As part of a partnering with MetaCreations, Adobe has announced they will be acquiring Canoma from MetaCreations. Canoma allows 2D images to be mapped into 3D models. Adobe has also bought access to MetaStreaming, the 3D for web site technology that the newly renamed Metastream Corporation is currently concentrating on. MetaCreations announced earlier this year that they will be selling all of their commercial graphics apps. Canoma is the first of those apps since that announcement to be bought. According to Adobe:
Adobe Systems Incorporated and Metastream Corporation today announced a strategic e-commerce partnership. The companies signed a Letter Of Intent (LOI) that provides Adobe access to Metastream's technologies for creating and deploying interactive 3D content on e-commerce sites. These technologies complement Adobe's award-winning Web publishing product line for authoring interactive, high-impact Web sites.
3D is becoming an increasingly critical component of the Web experience, especially in the areas of navigation, community and commerce. To help creative professionals move into the world of 3D, Adobe will acquire MetaCreations' Canoma™ product, which creates 3D models from photographs and outputs finished files to the Web. In addition Adobe will support the Metastream™ format (MTS) across its tools including Adobe® Photoshop®, Adobe GoLive™, Adobe Illustrator®, Adobe LiveMotion™, Adobe InDesign™, Adobe Premiere™ and Adobe After Effects®. Adobe will continue to make investments in the 3D market space, as well as develop 3D capabilities in its key Web products over the coming year.
Metastream 3 (MTS3) is the new e-commerce visualization and brand management system that works across browsers and platforms. A component of this system is the Metastream 3D file format, a major advance in the fast delivery and progressive display of streaming 3D objects and other media types over the Internet.
With true-to-life, three-dimensional visual fidelity, MTS3 provides for a much richer online shopping experience, replicating many of the benefits of shopping in a store while adding the convenience and user-control of the Internet. MTS3 includes state-of-the-art animation and interactivity features enabling viewers to virtually "pick-up" products, examine them, and test out product features online. The technology aggregates and reports user viewing activities to help companies better market and sell its products. MTS3 is effective regardless of connection speeds and computer processing power.
Adobe has not yet added information on Canoma to their web site.
