Boards: What will be the main emphasis of the company at NAB (in the area or areas that have relevance to the commercial production industry)?

Ford: Alias|wavefront will reveal the forthcoming Maya 4 for the first time. With an extensive list of new features and workflow enhancements, this release will further demonstrate our focus on the needs of 3D digital content creators in the production industry. This is further reinforced by Maya's availability on the industry's most popular graphics platforms. Along with Windows and IRIX, we will be showing Maya on Linux, and a preview of the long-awaited Maya on Mac OS X. All this plus many new customer stories will be showcased at NAB 2001, as Alias|wavefront continues to innovate in new and unexpected directions.

Boards: How does this reflect what's going on in the industry -- the changes that have happened over the last year?

Ford: Increasing numbers of artists are being introduced to CGI tools as growth continues in 3D digital content creation and production. Alias|wavefront is providing the necessary tools to ease this transition and also offers the comfort of familiar platforms. As a result of this focus on the needs of new users, Maya's growth has considerably outpaced the market this past year.

Boards: What will the emphasis of the show in general -- what do you think most of the attendees will be looking closely at?

Ford: Cool new tools and products that promote productivity, not only in traditional broadcast television, but on the Web and an expanding range of media formats.

NAB-goers can see Maya 4 at the SGI (S4132) and Quantel (L11520) booths. Also stop by the Apple booth (M9131) to see Maya on Mac OS X.