In honor of its 20th anniversary - and perhaps owing just a little to the success of the acclaimed ABC series, ALIAS - Alias|Wavefront will now be known simply as Alias. According to the Toronto-based 3D graphics technology leader and creator of the Oscar-winning Maya software, the name change "provides a simple yet powerful name that is well known throughout the 3D industry and beyond."
The decision to evolve the name comes at a time when the company is pushing forward to launch new products and provide even greater value to the Alias customer base. Along with the new name comes a new logo and branding for the company. "Alias will bring new products and services to market more rapidly over the next five years than ever before in our 20-year history," explains Alias president Doug Walker. "At the same time, we are committed to continuing with our historical industry leading investment in both Maya and StudioTools. Our new name allows us to focus on building a single brand for new products going forward and frees up resources to invest in the products themselves."
Alias Research was founded in 1983, in Toronto, Canada, with Wavefront Technologies launching one year later in Santa Barbara, California. Both companies experienced strong growth and developed products such as Composer, Kinemation, Dynamation, Alias and PowerAnimator through the late '80s and into the '90s. In the mid-'90s, the two companies were acquired and merged under Silicon Graphics as Alias|Wavefront. The goal of the merged company was to develop leading-edge software for producing the most realistic digital visual experience possible. It has achieved just that with two product lines, StudioTools and Maya software.
Alias will continue to fulfill its vision of the past 20 years - to develop leading-edge software and services to enable its customers to create, visualize and communicate the world's most compelling digital visual experiences. As part of delivering on that vision, Alias will launch the Alias Visualization Studio, a new state-of-the-art customer briefing facility equipped with the best technology from Alias and its partners. The Alias Visualization Studio will provide a space to share ideas and facilitate collaboration with customers and partners to define the future of digital visualization for film and video, games, automotive and industrial design, and to help bring new value to markets where the potential of digital visualization is emerging. The Alias Visualization Studio will officially launch in fall 2003 at the company's headquarters in Toronto.
To read more about the launch of Alias and the story of the new logo, please visit www.alias.com.
