--New SOFTIMAGE|XSI v.3.0 Software Features Seamless Workflow with Cg Technology from NVIDIA, Giving Users a Flexible, Easy-to-Use Way to Access and Connect Advanced Shaders--

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Véronique Froment 
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Susan Austin
NVIDIA Corporation 
 
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

SANTA CLARA, CA and MONTREAL, QUEBEC—NOVEMBER 8, 2002—NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ: NVDA), the worldwide leader in visual processing solutions, and Softimage Co, a subsidiary of Avid Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ: AVID), today announced that the SOFTIMAGE®|XSI® v.3.0 software, the industry’s leading 3-D nonlinear production environment, is the market’s first digital content creation application to take advantage of Cg, a high-level programming language NVIDIA developed in close collaboration with Microsoft Corporation.  The SOFTIMAGE|XSI v.3.0 environment is now able to work seamlessly with the C-like language to provide users with a simplified process for authoring complex, highly realistic digital content.

“When NVIDIA announced Cg earlier this year, we immediately recognized the value this technology would provide animators and developers.  Due to the SOFTIMAGE|XSI software’s flexible architecture, we were able to quickly take advantage of this latest technology for the newest release of SOFTIMAGE|XSI,” said Alan Waxenberg, Softimage’s third party business manager.

“By being the first digital content creation software company to offer Cg nodes directly inside our application, we are once again demonstrating our technology leadership, focus and commitment to the professional 3-D market.  With this functionality, and the array of new performance, productivity and feature enhancements we’ve infused into SOFTIMAGE|XSI v.3.0, users will be able to gain a competitive advantage and realize a quick return on investment through the ability to produce richer and more visually sophisticated results in less time,” he adds.

Because Cg is able to work seamlessly with the SOFTIMAGE|XSI software, users can now drag and drop shader nodes or material presets from NetView directly into their scene’s Render Tree window, and use the same interface they’re familiar with to fine tune their shaders.  Cg defines a standard high-level language shader format allowing programmers and artists around the world to use Cg-based shaders directly from the Web in the SOFTIMAGE|XSI environment.  Most importantly, this technology allows users of the SOFTIMAGE|XSI software to visualize content from within the application as it will appear as a final rendering in a game or other 3-D application.

“By implementing a standard high-level language that is compatible with both OpenGL® and DirectX®, Softimage has simplified the lives of both programmers and artists, introducing new tools to help users further articulate their artistic expression,” said Dan Vivoli, vice president of marketing at NVIDIA.  “Softimage’s elegant Cg implementation and Render Tree provide artists and programmers with a friendly environment to create and render real-time shaders, all from within the intuitive interface artists associate with Softimage.”

The Cg enabled SOFTIMAGE|XSI v.3.0 environment gives artists the ability to control how much or how little of a shader variable is applied to an object being authored, all within the familiar user interface of the SOFTIMAGE|XSI software.  The combination of access to advanced shading effects; comprehensive control over effect intensity, location, material properties and other variables; and the knowledge that what’s being authored on screen is a precise representation of the final rendered product, are powerful advancements for users of the SOFTIMAGE|XSI environment.

The Cg Language Specification provides developers with a complete programming environment that is easy to use and allows for the fast creation of special effects and real-time cinematic quality experiences on multiple platforms.  By providing a new level of abstraction, Cg removes the need for developers to program directly to the graphics hardware assembly language, and thereby more easily target OpenGL and DirectX.  Cg is compatible with Microsoft’s HLSL for DirectX 9.0 and the OpenGL API.  For more information about Cg or to download user documentation, go to http://developer.nvidia.com/cg. 

About Softimage Co.
Softimage Co., a subsidiary of Avid Technology, Inc., is an industry leader in 3-D animation, 2-D cel animation, compositing and special effects software, designed to address the demands of the film and commercial/broadcast and games/interactive industries. The SOFTIMAGE|XSI software, an integral player in Avid's Make, Manage and Move Media™ strategy, is the flagship product offering from Softimage. It is the industry's first 3-D nonlinear production environment providing animators and digital artists the freedom to make professional animation, visual effects and games - from major motion pictures, to cartoons and commercials, to animated content for video games and Web sites. Softimage is proud to count amongst its customers: ILM, R!OT, Valve, Capcom, Electronic Arts, The Mill, Pixel Liberation Front, Blue Sky Studios, Hybride, Mainframe, Janimation, Quiet Man, PSYOP, Cinepix and Framestore. The Softimage product family is designed to help users innovate, create and collaborate throughout the production process. For more information about Softimage visit www.softimage.com. For more information about Avid visit www.avid.com.

©2002 Avid Technology, Inc. All rights reserved. Product specifications and availability are subject to change without notice. Avid, SOFTIMAGE, XSI and Make, Manage and Move Media are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Avid Technology, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries. Microsoft and DirectX are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries.  OpenGL is a registered trademark of Silicon Graphics, Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries worldwide. All other trademarks contained herein are the property of their respective owners.

About NVIDIA
NVIDIA Corporation is a market leader in visual computing technology dedicated to creating products that enhance the interactive experience on consumer and professional computing platforms.  Its graphics and communications processors have broad market reach and are incorporated into a wide variety of computing platforms, including consumer digital-media PCs, enterprise PCs, professional workstations, digital content creation systems, notebook PCs, military navigation systems and video games consoles.  NVIDIA is headquartered in Santa Clara, California and employs more than 1,400 people worldwide.  For more information, visit the company’s Web site at www.nvidia.com <http://www.nvidia.com>.

Certain statements in this press release, including the statements relating to the Company's performance expectations for NVIDIA's family of products and expectations of continued revenue growth, are forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause results to be materially different than expectations.  Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, manufacturing and other delays relating to new products, difficulties in the fabrication process and dependence of the Company on third-party manufacturers, general industry trends including cyclical trends in the PC and semiconductor industries, the impact of competitive products and pricing alternatives, market acceptance of the Company's new products, and the Company's dependence on third-party developers and publishers.  Investors are advised to read the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, particularly those sections entitled "Certain Business Risks," for a fuller discussion of these and other risks and uncertainties.

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