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solidThinking, Inc. Introduces solidThinking Version 8.0 to the International Design Community

Increased interactivity in modeling and rendering phases and enhanced GUI allow users to accelerate the product development process and explore virtually limitless creative bounds TROY, Mich. – Sept. 14, 2009 – As part of its commitment to provide users with industrial design/styling software to help their ideas take shape, solidThinking, Inc. (www.solidthinking.com) has announced the global launch of its version 8.0 software. This release includes a number of user-centric design and productivity enhancements to the company’s current 7.6 industrial design tool for advanced 3D modeling and rendering. solidThinking is the first NURBS-based design/styling software program of its kind offered to both PC and Mac users.

“Through our latest release, we offer new ways for industrial designers to enrich and accelerate design inspiration,” said Alex Mazzardo, solidThinking, Inc.’s vice president of product strategy and marketing. “In addition to inviting users to free their minds from technological constraints, solidThinking aims to maximize value and provide cost-saving 3D design solutions.”

“We have seen a number of companies significantly increase and even double the speed of their product development lifecycles using solidThinking,” added Mario Mazzardo, vice president of product strategy and management. “We are eager to help the global industrial design community realize similar benefits and more, thanks to several new productivity boosting features in version 8.0.”

solidThinking 8.0 offers a number of key design elements that encourage exploration and creativity during the design process, while allowing designers and companies to quickly bring concepts and products to market. Some of the enhanced capabilities of version 8.0 include:

• A restyled and more streamlined user interface enabling better workflow.

• New 3D manipulators for translation, scaling and rotation.
• Enhancements to point, curve and surface representation for greater precision and improved ease of use.
• New options for interactive visualization in the modeling views, including wireframe on shaded model and environment maps.
• A wizard to help users choose the ideal modeling units and tolerances based on the size of the model.
• Real-time rendering to further improve interactivity during the review and visualization phases of design.
• Progressive rendering for immediate feedback on the final image with a fast preview of the lighting and materials in the scene; subsequent rendering passes that continue to fill in detail until the final high-quality image is achieved.
• Re-rendering of selected subregions of an existing image.
• A new materials library functionality with faster browsing and previewing of materials, environment maps and scene sets; users can also now set up multiple materials libraries.
• Optimized final gather for increased rendering speed and lighting accuracy.
• Ambient occlusion for greater depth, performance and realism in the photorealistic rendering phase.
• New complex reflectance shaders for generating more lifelike visual elements, including the ability to integrate and create glossy and blurred reflections, frosted glass, car paints, plastic and metallic effects.
• High Dynamic Range Imaging (HDRI) capabilities and the ability to create spherical images that can be visualized in the background of perspective views while modeling.
• Availability on Mac and Windows operating systems.

solidThinking 8.0 embodies all of the features that current users utilize and love, including its NURBS-based surface and solid modeling; best-in-class Construction Tree^™ technology; fast, high-quality photorealistic rendering capabilities; and the ability to exchange data with all leading CAD/CAM/CAE software, helping accelerate the product development cycle and improve collaboration between designers and engineers.

Long-time solidThinking user Pininfarina Extra (www.pininfarinaextra.com), a leading Italian design firm – uses the software to design and style many of its products, from electronics to sports equipment, architecture and more.

“Every time I start solidThinking, I access a 3D world that makes product design a dynamic and flexible process disclosing new horizons,” said Piero Pifferi, designer CAS and rendering for Pininfarina Extra. “The results are gratifying for both the designer and the customer.”

solidThinking is already the design software of choice for a number of the world’s leading designers of furniture, electronic devices, automobiles, lighting, shoes, jewelry, timepieces, sports equipment, boating, consumer packaging and other products. Thousands of designers use solidThinking to develop products and packaging for such renowned companies and brands as Azimut Yachts, Bulgari, Cartier, Diesel, DuPont, Fujitsu, Hugo Boss, Italdesign Giugiaro, Korg, MacGregor Golf, Mares, Masterfoods, Merck, Nestle, Nikon, Panerai, Peg Perego, Pininfarina, Scavolini, Thomson, Tisettanta, Toshiba, Volkswagen and Volvo.

To further explore solidThinking 8.0 and download a trial version, check out www.solidthinking.com. For more information, news and upcoming events, connect with the solidThinking team on:

Facebook – www.facebook.com/pages/solidThinking/39474173420
Twitter – www.twitter.com/solidThinking
YouTube – www.youtube.com/solidThinking




About solidThinking, Inc. (www.solidthinking.com)
solidThinking, Inc. develops and markets industrial design/styling software that helps designers invent, explore and evaluate new ideas easily, rapidly and cost-effectively, without the limitations of traditional software. Using solidThinking's conceptual 3D modeling capabilities, visualization interface and fast real-time rendering, designers can model, render and share their projects on the fly, from architecture and automobiles to electronic devices, jewelry, product packaging and yachts. solidThinking is a wholly owned subsidiary of Troy, Mich. (USA) based Altair Engineering, Inc. (www.altair.com). Altair Engineering is privately held and employs more than 1,300 in North America, South America, Europe and Asia/Pacific.