Last Updated: 12 / 17 / 2002

Developer Newsletter: Issue #8

In this month's issue:

GeForce FX Launched

On Monday at Comdex we announced our GeForce FX GPU (which is popularly known by its codename, "NV30"). Here's a list of key features for developers:

Support for up to 65536 vertex shader instructions
Support for up to 1024 pixel shader instructions
No limits on pixel shader instruction ordering or texture fetching
Full 128-bit color precision (32-bits per component throughout the pipeline)
Intellisample technology (smarter texture filtering)
Multi-display nView technology
High-speed DDR2 Memory (1 GHz)
AGP 8X
3 times faster at vertex processing than GeForce4 Ti 4600
More than 2 times the overall performance of the GeForce4 Ti 4600

For more information, please visit nvidia.com. This page also includes a link to the Comdex launch video (on the left of the page). See Jen-Hsun Huang, Mark Daly and Tony Tamasi launch GeForce FX. Also see Mark Skaggs of Electronic Arts, Mark Rein and Tim Sweeney of Epic Games, Scott McDaniel and Stuart Compton of Sony Online show off their latest game titles.

Discreet and NVIDIA Release CgFX Plug-in for 3ds max 5

3ds max CgFX Plug-in allows artists to author and visualize content in 3ds max 5 using advanced hardware rendering and the Cg high level language. Accessible from the Viewport Manager located within the 3ds max Material Editor, DirectX users gain a custom, intuitive GUI featuring real-time effects with sliders and other artist-friendly interfaces.

This plug-in for max 5 includes:

max 5 plug-in .dlm
CgFX connection editor
Sample shader files in .fx format with accompanying .dds textures
Documentation

You can download the plug-in and associated documentation here.

Softimage|XSI Releases Version 3.0 with Cg Integration

The recently released Softimage|XSI v.3.0 environment offers seamless integration of Cg providing artists and programmers with a simplified process for authoring complex, highly realistic real-time digital content. Softimage|XSI users can now drag and drop shader nodes from the XSI NetView directly into their scene’s Render Tree window, and use the same interface they’re familiar with to fine tune their shaders. Most importantly, this technology allows users of the Softimage|XSI software to visualize content from within the application as it will appear in real-time in their interactive applications. For more, please visit http://www.softimage.com/products/xsi/v3/at_a_glance/.

Answers to Commonly Asked Questions About Cg/CgFX

Here are answers to some frequently asked questions about Cg and CgFX. If you have questions or concerns about Cg or CgFX, please send mail to cgsupport@nvidia.com.

Q: Are Cg and HLSL really fully compatible?
A: Upon official release, NVIDIA's Cg compiler will compile any HLSL program, even those written specifically for Microsoft's fxc compiler. Any exceptions are considered bugs and will be fixed promptly.

Q: If I'm not using OpenGL, what advantages does Cg provide above and beyond HLSL?
A: Two things: tools and performance. CgFX's integration with 3ds max 5 and Maya 4.5 (coming soon) allows a streamlined and convenient artist-to-programmer workflow. Softimage|XSI 3.0 has also integrated Cg directly within their Render Tree. Using NVIDIA's Cg compiler will ensure the best possible performance on NVIDIA GPUs.

Q: I've heard Cg is proprietary. Will it run on ATI's and others' GPUs?
A: Cg compiles to DirectX 8, DirectX 9, and industry standard OpenGL extensions. Therefore, it will run on any GPU that supports any of those APIs.

Q: What is CgFX? How is that related to Cg?
A: CgFX is analogous to the new DirectX .fx format. It is a means for encapsulating a shader by including relevant graphics state, shader source code, and shader parameters. CgFX can potentially describe multiple versions of a shader, including multi-pass information, and works in both OpenGL and DirectX. Cg is the language that is used to describe what happens in a particular vertex or pixel shader.

Q: Cg is still Beta. When will an official release be available?
A: The official release of Cg is expected in mid-December.

Interview with David Kirk on CgShaders.org

CgShaders.org has put up an interview with David Kirk. In the interview, David answers a long list of questions about Cg and CgFX.

CgFX Runtime Beta Released

The CgFX Runtime enables applications to load and render Microsoft .fx files in DirectX and OpenGL. It also enables Cg pixel and vertex shader programs to be embedded into .fx files. The installer includes:

CgFX Beta runtime DLLs
Import libraries
Header files

Runtime support for DirectX 9.0 will be available shortly after the official DirectX 9.0 release. You can download the installer here.

CgFX Viewer Released

The CgFX Viewer is a standalone application for viewing and editing shaders. As a prototyping tool, it supports shaders built in the .fx format, and allows users to connect, edit, and tweak shaders. It currently supports files exported from 3ds max. It loads and renders .fx files in both DirectX and OpenGL.

We have also included an exporter from 3ds max to the .nvb format, so that you can create your own models for the CgFX Viewer. We expect to release source code for this viewer shortly.

This installer includes:

CgFX Viewer Beta Installer
CgFX Connection Editor
Example files (.fx shaders and .dds textures)
Documentation

You can download the viewer, along with our .nvb exporter, here.

Cg Shader Contest Results

The October CgShaders.org shader contest ended recently, and once again there were many excellent submissions. The two winners in the NV30 category will receive NV30-based boards, while the two winners in the General category will receive NV25-based boards. Check out the contest winners at: http://www.cgshaders.org/contest/contest-results-03.php.

The Shader Repository at CgShaders.org (at http://www.cgshaders.org/shaders/) offers a freely usable selection of shaders that you can use and learn from.

The CgShaders.org forums (http://www.cgshaders.org/forums/) are a great place to ask questions about Cg and shading in general, as many knowledgeable members (some of whom at from NVIDIA) monitor the forums.

Thumbnail Viewer for .dds Files

The Texture Compression Tools web page has been updated with a thumbnail viewer for .dds files. You can download the viewer here.

New Displays are Coming - Properly Support Them for the Best User Experience

When testing applications for quality assurance, remember to test some of the new widescreen panel formats: SXGA+ (1400 x 1050), WUXGA (1920 x 1200), and WXGA (1280 x 800). The first format uses a 4:3 aspect ratio, while the other two use a 16:10 aspect ratio. Even if you don't have a suitable monitor to display these resolutions, they are worth testing as notebook manufacturers will soon be using them.

Coding Tip

Use 3ds max's viewport background capability to place a screenshot of your game behind any CgFX model you are working with inside of MAX. This should help to ensure that your shader matches the overall look of your game. A second idea is to place a specially prepared bitmap in your viewport background that contains color and tone swatches that you would like to match with your shaders. This is simple and practical way to ensure that shaders and texture maps fall within specific color and tonal ranges; great for creating consistent art assets.

Send Us Your Comments!

Please let us know how you like the restructured Developer website by sending mail to devrelfeedback@nvidia.com with the word COMMENTS in the subject line. If you have had any problem downloading our Cg Toolkits, please let us know as well. Other comments are also welcome, of course.