Instant Effects announced the company's first product, OfficeFX, which will become available later this month from www.instanteffects.com for $149.95. A seamless addition to the popular presentation software package, Microsoft PowerPoint, OfficeFX allows users to deliver effective presentations with the tool they already know. Instant Effects is also proud to announce that a trial version of OfficeFX will ship with all desktop products from ATI Technologies Inc., a world leader in the design and manufacture of innovative visual processor solutions.
The appeal of Instant Effects technologies to ATI's customers is multi-sided. OfficeFX is the first general business application to exploit Microsoft DirectX, allowing corporations to employ modern graphics hardware for the broad purpose of highly compelling presentations. OfficeFX capabilities are scalable, clearly showcasing the performance and quality of the latest ATI graphics hardware. For consumers, OfficeFX is an inexpensive and easy-to-use application that quickly gives their messages power and impact. For marketers, OfficeFX empowers a superior level of presentation quality across an entire company without additional assistance a professional design department.
"Instant Effects technology demonstrates how our family of RADEON graphics processors makes today's desktop and laptop computers come alive with eye-popping visual power," said Phil Eisler, vp/gm, mobile and integrated business unit, ATI Technologies Inc. "An ATI-powered laptop running OfficeFX adds up to something completely extraordinary -- the simplicity of PowerPoint with the visual impact and sophistication of a broadcast-quality animation."
With just a few mouse clicks, OfficeFX transforms an ordinary PowerPoint presentation into an attention-grabbing rich media event complete with dynamic 3D backgrounds and foregrounds, realistic shading and lighting, interactive behavior and stunning transitions. Used to create an estimated 30 million presentations every day, Microsoft PowerPoint is the clear tool of choice among computer users in business and education. OfficeFX elevates and enhances the power of this ubiquitous communications tool while retaining its familiar ease of use for the millions of users worldwide.
"OfficeFX pairs visual sophistication with end-user simplicity to create unique and valuable opportunities for end users, 3D designers and hardware manufacturers like ATI Technologies," said Don Brittain, Instant Effects ceo. "We fully expect that our new software will 'wow' PowerPoint users and their audiences worldwide, drive demand for new graphics hardware, and spur demand for 3D design services."
Instant Effects technologies, which will ship with several interactive 3D layered environments called FXThemes, are also enabling professional designers to create custom FXThemes that blend effortlessly with the presenter's conventional content. Built with standard 3D tools found in most design shops, FXThemes are comparable in quality to animations used in broadcast television, high profile telecasts and next-generation videogame systems. Once created, an FXTheme can be used by any PowerPoint user having OfficeFX to transform their content into a rich media presentation. Unlike other rich media approaches delivering a fixed result, content requiring design professionals to produce changes, OfficeFX presentations based on FXThemes can be edited by business people right up to the last minute without the help of a designer.
Instant Effects Inc. (www.instanteffects.com) is a privately held company headquartered in Santa Barbara, California.
Bill Desowitz, former editor of VFXWorld, is currently the Crafts Editor of IndieWire.
