ART (Advanced Rendering Technology) is pleased to announce the shipping of its new RenderPipe plug-in for Maya which offers a seamless interface between RenderDrive, ART's platform-independent advanced 3D rendering system, and Maya, the 3D modelling and animation solution from Alias|Wavefront. The RenderPipe for Maya plug-in provides Maya users with tightly integrated control and access to RenderDrive's powerful rendering features including high-quality, ultra-fast ray tracing, area lights, depth of field, and physically accurate materials libraries - all from within their Maya application. The new interface, shipping with RenderDrive, supports Maya on Windows NT, IRIX, Linux, and Mac OSX, when Maya for the Apple Mac is available.

Alias|Wavefront's Maya delivers tools and features needed to produce world-class visualization, animation and visual effects on Windows NT, Silicon Graphics IRIX Workstations, and in the future, on Mac OSX. The combined technologies of Maya and RenderDrive will enhance the interactivity of the rendering process to the point where clients can be directly involved in creative decision making.

RenderDrive's state-of-the-art dedicated ray tracing processors allow industrial designers to bring an entirely new level of visualization to their work in the form of cinema-quality animation and virtual photography. With the RenderPipe for Maya plug-in these same users can deliver higher quality images, and do so more productively and cost-effectively than with other rendering solutions.

"With RenderDrive, I can create better looking, more lifelike renderings that incorporate physically accurate lighting and shadows, "said General Manager of Naxos Images, Claudio Gallego. "And I can do it within the same budget and over a shorter time frame than with software-only rendering. I tell this to every one of my customers, and they all come away from RenderDrive impressed."

The new RenderPipe for Maya plug-in is the latest addition to a range of RenderDrive interfaces designed for industry-leading 3D applications, including 3ds max, 3D Studio VIZ, Solid Edge, SolidWorks, Pro/ENGINEER and any RenderMan compliant application. ART's RenderDrive uses specially designed ray tracing processors and software plug-ins to provide 3D professionals with previously unattainable levels of image quality in an easy-to-use system. Providing a seamless interface with 3D applications, RenderDrive makes full-time ray-tracing the rendering method of choice for industrial design, 3D animation, illustration, architecture, scientific, and product visualization applications.