Softimage Announces New Education Programs to Meet Rising Demand

Montreal, Quebec - October 8th 2002 - Softimage Co., a subsidiary ofAvid Technology, Inc., announced new education programs for itsSOFTIMAGE XSI software and SOFTIMAGE|3D software. These programs andintroductory pricing are in response to the purchase of Softimagesoftware by leading film, post, broadcast, creative and games companiesaround the world. As part of this program, softimage.com now featuresan expanded job and talent bank section to match trained animators andprospective employers (www.softimage.com/corporate/careers).

The new Softimage Student and Teacher program offers a permanentnon-commercial license of Softimage’s flagship product, theSOFTIMAGE|XSI Advanced software, at a limited-time introductory priceof $495 USMSRP. This version includes high-end and advanced tools, suchas real-time shaders, compositing, hair, batch rendering, particles,and subdivision math, which have been used by commercial companiesaround the world to create films such as Spy Kids 2 and games such asNBA Live 2003, NBA Street and FIFA Soccer 2003 from Electronic Arts.The student version comes complete with documentation and trainingmaterials. Students and teachers who purchase these new academicversions of the SOFTIMAGE|XSI program prior to the release of version3.0 will also be entitled to a free upgrade to the academic version of3.0 when it's released.

The new education program also enables qualified educationalestablishments to purchase SOFTIMAGE|3D software for as little as$99.50 USMSRP per license, making it extremely affordable for students,teachers and schools. Softimage Production Suites, which feature theSOFTIMAGE|XSI software and the Avid Xpress DV software, are availablewith pricing per seat as low as $1,500, including support and academicversion upgrades for the SOFTIMAGE|XSI software.

Leading the way for Softimage animators are the top companies infilm, broadcast and gaming development, including Bizarre Creations,Capcom, Cinégroupe, Electronic Arts, Giant Killer Robots, ILM,Janimation, Mainframe, PSYOP, Valve Entertainment and Pandemic Studios,which are all preparing for new productions.

To find out more about the new Softimage education programs andintroductory promotions go to www.softimage.com/education.

Softimage Co., a subsidiary of Avid Technology, Inc., is an industryleader in 3-D animation, 2-D cel animation, compositing and specialeffects software, designed to address the demands of the film andcommercial/broadcast and games/interactive industries. SOFTIMAGE|XSIsoftware, an integral player in Avid's Make, Manage and Move Mediastrategy, is the flagship product offering from Softimage. For moreinformation about Softimage visit www.softimage.com. For moreinformation about Avid visit www.avid.com.