Developer Newsletter: Issue #26

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New in this release: HDR using 2x fp16 render targets, DXSAS implementation, GPU video filtering, PBO texture performance analysis, relief mapping, dozens of new HLSL FX examples for FX Composer and more...  The code samples also include Shader Model 3.0 examples, High Dynamic Range Rendering, Deferred Shading, Instancing, Multiple Render Targets, Vertex Texturing, Soft Shadows, Perspective Shadow Maps, and many more.

The FX Composer effects include Flame, Glow, Gooch Shading, Metals, Multitexture-Based BRDFs, Color Controls, a selection of Image Filters, and much more.  Be sure to install the latest version of FX Composer to view all the HLSL effects included in the SDK.  For more information about FX Composer, please visit http://developer.nvidia.com/fxcomposer.

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GPU Gems 2: Programming Techniques for High-Performance Graphics and General-Purpose Computation was released recently at the Game Developers Conference 2005, where it was the bestselling book of the show.  GPU Gems 2 is now available for purchase on several web sites:

• Amazon
• Barnes & Noble
• Addison-Wesley

You may also be interested in the first GPU Gems (now available in Japanese and Chinese), as well as The Cg Tutorial (now available in Japanese, Chinese, Korean, and Polish).

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Our NVIDIA Texture Tools Suite has been updated with new versions of the DDS Utilities and Adobe Photoshop Normal Map plug-in.  The updates now includes full fp32 support for all processing, gamma support, and the ability to extract height from normal maps.

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This new version includes support for Linux 64-bit, mirror transform handling, support for .png, .gif, and fixed color index formats, texgen support, and other bug fixes and improvements.

We've also created an NVSG discussion forum where you can discuss applications, issues, hints, tips, and anything NVSG-related with the engineers who created the tool as well as with fellow users.

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Last month's developer newsletter is now available in Japanese, Chinese, and Korean, in addition to English.  To see previous newsletters, please visit our developer newsletter archive.  If you aren't yet receiving the newsletter, make sure to sign up -- each month, it mentions the latest developer resources, upcoming events, recently released hardware, GPGPU news, valuable tips, job postings, and more.

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The course presentations from the recent ACM SIGGRAPH Symposium on Interactive 3D Graphics and Games have now been posted.

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The Microsoft DirectX9 SDK Update (April 2005) is available and includes new D3DX APIs, improvements to PIX for Windows, new technical articles and documentation updates.

The new "Introduction to the 10-Foot Experience for Windows Game Developers" article is a gentle introduction to the issues one might run into or want to think about when developing Windows titles for Windows XP Media Center Edition. The DirectX Developer Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) has been updated and included in the SDK documentation.

D3DX adds a new set of UVAtlas APIs for generating unique texture coordinates for an arbitrary mesh. Additionally, the D3DX Effects system includes a significant memory footprint optimization for applications that do not need to clone Effects.

Finally, PIX for Windows allows one to open full-stream capture PIXRun files and render them similar to how one views single-frame capture data as well as now enabling one to scale data views in the vertical axis for easier visualization.

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Device IDs allow your application to determine what GPU it's running on. We provide a complete list of device IDs for current and past GPUs as well as code samples that illustrate how to use the list.

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Thanks to our friends at Graphic Remedy for showing their awesome gDEBugger tool at our GDC booth. gDEBugger traces application activity on top of OpenGL to provide the information you need to find bugs and to optimize application performance. It also includes many special graphics-related features such as the ability to view render context state variables, view allocated textures properties and image data, break on OpenGL errors, put breakpoints on OpenGL or extensions functions, view the application call stack and source code, and much more. For everyone who has been asking about NVPerfHUD for OpenGL, you're going to love gDEBugger. Check out the free 30 day trial.

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Joining our Registered Developer program is free and gives you access to a number of benefits:

• Developer Forums
• Prerelease Tools
• Prerelease Drivers
• Bug Reporting

Joining is easy!  Simply fill out one of applications below:

• Game Developer Application
• Workstation Developer Application
• Handheld Developer Application

Please note that it may take a few weeks to receive a decision on your application, due to the large number of applicants.

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Excerpted from GPU Gems 2, "The GeForce 6 Series GPU Architecture" (Chapter 30) describes the architecture of the GeForce 6 Series and NV4X-based Quadro GPU families, including details on the overall system architecture, vertex processor, fragment processor, and various other features.

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NVIDIA is proud to be a Silver Sponsor of the Windows Hardware Engineering Conference 2005 (WinHEC), which brings the PC industry together each year to explore the future for the Windows platform. Come and learn how NVIDIA is "Raising the Speed Limit" and leading the way with a full suite of 64-bit products and support.

Location: Washington State Convention and Trade Center, Seattle, WA

Dates: April 25-27, 2005

NVIDIA Speakers:

• Scott Vouri will present "Designing Next-Generation Media Center PCs." PCs are earning their rightful place in the living room. Scott will highlight the challenges and opportunities related to making "Living Room PCs" ubiquitous.
  Tuesday, April 26th, 2:00pm.
   
• Barry Wagner will present "PCI Express: Spurring New Directions in Graphics." This session will discuss the innovative ways NVIDIA and other industry leaders are using PCI Express to move the industry forward.
  Wednesday, April 27th, 11:00am.
   
• David Reed will present "Evolving the PC Platform: Chipset Directions for 2005 and Beyond." This session will discuss the current and future state of chipset feature integration and how the chipset architecture can evolve to accommodate the needs of the emerging digital media processing era.
  Tuesday, April 26th, 8:30am. 

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This new line of core-logic solutions incorporates a host of new, innovative, NVIDIA features never before available on the Intel platform, including NVIDIA® SLI technology, hardware-based firewall security, advanced storage solutions, and native Gigabit Ethernet networking.
>> Press Release

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The NVIDIA Quadro G-Sync is an option card that delivers Frame lock/Genlock functionality to unprecedented levels of industrial realism, visualization and collaborative capabilities.  NVIDIA Quadro G-Sync can be combined with an NVIDIA Quadro FX 4400 to provide advanced multisystem visualization and multi-device film and video environments. The NVIDIA Quadro G-Sync supports frame lock, genlock, and synchronized framebuffer swap and refresh rate.

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The NVIDIA Quadro FX 4000 SDI is the ideal solution for digital broadcast professionals, who use various applications such as virtual-sets, sports, and weather news systems to composite live video footage onto virtual backgrounds and send the result to live video for TV broadcast. The NVIDIA Quadro FX 4000 SDI also allows film production, post-production, and finishing professionals to preview the results of 3D compositing, editing, and color grading in real time on HD broadcast monitors. This graphics-to-video-out solution delivers uncompressed 10-bit SDI from programmable graphics, enabling a direct connection to broadcast monitors, switchers, tape decks, or SDI projectors.

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Some of the most popular pages and downloads over the past few weeks have been:

• NVIDIA GPU Programming Guide. Useful advice on how to identify bottlenecks and eliminate them by taking advantage of the latest GPU features.
  
  
• FX Composer 1.6. Includes several new features such as Shader Model 3.0 support, material panel improvements, DXSAS support, and more.

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