wondertouch Releases Company's First Particle Effects Creation Tool for the Mac OS X Platform: particleIllusion 2.0 SE

Award winning Software Application to Deliver Mac Professionals with Easy-to-Manage Toolset for Creating Quality Particle Effects at Breakneck Speed

ST. LOUIS (January 11, 2005) - wondertouch™, a leading software developer of high performance particle effects creation tools, today announced that particleIllusion™ 2.0 SE (particleIllusion SE) for Mac OS® X is available worldwide. Widely regarded as one of the most artist-friendly and affordable software solutions for customizing and modifying quality, complex particle animations, particleIllusion SE promises to enhance productivity for the dedicated community of digital content creation professionals working on the Mac OS X platform. Today's announcement marks the first wondertouch offering to support the advanced operating system from Apple®.

particleIllusion SE is a standalone, introductory version of the company's award-winning, cornerstone visual effects creation application. Digital content creation professionals working in the film, video, broadcast, computer games, Web and multimedia, markets rely on particleIllusion's library of more than 750 preset effects to deliver a range of exceptional effects including smoke, fire, explosions, water effects, sparkles, colorful artistic effects, with the utmost speed and efficiency.

"We are delighted to offer particleIllusion on the Mac OS X and to deliver the creative community at large a wider range of operating system choices," said Alan Lorence, president of wondertouch. "Now Mac customers who use the advanced operating system can leverage particleIllusion's robust and powerful 2D particle engine and simple intuitive application to create effects content with exceptionally high quality."

Douglas Njegovan, 3D special effects animator and particleIllusion SE beta tester at Yoram Gross - internationally recognized as Australia's leading producer of quality children's and family entertainment - is using particleIllusion SE on the current television series production, "Flipper and Lopaka III - The Search for Neptune's Trident."

"particleIllusion 2.0 SE on the Mac OS X platform is the fastest particle generator I've ever used. Being able to edit any of the existing particleIllusion 2.0 libraries affords great versatility and easily allows us to incorporate changes on-the-fly without affecting production schedules," said Njegovan. "This eagerly anticipated release promises to become an indispensable tool for any busy OS X special effects facility, like ours, where speed in creating quality effects is a critical factor."

Beta tester Stuart Roholt, digital effects supervisor at NBC Studios in Los Angeles, has been using particleIllusion the past year to create visual effects on the hit soap opera, "Passions." "particleIllusion SE on Mac OS X effortlessly allows me to create 'out-of-this-world' effects as well as those that match, look and move in a realistic or hyper-realistic way. Its power, versatility and compatibility with leading compositing applications will prompt anyone using Mac OS X who needs quality particle effects quickly, and I mean quickly, to jump at the chance to add this tool to their arsenal!"

Iverson Design & Animation, based south of Boston, offers a wide variety of multimedia design services to include: graphic design, custom web design, 3D, 2D and Flash animation, broadcast and industrial video production, audio/video editing and encoding and DVD mastering. wondertouch beta tester and company principal Michael Iverson, deployed particleIllusion SE for the first time at the facility.

"Using particleIllusion SE on Mac OS X enabled me to produce high quality output on eight, three-second animations to include elements such as falling leaves, jet exhaust, explosions and abstract background effects, quickly and efficiently," said Iverson. "This long needed solution for the Mac community delivers a particle effects system free from the constraints of prolonged setup and render times. Fun and easy-to-use, there is simply nothing else like it on the market."

About particleIllusion 2.0 SE for OS X

particleIllusion 2.0 SE for Mac OS X is an introductory version of wondertouch's highly acclaimed particleIllusion 2.0 engine - the same engine that in 2001 was integrated into the Discreet combustion visual effects and 3D compositing desktop software application. Designed as an easy-to-use, low-cost, high performance tool to efficiently and easily customize and modify effects, or create entirely new and realistic particle effects to any image, animation, or video footage, particleIllusion has been used in hundreds of feature films, TV episodes, and broadcast commercials worldwide. particleIllusion features OpenGL hardware acceleration to provide real-time (or near real-time) previews of most effects and ultra-fast rendering of final output. [Editors' note: particleIllusion 3.0, the most current version of the software, is scheduled for release on Mac OS X in the first quarter of 2005.]

Pricing and Availability

particleIllusion 2.0 SE for Mac OS X is available in a download version only and is normally priced at $99 (US), but is available until January 31, 2005 for only $79 (US). Registered owners of particleIllusion 2.0 for Mac OS 8/9 can upgrade for free. particleIllusion 2.0 SE can be purchased directly from the company at www.wondertouch.com.

About wondertouch

wondertouch, headquartered in St. Louis, Mo., is a software developer specializing in particle effects for the visual effects industry. The company's flagship product, particleIllusion, a sprite-based particle effects application is focused towards the needs of creative professionals working in film post-production and pre-visualization, standard and HD video, commercial broadcast and Web graphics industries. particleIllusion has been honored with leading industry accolades including the "2004 Best Products of the Year Awards" by Videomaker Magazine, and is also used in prestigious studios worldwide.

wondertouch software products are available directly from wondertouch. Additional information on wondertouch can be obtained on the Web at www.wondertouch.com