Microsoft Corp has licensed 3D technology from MetaCreations Corp for inclusion in future operating systems it says will enable multimedia ISVs to cut down on development time by writing one version of their software that will run on both desktop PCs and on the web. The technology, called Metastream 3D file format, enables software developers to simultaneously design 3D multimedia objects for multimedia games and web sites. Microsoft’s internet server product manager Peter Bell, said designing multimedia content for PCs is currently a completely separate procedure to designing it for web sites. It was literally carried out by two separate sets of developers or as two very distinct projects, he said. But the new 3D format, announced last month under a joint developement between California-based MetaCreations Corp and Intel Corp, enables developers to write the content just once and use it for both mediums. Bell said Microsoft had licensed the MetaStream file to be integrated into Microsoft’s DirectX APIs: the tools developers use to write multimedia software for Windows-based PC platforms, and in its NetShow server: the product that allows users to access, and download, multimedia content over the internet. In addition to games and web sites, the MetaStream 3D file format could be beneficial to electronic commerce, medical and scientific applications, he claimed. Bob Rice, VP strategic affairs at Metacreations said that as well as allowing developers to write the software just once, it also enables scalability and streaming over the internet. For the user, this means they can see the 3D image from the moment downloading commences as opposed to having to wait for a copy of the image to download to the hard drive. Meanwhile, the built-in scalability enables the software to detect low-powered PCs and automatically simplify the image so that it can be viewed more easily on the user’s PC. While there’s nothing new about 3D file format graphics per se (developers have been able to design them using tools like VRML- Virtual Reality Mark-Up Language) for some time, having Microsoft, with its history of setting standards, integrate the technology into its operating systems, is sure to push this product to the forefront.
