Clappier, CEO of Eovia. "Carrara Studio, with Amapi3D v.5 included, is by far the most accessible, comprehensive and productive 3D package available today." As the bold successor to the very popular Ray Dream and Infini-D, Carrara Studio defies the "user-hostile" conventions of high-priced 3D applications by combining an elegant, intuitive user interface with commonsense workflow, along with a full suite of professional-level tools for modeling, shading, scene building, animation, rendering, and special effects. "The Eovia team is committed to the principle that the creative craft of 3D should be a productive pleasure rather than a confusing chore," said Antoine Clappier. "Carrara Studio is designed to be equally accessible and professional for all potential users of 3D regardless of their 3D experience, including digital artists, web designers, multimedia producers, advertising illustrators, game makers, product designers, and anyone else who needs 3D imagery." Most important over the long term, Carrara Studio is an application with an exciting future, continuously evolving to meet user requirements. Instead of succumbing to unsupported legacy programs dumped at a "discount," 3D enthusiasts have with Carrara Studio an affordable opportunity to continue "Shaping the Future of 3D." KEY FEATURES : QuickTour Eovia well appreciates that learning a new graphics application is always the first hurdle, and that "showing" is better than "telling." In addition to a thoroughly documented manual, Carrara Studio includes eight interactive orientation tours of its extensive features in order to boost users up an already easy learning curve. SmartFlow In Carrara Studio, workflow forms an inherent part of the interface design by dividing major functions into logical, distinct "rooms." This way, users can conduct multiple operations without sorting through a confusing clutter of options. Fast Rendering Carrara Studio provides instant 3D visualization of modeling, texturing and scene work, plus exceptionally fast, high-quality Hybrid Ray Tracing algorithms for rapid spot-check and final renders. Smart Pack Carrara Studio includes 25 of the most popular and useful third-party plug-ins developed exclusively for Carrara Studio. Render in cartoon styles, apply advanced procedural shaders like Slope, Brick, Lumber Yard and Noise Factory, or apply Global Environment Lighting to illuminate a scene. All of this, and more, become possible with the Smart Pack extensions. Fantastic Free Support Carrara Studio includes free unlimited support via the web, email and phone for both Carrara and Amapi 3D v5, an extraordinarily high level of customer service for software these days. Additionally, the Carrara user community is one of the most active and helpful in the 3D application universe. Animation Control Laying out a sequence of multiple actions requires comprehensive master control of animation. In Carrara Studio, every function can be animated using powerful timeline and storyboard editing tools. MultiModeling Versatility is the key to shaping 3D surfaces. Carrara Studio provides five distinct modelers, enabling users to fit the tool to the job. Spline Modeler-defines shapes with bezier-controlled projection curves, a quick and excellent way to make many complex forms. Vertex Modeler-builds polygon meshes with precise vertex positioning, providing control over both the general shape and fine details of a mesh. Metaball Modeler-creates meshes by merging amorphous, adjustable blobs, a great way to grow organic shapes. Text Modeler-applies extrusion and beveling controls to all available Truetype fonts, including dingbat and custom fonts used as object templates. Terrain Modeler-makes very high resolution height field meshes constructed using either imported grayscale maps or built-in tools, with much less computational load than comparable polygon meshes. NURBS, courtesy of Amapi 3D version 5 Yes, the Carrara Studio package has NURBS (Non Uniform Rational B-Splines)-for a limited time! Included on the inaugural Carrara Studio CD is a completely functional, fully supported version of Amapi 3D, a gift in commemoration of Amapi's 10th anniversary and the merger of Eovia and TGS, signaling exciting things to come as Carrara Studio and Amapi 3D continue to evolve. NURBS models constructed in Amapi 3D v.5 can be exported to Carrara Studio via the .rds format. (Amapi 3D v.6, the latest version, exports the Carrara format.) WARNING! Amapi 3D use is highly addictive, likely leading to an Amapi 3D v.6 upgrade at the attractive discount price offered to Carrara Studio owners! Goodies Galore! One of the best ways to learn from professionals is to examine their work in detail. With hundreds of high quality, professionally produced models and textures in Carrara Studio, users can learn advanced techniques from masters of the craft. Web 3D and the Future... Post 3D creations on the Web for the whole world to admire! Early this summer, Eovia will release an extension for converting models to the rich media platform, Viewpoint Experience Technology (VET). Lars Olson, Product Manager of VET at Viewpoint, put it this way: "When Metacreations became Viewpoint and moved to web 3D, we wanted to be sure Carrara was in good hands. Now that Carrara Studio is shipping, Eovia obviously was the right choice. The upcoming VET extension will level the playing field, because VET models made with Carrara Studio are every bit as good as VET models made with high-end programs." Carrara Studio System Requirements: Windows-------------------------------Macintosh Pentium II 300Mhz or better-----------Power Macintosh G3 266Mhz or better Windows 98/2000/NT 4.0 SP3 or later)--System 8.1 or later 64 MB of Physical RAM-----------------64 MB of Application RAM 16-bit Color Display------------------16-bit Color Display (24-bit recommended)----------------(24-bit recommended) 3D graphics accelerator card-----------3D graphics accelerator card recommended-------------------------recommended CD-ROM Drive--------------------------CD-ROM Drive 65 MB free hard drive space-----------65 MB free hard drive space Pricing and Availability Carrara Studio for Macintosh and Windows will begin shipping worldwide today and is available at the suggested retail price of US $399. For more information and direct purchase, visit the Eovia website at www.eovia.com or call Eovia in the US at (888) 394-2307 or Eovia in Europe at +33 (0) 556 13 37 77. Special offers: (in US$) Patch for Carrara 1 to version 1.1: free download Upgrade from Carrara to Carrara Studio: $99.00 Upgrade from Infini-D or Ray Dream (any version) to Carrara Studio: $149.00 Sidegrade from Amapi 3D (any version) to Carrara Studio: $199.00 Additional Eovia offers: (in US$) Upgrade from Amapi 3D version 5 to version 6: $199.00 Sidegrade from Carrara, Carrara Studio, Infini-D and Ray Dream to Amapi 3D version 6: $199.00 About Eovia Eovia, a TGS company, was founded in November 2000 with headquarters in Sunnyvale, CA and offices in San Diego, CA. Eovia is a young company with strong assets and benefits from both the savoir-faire of its founders and the legacy of more than ten years of Research & Development and Marketing conducted by MetaCreations, Fractal Design, Ray Dream and TGS. Formerly the home of Amapi 3D, TGS has been in the graphics software business for over 15 years.