Discreet and NXN Software, a leading supplier of asset management solutions for the digital entertainment and computer graphics industries, have announced a technology and bundling partnership that will promote tighter integration between their applications: Discreets 3ds max and NXNs alienbrain Studio. The deal will help the two companies target firms affiliated with gaming by aiding in the management of the growing costs of design and animation development. Many of those costs are related to the amount of code and graphics needed to satisfy increasing customer demands for graphical realism, which can raise the pricetag of new games upwards of $20 million.
"At NXN, it is our mission to enable creative teams to produce highly complex content more efficiently and cost-effectively," said Gregor vom Scheidt, ceo of NXN Software. "The enhanced integration will not only improve file security, workflow, and team communication; it will give the artists more time to focus on what is really important-creating great artwork."
The integration will concentrate on development inefficiencies by providing a secure production pipeline for art development. Under the pact, Discreet and NXN Software will co-develop additional workflow and analysis tools that can be accessed directly from the 3ds max software interface. In particular, artists will be able to send files using the NXN alienbrain internal messaging system, assign a status to files and sign-off on completed files, locking them from further changes. A file analysis tool will be added later in the year. In addition, 3ds max and NXN alienbrain software products both integrate directly with Criterion's RenderWare Studio; while NXN alienbrain Studio also integrates with programming applications such as Microsoft's VisualStudio and Metrowerk's CodeWarrior. The combination helps streamline the whole production pipeline. The Discreet and NXN bundle is scheduled for release in early September 2003.
Discreet is a software firm whose award-winning solutions are designed for digital media creation, management and delivery across all disciplines from film and television visual effects, color grading and editing to animation, game development, Web/interactive and design visualization. Discreet is based in Montréal, Québec, and is a division of Autodesk, Inc, the world's leading design and digital media creation, management and distribution company. For more information visit www.discreet.com.
NXN Software (www.nxn-software.com) is a leading supplier of asset management systems for the digital entertainment and computer graphics industries. NXN products provide designers, programmers, and project managers with a framework to manage all assets throughout the development process. Clients include Sony, Electronic Arts, LucasArts and Atari. NXN Software operates offices in Los Angeles, Paris, London, Munich and Tokyo.
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