WARRENTON, Va., February 7, 2001 - SPEC/GPC's Application Performance Characterization (SPECapc) project group today released the first standardized benchmark for evaluating performance of systems running 3D Studio MAX R3.1. The benchmark is available for free downloading on this web site at www.spec.org/gpc/apc.static/maxinfo.htm. Initial performance results are scheduled for posting on this site on February 14.

SPECapc for 3D Studio MAX R3.1 is the first digital content creation (DCC) benchmark in SPECapc's suite. It was developed exclusively for SPECapc by CAT Production (www.CAT-zentrum.de), a German computer animation and special effects studio. The benchmark contains four scenes reflecting typical uses of 3D Studio MAX R3.1:

• An architectural visualization containing more than a million polygons, with multiple objects and light sources, glass walls for refraction and opacity tests, and multiple textures.
• Two particle-system animations with multiple light sources.
• A character animation using NURBS surfaces, inverse kinematics, multiple light sources and a moving camera.
  
• A landscape with multiple textures and texture blends.

The new benchmark joins a suite of standardized SPECapc benchmarks based on Pro/ENGINEER, SolidWorks and Unigraphics CAD/CAM applications. The SPECapc group plans to continue updating its benchmarks in concert with new application versions, including 3D Studio MAX R4. It is also looking to develop additional benchmarks based on popular DCC, CAD/CAM and visualization applications.

"We are searching for models and benchmarks available in the public domain that can be adapted as industry standards," says George Chaltas of Intel, SPECapc's chair. "We bring to the table the proven SPEC/GPC methodology, which helps ensure that the resulting benchmarks contain appropriate graphics workloads and standardized measurement criteria, review processes and reporting formats."

SPECapc is a project group of the Graphics Performance Characterization (GPC) Group, which in turn is part of the Standard Performance Evaluation Corp. (SPEC). SPEC is a non-profit corporation formed to establish, maintain and endorse a standardized set of relevant benchmarks that can be applied to the newest generation of high-performance computers. SPEC's membership includes computer hardware and software vendors, leading universities, and research facilities worldwide.

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