ATI and 3Dlabs announce RenderMonkey(tm) Collaboration

GDC booth #827, San Jose, CA - March 5, 2003 - ATI Technologies, Inc. and 3Dlabs*, Inc. Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Creative Technology Ltd., today announced a cooperative initiative to accelerate the development of the RenderMonkey(tm) shader development tool suite, which is available free of charge from both ATI and 3Dlabs. Under the terms of this agreement, ATI will continue to evolve the core RenderMonkey framework, and both companies will develop plug-in modules that support the industry standard Microsoft DirectX® HLSL and OpenGL® 2.0 GLslang high-level shading languages. RenderMonkey will be distributed, free of charge, by both companies.


The latest generation of programmable graphics devices - called Visual Processing Units (VPUs) - is creating the biggest revolution in graphics architecture in over a decade. VPUs can be programmed to undertake sophisticated cinematic quality graphics rendering as well as general-purpose imaging, graphics and vector processing. High-level shading languages will be the preferred way for ISVs to program these powerful devices - but there will need to be a new generation of tools to enable programmers to code, visualize, debug and manage shader programs.


RenderMonkey is a hardware-independent tool suite created to advance the development and use of shader programs in 3D applications. It is currently being used by game developers and content creators to speed their shader development. ATI and 3Dlabs will work together to further develop RenderMonkey, and work closely with tool vendors to integrate RenderMonkey functionality into digital content creation applications.

"Industry standard shading languages and flexible, developer-friendly toolsets are the key enablers of the cinematic revolution," said Rick Bergman, Senior Vice President of Marketing and General Manager, Desktop, ATI Technologies Inc. "ATI initiated the development of RenderMonkey to ensure that software developers and content creators are able to fully realize the potential of our cinematic VPUs. We are delighted that 3Dlabs shares our vision and philosophy of working collaboratively with the industry through non-proprietary initiatives."


"3Dlabs and ATI both believe that industry standards and cooperation are the most efficient way to cultivate and develop the necessary industry infrastructure and market opportunities for next generation programmable VPUs," said Neil Trevett, Senior Vice President Market Development, 3Dlabs, Inc. "We applaud ATI for creating RenderMonkey and look forward to working together to provide a sophisticated, hardware independent development environment used to catalyze the widespread deployment of DirectX and OpenGL shaders."


About ATI Technologies Inc.

ATI Technologies Inc. is a world leader in the design and manufacture of innovative 3D graphics and digital media silicon solutions. An industry pioneer since 1985, ATI is the world's foremost visual processor unit (VPU) provider and is dedicated to deliver leading-edge performance solutions for the full range of PC and Mac desktop and notebook platforms, workstation, set-top and digital television, game console and handheld markets. With 2001 revenues in excess of US $1 billion, ATI has more than 1,900 employees in the Americas, Europe and Asia. ATI common shares trade on NASDAQ (ATYT) and the Toronto Stock Exchange (ATY).

About 3Dlabs

3Dlabs, the leading innovator in visual processing, supplies graphics accelerator solutions to a broad range of professionals including the Computer Aided Design (CAD), Digital Content Creation (DCC), and visual simulation markets. Its award-winning Wildcat® graphics solutions are available in the industry's leading OEM workstations, in the channel through an international distributor/reseller network, and directly to end-users at 3Dlabs' online store. For more information on 3Dlabs products, visit http://www.3dlabs.com <http://www.3dlabs.com/>. 3Dlabs is a wholly owned subsidiary of Creative Technology Ltd.