Broderbund's 3D Home Interiors Revolutionizes Home Decorating and Design; Easy-to-Use Interface Features Over 100,000 Furnishing and Fixture Items From America's Leading Manufacturers

Business Wire, May 15, 1997

NOVATO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 15, 1997--Broderbund Software, Inc. (NASDAQ:BROD) announced today that it is now shipping 3D Home Interiors(TM), a powerful new interior design and visualization tool that allows users to envision and create a new look for any room in the house. Featuring over 200 brands from 50 leading manufacturers of furniture, appliances, carpet, wallcoverings and more, 3D Home Interiors is one of the most complete, fun to use interior design software packages available. Users can choose from more than 100,000 items from industry leaders such as Ikea(R), Marvin Windows & Doors(R), Wallpapers-to-Go(R) Rowe Furniture(R), Norwalk Furniture(R), Carpet One(R), Whirlpool(R), Amana Refrigeration(R) and Hunter Douglas(R).

"The introduction of 3D Home Interiors is a giant leap forward for homeowners," said Broderbund CEO Joe Durrett. "The ability to visualize exactly how your room will look with real, name-brand products is a powerful concept. Anyone who has ever agonized over the choices available in a home appliance or furniture store will appreciate this software."

3D Home Interiors is the latest product in Broderbund's 3D Home Series(TM) line of home design software. The 3D Home Series was pioneered by 3D Home Architect(R), the industry's best-selling home design and visualization tool.

Designs Every Room in the Home

A key feature which distinguishes 3D Home Interiors from other home design products is its ability to design your entire house including kitchens, bathrooms, bedrooms, family and living rooms. 3D Home Interiors features an electronic catalog of branded home furnishings such as sofas, tables, carpeting, window treatments, kitchen and bath cabinetry, wallpaper, artwork, appliances, home electronics and much more. Each name brand item in the program has been reviewed by their respective manufacturer for accuracy and visual quality.

Powerful, Easy-to-Use

3D Home Interiors contains a powerful browser/search engine which enables users to quickly locate a desired item in the electronic catalog by product type, brand, style dimensions or price range. Fabrics can be sorted by material type, style, color and price range. In addition, users can customize furniture according to the manufacturers specifications, such as altering a sofa's fabric, borders or throw pillows.

The easy-to-use interface of 3D Home Interiors allows users to design a new room from scratch, type in the dimensions of an existing room or select from six common room shapes. Users also have the option of importing a room designed with Broderbund's 3D Home Architect Deluxe. For inspiration, 3D Home Interiors includes pre-made sample rooms created by professional home interior decorators. After completing room dimensions, the user simply adds whatever furnishings, windows, floor and wall coverings they desire. Once the room is finished, the user can obtain an accurate, photo-realistic picture of their room with 3D Home Interiors' sophisticated 3D rendering technology. Any further modifications can then be made quickly with a click of the mouse.

When a final design is obtained, 3D Home Interiors will create a shopping list, complete with manufacturer product code numbers and product details. Product photographs, manufacturer phone numbers, web site addresses or postal addresses are also included to help find the products chosen.

3D Home Interiors Features

-- 100,000 name-brand furnishings and fixtures

-- 25,000 name-brand sofas and chairs with thousands of fabric colors and textures

-- 450 name-brand wallpapers and wall coverings including textures, solids and prints

-- 500 name-brand carpets and floor coverings including area rugs, tile, vinyl and wood substitutes

-- 200 name-brand windows and doors from industry leaders

-- 25,000 name-brand window treatments including vertical and horizontal blinds, draperies and shutters

-- View any room in photo-realistic 3D from any perspective

-- Professionally decorated sample rooms provide ideas and inspiration

-- Direct link to the 3D Home Interiors site for more designer rooms, contests and links to manufacturers and retailers web sites

-- Printed shopping lists with manufacturers' product codes and information

Interactive Website

In June, Broderbund will unveil an interactive at http://www.broderbund.com/3dhome that offers a demonstration of the product, additional designer rooms, tips, freebies and more. An on-line sweepstakes titled "Design Your Own Dream Room" will be showcased with product giveaways from manufacturers and retailers featured in the software. In addition, visitors to the 3D Home Interiors web site can participate in a free monthly drawing for more brand name prizes.

Pricing and Availability

3D Home Interiors, developed by Los Angeles-based ModaCAD (NASDAQ:MODA), will be available in retail stores in June 1997 at a street price of $49.95.

Hardware Requirements

3D Home Interiors requires Windows 95, 60Mhz Pentium processor, 16MB RAM, 35MB hard disk space, 2X CD-ROM drive (4X or faster recommended), SVGA monitor/display, thousands of colors required, millions of colors recommended.