BURLINGTON, MA -- (MARKET WIRE) -- 12/05/05 -- Focal Press, an imprint of Elsevier and a leading media technology publisher, has entered into a partnership with Autodesk Media and Entertainment division to publish and create training resources and materials. Titles published under this co-branding program will offer unique authority on the related subjects backed by the expertise of the Autodesk development and support teams. Focal Press will now be able to provide the best books for users of the industry-leading 3D and animation software under the Autodesk Media and Entertainment division.

In this new relationship, Autodesk and Focal Press can bring readers high quality, comprehensive resources to help anyone excel in these popular desktop 3D and visual effects compositing programs. These new guides will undoubtedly be everyone's all-access pass to the production and training experience of Autodesk developers and training experts.

"We are extremely excited to be partnering with an award-winning company like Autodesk, which has the exemplary reputation for quality and commitment to excellence throughout the graphics and animation industries," says Joanne Tracy, international publisher of Focal Press. "It's a perfect match for Focal, which has the same reputation in this market."

Autodesk is the producer of 3ds Max professional 3D animation software, Combustion desktop compositing software, and other tools for creative professionals in the graphics, animation, and film industries. Major motion pictures like "The Day After Tomorrow," The Last Samurai," "Elf," "X2 - X-Men United," "The Core," "Final Destination 2," "Spider-Man," "Lord of the Rings," "Star Trek Nemesis," "Moulin Rouge," "Minority Report," "Star Wars: The Phantom Menace" and "The Matrix" all relied upon Autodesk 3D animation software and visual effects systems. Now, as a partner with Focal Press, the Autodesk Media and Entertainment division will be able to offer these same media professionals greater access to the inside tips, the technical explanations, and the hands-on examples that will allow them realize their visual ideas.

"We are excited to enter a partnership with a publisher that understands our core business of 3D content creation and design visualization and has already has success in this space," said Lisa Tenorio, director of product education at Autodesk Media and Entertainment division. "When we met with Focal Press, we looked at their history, audience, and line of previously published successful training and hands-on books for visual effects and 3D artists -- and we knew they were the best choice to partner with," added Tenorio.

There are currently several Focal Press books published under the Autodesk Media and Entertainment division including "3ds Max 7 Fundamentals and Beyond Courseware," "3ds Max 7 New Features and Production Workflow," "Autodesk Combustion 4 Fundamentals Courseware." Forthcoming titles will include "3ds Max 8 Essentials," "Deconstructing the Elements with 3ds Max," and "Essential CG Lighting Techniques with 3ds Max."

About Focal Press

Focal Press has been a leading publisher of Media Technology books for over 60 years, and is now a division of Elsevier. Focal Press provides essential resources for professionals and students in many areas including: film and digital video production, photography, digital imaging, graphics, animation and new media, broadcast and media distribution technologies, music recording and production, mass communications, and theatre technology. Focal Press can be found on www.focalpress.com.

About Autodesk

Autodesk, Inc. (NASDAQ: ADSK) is wholly focused on ensuring that great ideas are turned into reality. With six million users, Autodesk is the world's leading software and services company for the manufacturing, building, infrastructure, wireless data services and media and entertainment fields. Autodesk's solutions help customers create, manage and share their data and digital assets more effectively. As a result, customers turn ideas into competitive advantage by becoming more productive, streamlining project efficiency and maximizing profits. Founded in 1982, Autodesk is headquartered in San Rafael, California. For additional information about Autodesk, please visit www.autodesk.com.

Contact for Focal Press:
Sheri Dean Allen
(919) 862-0673
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