San Jose, Calif., (March 27, 2001) (Nasdaq:ADBE)--Adobe Systems Incorporated today announced that Adobe® After Effects® and Adobe Photoshop® software were used to create several of the visual effects shots for DreamWorks Pictures and Universal Studios' "Gladiator," directed by Ridley Scott and winner of the 2001 Academy Award® for Best Picture and Best Visual Effects. "Creating Academy Award-winning visual effects on the desktop is proof positive that creative tools like Adobe After Effects and Photoshop have come of age," said Bruce Chizen, president and CEO of Adobe Systems Incorporated. "Top visual effects houses like DreamWorks are realizing that they don't need to use expensive, high-end editing hardware and software to create award-winning special effects." One of Scott's primary goals with "Gladiator" was to bring the glory and colossal scale of ancient Rome back to the big screen, as films such as "Ben Hur" and "Spartacus" had done in the past. To achieve this in grand style, Scott relied on superb visual effects created by DreamWorks. When production on the film was nearing completion, artists had to create several visual effects shots quickly, on a relatively tight budget. Wes Sewell, visual effects editor for DreamWorks, oversaw completion of the final effects shots for "Gladiator" using Adobe software, which took only a few days. "Several people were amazed that we could create such high-end visual effects on the desktop," said Sewell. "We're heading into our next project—another Ridley Scott film—with plans to do more visual effects shots using Adobe software."