TGS, Inc. Announces the Release of amira 3.1

amira is a three-dimensional visualization software product offering unparalleled techniques for creating complex data visualization. The mewest release supports PC-clusters, Visual Studio .NET and additional import file formats.

(PRWEB) August 11, 2003 -- TGS is proud to announce the release of version 3.1 of amira®, amiraDev, amiraVR, as well as the new amiraVR.Cluster for Windows® 98/2000/NT/XP, UNIX, Linux® and Linux on the 64-bit Itanium2 platform. amira is TGSs flagship 3D analysis and visualization application package offering the end-user innovative capabilities to easily and interactively analyze complex 3D data sets. amira 3.1 will offer its users greater functionality by increasing the standard set of features and by adding extensions including PC cluster support. This new release will be available in Q1 2004.

amira Standard Edition is an application program, which does not require programming knowledge to use. With just a few simple clicks, the user is able to construct a visualization tailored to his or her needs. amiraDev provides a programmers API that allows the user to add new components by C++ programming. amiraVR is a specialized and extended version of the amira visualization system which is dedicated for use in immersive installations, such as large-screen stereoscopic projections, CAVE® or Holobench® systems.

Among others, it supports multi-threaded multi-pipe rendering, head and instrument tracking, advanced 3D interaction concepts, and 3D menus allowing interaction with any amira object in the same way as on the desktop. With its unique set of features, amiraVR represents both a VR (Virtual Reality) ready application for scientific and medical visualization in immersive environments, and a development platform which allows to build VR applications as easy as never before.

Fast, reliable and easy to use, amira is the State-of-the-Art three-dimensional visualization software product offering unparalleled techniques for creating complex data visualization. Included in these techniques are direct volume rendering, iso-surfaces, innovative vector field visualization tools, image segmentation, surface reconstruction, surface simplification, and generation of tetrahedral grids. amira is the perfect tool for researchers working in confocal microscopy, biology, neuroscience, medical imaging, medical simulation, geosciences, Oil & Gas, FEM, CFD, and 3D data visualization.

amiraDev allows users to customize the visualization to meet needs of specific projects, saving time in the completion of visualization tasks," said Michael M. Heck, CTO, TGS.

The unique object-oriented interface makes amiraDev the next generation of extendable visualization systems", said Hans-Christian Hege, Managing Director of Indeed - Visual Concepts, With amiraDev, we provide our users with a modern platform for all developments in the field of 3D data visualization."

amira supports many import formats including a 'raw format allowing immediate access to your native data sets. With over 120 modules allowing you to process, probe, analyze and visualize your data, amira uses the power and speed of the OpenGL® and Open Inventor graphics libraries and 3D graphics accelerators at their best. TGS supplies amira with full documentation, sample data sets, and tutorials, making it very easy for everyone to learn and use.

Though amira 3.0 is already one of the strongest tools for 3D microscopy visualization, the following new features and modules have been incorporated into amira 3.1 to further enhance the feature set for the microscopy and biology fields:

New Features in amira 3.1
· SliceAligner with a new edge-based alignment algorithm
· Direct volume rendering now exploits pixel shading graphics hardware
· New module for multi-modal affline and elastic image registration
· New reader for the SEG-Y data format
· New image filters
· Support for AVS UCD files with time-dependent data
· Improved movie maker and stereo movie player
· DemoMaker module for creating animated demonstrations
· Extended support for the Leica confocal image format
· Extended export of reconstructed 3D models in VRML

New Features in amiraDev
· Support for Visual Studio .NET
· Now based on Open Inventor 4.0 and uses new platform-independent SoQT classes
· New, fully automatic system that creates GNUmakefiles and Visual Studio 6 & .NET project files
· Headers of more amira packages are now included
· New tool that allows you to create on online documentation for custom modules and IO routines

New Features in amiraVR
· New amiraVR.Cluster extension that allows you to run amira on a graphics cluster driving a multi-wall or tiled display system
· Improved 3D menus
· Improved, easier to use amiraVR API
· More demo modules illustrating how to interpret Open Inventor tracker events, controller button events and how to use multiple trackers

ABOUT TGS
A pioneer in VRML and interactive 3Dgraphics, TGS delivers software development products to professional developers and end users. TGS is the largest supplier of cross-platform software products based upon Open Inventor. TGS has 20 years of experience in supplying solutions in the graphics marketplace.

For more information, visit www.tgs.com.