Alias/Wavefront Unveils Alias SketchBook Pro for Microsoft Windows XP Tablet PC Edition; Free Introductory Version Available for Download Today

Business Wire, Nov 7, 2002

Business Editors & Technology Writers

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NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 7, 2002

Alias|Wavefront(TM), an SGI (NYSE: SGI) company, today announced Alias SketchBook Pro(TM), an intuitive software tool that transforms the Tablet PC into a digital sketchbook.

Designed specifically for the Tablet PC, Alias SketchBook Pro introduces a new approach to visual collaboration and user interaction, centered on the pen. For the business community as well as artists, Alias SketchBook Pro is a must-have application for any Tablet PC user. It extends the power and versatility of the Tablet PC by perfectly complementing the note-taking features of Microsoft Windows Journal. A free introductory version and further product information is now available at www.aliaswavefront.com/sketchbook and www.microsoft.com/tabletpc.

The Digital Sketch Book

Harnessing the true power of a mobile digital sketchbook as both a business and personal productivity tool, Tablet PC users will have the freedom to sketch, annotate images, and present their work whenever creativity strikes. Unlike pen and paper, Alias SketchBook Pro will allow users to switch brushes electronically, quickly undo and redo, manipulate image layers and integrate digital sketches into the Windows XP world.

"Alias SketchBook Pro is a great example of the exciting possibilities a Tablet PC can bring to users," said Alexandra Loeb, Vice President of the Tablet PC division at Microsoft Corp. "Alias|Wavefront has leveraged the pen-based features in Windows XP Tablet PC Edition and the flexibility of the Tablet PC hardware designs to develop a unique sketching application. They've taken the technology that graphic designers have been using for years and given consumers the ability to transform a Tablet PC into a mobile digital sketchbook, ideal for sketching, image annotation and presentation."

Easy to Learn User Interface Designed for Mass-Market Appeal

Intended for a wide range of business users and graphics professionals, Alias SketchBook Pro draws on advanced graphics technology developed for Alias|Wavefront's award-winning Maya(R) and StudioTools(TM) software. Supported by a gesture-driven user interface empowering users to change sketching tools and colors, and zoom in on, save and manipulate sketches, Alias SketchBook Pro introduces a suite of sketching tools simple enough for the casual user, yet worthy of the expert's skill.

"The notion of capturing ideas through imagery has been with us for millennia, yet the tools available to the average computer user have been underdeveloped, until now," said Doug Walker, President at Alias|Wavefront. "Microsoft's introduction of the Tablet PC will help drive behavioral change in the workplace environment as physical and creative barriers are stripped away. And like a traditional sketch book, our latest application will allow these users to create and gather visual inspiration into a well-organized book that enhances the versatility of any Tablet PC."

In keeping with Alias|Wavefront's strategy to continuously innovate, Alias SketchBook Pro marks the company's introduction of a new software specifically created to solve the visual thinking needs of the volume market.

"We believe Alias SketchBook Pro will establish a new category of application focused on allowing business users and artists to capture and share their ideas visually," said Tom Wujec, Product Manager at Alias|Wavefront. "While existing graphics software packages are complex toolkits designed for production artists sitting at a workstation, Alias SketchBook Pro allows anyone to create and modify imagery anywhere their job takes them."

Alias SketchBook Pro Features; Full Sketching Functionality

Taking advantage of the Tablet PC's pen-based input and portability, key Alias SketchBook Pro features include:

- Production quality sketch and drawing tools. High quality,

realistic pencils, markers, brushes and airbrushes respond

instantly to pen pressure. A wide selection of primary and

secondary colors, via an easy-to-use color wheel, support a

full range of color hues, saturations and values.

- Instant annotation. Mark up any image, from digital

photographs and screen captures to high-resolution technical

drawings. E-mail annotations back and forth to colleagues.

- Sketch management and presentation. Create collections of

sketches that can be viewed, organized and distributed easily.

Deliver impromptu and formal presentations of sketches and

images, and record any feedback instantly on annotation

layers.

- Marking Menus(TM). Created for the pen, a unique ergonomically

designed user-interface accommodates natural hand movements to

select command options - without the need to hunt through

traditional scroll down menus.

Alias SketchBook Pro will be made commercially available in early 2003.

About Alias|Wavefront