Discreet Showcases frost at NAB-Fresh 3D Graphics Choice for Worldwide Broadcasters

Discreet, a division of Autodesk Inc. is featuring frost ® 2.5—the latest shipping version of its template-based 3D graphics creation and delivery system for on-air broadcast graphics. Available with new pricing and platform options, frost offers broadcasters real-time on-air graphics delivery of 3D animated graphics. frost 2.5 includes easy-to-use foundational templates for designing 3D broadcast logos, animations, over-the-shoulders and lower-third graphics as well as improved integration with Discreet's 3ds max ™ animation, modeling and rendering software. frost continues its rapid adoption in leading network, regional and government broadcasting companies. "FOX Sports chose to use frost because it allows us to update on-screen graphics for both NASCAR and the Major League Baseball season's coverage in real-time," said Gary Hartley, senior vice president sports graphics, FOX Sports and FOX Sports Net. "This means we can feed our NASCAR speeds and statistics into frost and have them come out on-screen almost as quickly as the cars change speed - drawing viewers into a unique, interactive experience they've never seen before in on-air sports coverage."

Launched to satisfy high-tech viewers with online financial resources and late-breaking technological developments, TechTV offers a daily news program called "Tech Live," that provides extensive coverage, in-depth analysis and original features on breaking technology developments related to market trends, entertainment and consumer products. All financial graphics created for the show are designed and originated using frost and 3ds max.

"After using frost for our real-time financial graphics on 'Tech Live,' we quickly realized its potential beyond use on a per-project basis," said Jason Odell, product engineer, TechTV. "As a result, we're considering implementing frost for the majority of our applications that deal with real-time or dynamic data." France's TF1 delivers news and sports coverage to millions of viewers across Europe. TF1 adopted and incorporated frost for soccer coverage, and its ease of use and performance at the Euro2000 games expanded the use of frost for another popular TF1 weekly program, "Telefoot." Didier Lahaye, Artistic Director for TFI Sports Services said, "frost was the perfect solution for us, enabling our team to create compelling, complete, rich 3D graphics. In the near future, we plan to use frost to deliver a new 3D graphic look for other sporting events such as Formula One racing."

"Discreet is constantly to continue expanding its presence at leading broadcast customers worldwide with frost," said Paul Lypaczewski, general manager of Discreet and executive vice president, Autodesk, Inc. "frost responds to the broadcasters' challenge of delivering high-performance, sophisticated real-time 3D graphics, while complementing their existing capital infrastructure and pool of talent."

Availability
frost 2.5 is available now for worldwide shipment on a variety of SGI platforms and configurations.

Discreet, 10 Duke Street, Montreal, PQ H3C 2L7. Tel: 514-393-1616; Fax: 514-393-0110.