Macromedia Announces Flash -- The Easiest Way to Create Small and Fast Shockwave Multimedia

Macromedia Acquires FutureWave Software and the Award-Winning FutureSplash™ Animator

San Francisco, CA -- January 6, 1997 -- Macromedia (NASDAQ:MACR), the leading provider of cross-platform software tools for Web publishing, multimedia, and graphics, today announced Macromedia Flash, the easiest way to create small, fast Shockwave multimedia. With Flash, Web designers can now add excitement to every Web page with vector-based, interactive animations, buttons, and graphics. Flash extends the Shockwave standard for multimedia with small, fast and fun animations.

Flash joins the Macromedia product family through the acquisition of FutureWave Software (San Diego, California). The companies announced today an agreement whereby Macromedia has acquired FutureWave, the developer of FutureSplash Animator, now renamed Macromedia Flash and integrated with the Shockwave family of multimedia players.

Macromedia Flash is affordable and easy to use. With Flash it is easy to create and animate high-resolution, vector-based graphics or to import them from leading graphic design tools such as Macromedia FreeHand™. The Flash animation environment includes a complete set of drawing tools, animations controls, and file format support as well as easy to use anti-aliasing, outline fonts, in-betweening, and "onion skinning."

The Shockwave Flash Player is very small, approximately 100K, and downloads rapidly, making the user's experience of Web multimedia completely seamless. Shockwave Flash converts animations into an extremely compact file format, then streams the animation onto the Web page so that it plays as it is downloaded. For the Web surfer, playback is very fast using a standard modem connection.

"Macromedia Flash addresses the growing needs of Web page designers who want to easily create Shockwave animations and graphics that are small, fast, and fun," said Bud Colligan, chairman of Macromedia. "Flash joins Director in bringing the impact and creative freedom of compelling multimedia content to a broader market and making the Web a more exciting experience."

Shockwave has become the standard for Web multimedia. More than 17 million browsers have been Shockwave-enabled through downloads from Macromedia's Web page and distribution agreements with leading browser vendors. Shockwave is bundled with Microsoft Windows95, Netscape Navigator Personal Edition and Plus Pak, Apple Macintosh Internet-ready systems, and America Online. Flash broadens Macromedia's product line to enable Shockwave multimedia creation for all Web pages with a wide range of compelling content, from Flash's small and fast animations to Director's rich and immersive content. Prominent Web sites that are already using Flash include MSN, The Simpsons and Spike Webb Comic Books.

"We are delighted to join Macromedia in providing the leading multimedia tools for every Web designer's needs," said Jonathan Gay, vice president of FutureWave Software. "Flash and Director complement each other perfectly: one is small and fast, the other powerful and immersive. Shockwave content continues to define Web multimedia."

Tom Firman, director of Technology at MSN said: "MSN has built one of the Web's most exciting sites using Macromedia Flash. Every page is packed with animated content and has an interactive interface. Shockwave Director and Shockwave Flash are allowing us to create a powerful and unique experience for every Web surfer."

According to Halsey Minor, chairman and CEO of CNET: "Flash is a technology whose Internet time has come. It puts small, fast multimedia on the Web, so the average user with a 28.8 modem gets the full impact immediately. Macromedia's products are helping Web developers explore new realms of creativity, ranging from the richest multimedia experiences to attention-grabbing animations."

Pricing and Availability

Macromedia Flash supports Microsoft Windows 95, Windows NT, Apple Macintosh and Power Macintosh systems and is available in North America for an introductory street price of $249. To order, please call (800) 457-1774. Interested parties outside North America should contact their local Macromedia distributor for pricing and availability. The Shockwave Flash Player supports Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer and is available for free download from http://www.macromedia.com. For more information on Flash please visit the Macromedia Web site.

Transaction

The acquisition is a tax-free, stock-for-stock merger and will be accounted for as a pooling of interests. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Key engineering and marketing personnel, including Jonathan Gay, vice president of Development, will remain with Macromedia and relocate from San Diego to San Francisco.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements. Actual results may vary materially from those described in this forward-looking statement based on a number of factors including timing of the introduction of new products, rate of customer acceptance of Web multimedia tools and competition for such tools.

About Macromedia

Macromedia, Inc. (NASDAQ: MACR) is the leading provider of cross-platform software tools for Web publishing, multimedia and graphics. With headquarters in San Francisco, only Macromedia delivers a complete, affordable set of software tools for digital media creation and delivery anywhere. Macromedia's award-winning products for Windows, Macintosh and the Internet are available to business, education, and government customers in over 50 countries. Additional information on Macromedia is available on the Internet at www.macromedia.com.

Product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of Macromedia, Inc., as indicated. Other products or services may be trademarks or service marks of others.