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Adobe Atmosphere Unleashes the Power of 3-D Multimedia Interactive Environments

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Oct. 22, 2003 (NASDAQ: ADBE) — Adobe Systems Incorporated today announced the new, full version of Adobe® Atmosphere™, a powerful professional authoring tool for creating multimedia-rich, interactive 3-D environments for the Web and Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) files. With the easy-to-use creation and productivity features in Atmosphere, Web designers and digital document creators - in the arts, e-commerce, entertainment and education - can quickly deliver realistic, high-impact, interactive environments. In these dynamic settings, users navigate and interact with the environment and its multimedia contents, as well as collaborate with each other in real-time.

Adobe Atmosphere offers new and innovative ways for e-retailers, designers and educators to connect with their clients, partners and students. For example, a ticket vendor is able to build realistic replicas of venues for patrons to explore the arena on their Web page and see the exact view from their seats. Architects and designers can quickly build prototypes or publish their existing designs, created in their favorite CAD or DCC application, to the Web. This offers their clients the opportunity to virtually walk around their designs and make real-time design decisions. Publishers can create interactive Adobe PDF eBooks, where children can dive into the illustrations, entering a world where they can interact with the characters and explore the landscape. Repair and assembly manual designers can also bring a truly new dimension to how directions, diagrams and information can be conveyed to the user.

"Adobe Atmosphere's strong features and easy-to-use interface make it attractive to the next-generation 3-D multimedia developers," said Omid Moghadam, Program Manager at the Intel System Technology Labs. "We are excited to be working with Adobe and other members of the 3-D Industry Forum to help bring compelling 3-D content to a wider audience."

Easy Creation of Vivid Interactive Environments

Adobe Atmosphere removes the design hurdles and challenges associated with 3-D multimedia, allowing users to unleash their imagination and creativity. Atmosphere enables users to easily build dynamic stages, with realistic lighting, motion, sound, and animation. Designers can use Adobe Atmosphere to create environments and compose scenes hosting multiple media types, including streaming audio and video, textures, interactivity and imported high-quality 3-D objects. Developers can import 3-D objects, complete with animations from industry standard 3-D tools, such as Discreet 3DStudio Max, or Alias Maya. Users also can select from a library of included objects and JavaScripts, enhancing designs and adding animation and interactivity to the environment.

Using advanced radiosity lighting techniques, designers can easily and accurately paint scenes with soft shadows and reflected light. Dynamic lighting at run time also can be added. Special effects such as fog, glare, and directional audio can be quickly choreographed with Adobe Atmosphere. The Havok physics engine - the most powerful physics game engine available for the world's leading game developers - is standard in the Adobe Atmosphere platform, providing full physical simulation, including gravity and friction and adding unprecedented realism to the user experience.

Atmosphere Product Family

Adobe Atmosphere is a complete system for creating and customizing interactive media-rich environments. The family of products for the Windows® platform also encompasses: Atmosphere Player, the free Web browser plug-in for viewing and interacting with Atmosphere environments; Atmosphere Player for Adobe Reader®, a free download for viewing Atmosphere content embedded in Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) files; and the free Atmosphere Collaboration Server, which enables real-time interaction and collaboration between users within Atmosphere environments.

Pricing and Availability

Adobe Atmosphere for Windows XP will be available for purchase via download from Adobe.com on November 19 for US$399. Atmosphere is also available at a special discounted price of US$99 for qualified educators. For more details, visit www.adobe.com/products/atmosphere. Atmosphere environments can be viewed with Microsoft Internet Explorer on machines running Windows (98SE, ME, 2000, and XP), and within Adobe Reader.

About Adobe Systems Incorporated

Founded in 1982, Adobe Systems Incorporated (www.adobe.com), the leader in network publishing, offers a comprehensive line of software for enterprise and creative professional customers. Its products enable customers to create, manage and deliver visually rich, compelling and reliable content. Based in San Jose, Calif., Adobe is one of the world's largest software companies.

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© 2003 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All rights reserved. Adobe, the Adobe logo, Atmosphere and Reader are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated in the United States and/or other countries. Windows is either a registered trademark or a trademark of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Read the Atmosphere Press release at Adobe.com

Read the CNET news story about Atmosphere here.

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