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Products:
3D Workstation Under $3,000
(March
4, 2001) Sun Microsystems, Inc. has announced its plans to offer
a professional-level 3D animation promotional package that runs
on the new Sun Blade 100 workstation and is powered by Electric
Image's new Universe 3D animation software. The combined hardware
and software promotional package will be available for a limited
time for as low as $2,995, representing more than 30 percent in
savings if purchased separately.
The 3D animation
promotion coincides with the announcements of the Sun Blade 100
workstation -- the first 64-bit workstation priced under $1,000
-- and the Sun Expert3D-Lite graphics accelerator, a sub-$1,000
professional-level 3D graphics board.
The Sun Blade
100 workstation with Universe software provides a UNIX-based,
64-bit architecture with workstation-class features and professional-quality
graphics for customers in film, broadcast, game development and
industrial design. The solution was also developed for users in
a number of industries, such as MCAD and MCAE, in which rendering
and animation are used during product development. In addition
to the Sun Blade 100 workstation, Electric Image's Universe software
package is also supported on Sun's full range of 3D graphics workstations,
including the Sun Blade 1000, Ultra 80, Ultra 60 and Ultra 10
systems, offering complete scalability and performance for the
most demanding projects and production environments.
"Professionals
in animation and digital content creation demand large memory
capacity, 64-bit data addressability, and graphics that feature
quality and flexibility without performance trade-offs,"
said Robbie Turner, Vice President, Client and Technical Market
Products, Sun Microsystems. "The Sun Blade 100 workstation
with a Sun Expert3D-Lite graphics accelerator board and Electric
Image Universe software deliver a high-quality 3D animation workstation
at a PC price point."
Electric Image's
Universe 3D is one of the largest upgrades to the company's Electric
Image Animation System (EIAS) visual effects software in over
a decade. The animation package is based on a new framework that
provides new modeling, animation and rendering capabilities, as
well as support for multiple platforms.
Artists can
now create resolution independent shapes with solids, NURBS surfaces
or UBER-NURBS (subdivision surface modeling). Its animation system
has also been enhanced with deeper character animation tools,
a new Inverse Kinematics system, and camera projection mapping
with real-time image previews.
"Sun's
growing presence in the 3D marketplace is important to Electric
Image and our customers. Sun's powerful 64-bit UltraSPARC architecture
and highly scalable Solaris Operating Environment should provide
big performance advantages to our customers," said Dwight
Parscale, CEO of Electric Image. "The Sun Blade 100 workstation
is an excellent host for Universe and the bundle will provide
digital content creators with a high-quality, high-performance
solution at a very accessible price point."
The $2,995 3D animation bundle is expected to be available for
purchase beginning in April 2001. For more information about the
promotional bundle and its availability, go to http://www.sun.com/desktop.
The limited time offer will include a Sun Blade 100 workstation
with 512 MB memory, USB, IEEE 1394 port, DVD ROM drive, 15 GB
hard drive, Sun Expert3D-Lite graphics board, and a full license
of Electric Image Universe software. The Sun Blade 100 workstation
also features Sun's standard service and support with a one-year
warranty.
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