A rigid visco-plastic finite element method has been developed for modeling superplastic forming processes. The optimum pressure-time relationship for a target strain rate and thickness distributions was predicted using two-node line element based on membrane approximation for plane strain and axisymmetric condition. Analysis of superplastic forming was carried out using the developed program and the numerical results were compared to the values available in the literature for plane strain problems. For description of the contact between the dies and sheet, the direct projection method was applied to the complicated problem and the validity of the scheme was tested. Experiments for the various geometries such as hemisphere and cone were performed with the developed forming machine using the calculated optimum pressure-time curves. Comparison between analysis and experiments showed good agreement.