Headline Archive 2004

Headlines are listed from most recent to least recent. Please visit our home page for the latest news.

GPU Jackpot Coming Soon

Join us at The Venetian Resort Hotel Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada on October 21 and 22 for GPU Jackpot 2004. This event will include detailed technical presentations covering:

• Performance and Features of GeForce 6 Series GPUs
• Efficient Shadow Generation
• Normal Map Compression & Quality
• SLI (How to Take Advantage of Multiple GPUs)
• Advanced Performance Tools
• Developer Tools and the NVIDIA SDK

You'll also be able to schedule one-on-one time with NVIDIA Developer Technology engineers at the event to show off new builds of your projects or to discuss anything that's on your mind. Mark the date -- sign up now to be notified when registration opens.

IDV Releases SpeedTree-Based Trees of Pangaea™  Demo

Seven new real-time worlds await, each an unprecedented vision of what can be done with SpeedTree’s great foliage technology and NVIDIA’s GPUs. The demo includes natural-looking, windblown trees and grass, new lighting algorithms, vast terrains covering hundreds of square miles – and a choice of a haunted woods, New England autumn, Vietnam jungle, Outback, and more!

Talks from Recent Conferences Posted

The presentations from several recent conferences are now available:

Eurographics
European Developer Forum
Iron Developer (Japan)
Perfect Kitchen Art (China)
GPU BBQ (Korea)

The slides for the Asian events are available in both English and the local languages. You can also see coverage by the local press for both the Japanese and Korean events.

ShaderTech Shader Triathlon Results Announced

ShaderTech.com has announced the winners of the Summer 2004 Shader Triathlon.  Congratulations to all the winners!  You can download and try out the shaders, since source code and binaries are both included for each entry.  Videos of the shaders in action will appear shortly.

NVShaderPerf Updated

The latest version of NVShaderPerf now includes an installer, Release 60 driver support, and support for vertex and pixel shader performance profiling on NV4X GPUs.

NVIDIA Texture Tools Now Available with Installers

We've built installers for some components of our popular texture tools suite, making them easier to install.

Invitation to the European Professional NVIDIA Technology Workshop

Registration is now open for our technical training seminar for NVIDIA Quadro software developers in Slough, United Kingdom. This two-day seminar will include detailed technical guidance on: NV4xGL architecture, Large model and 64-bit SW design, NVSG, SLI, Shader Model 3.0, performance analysis tools, GPGPU, volume rendering and other technical topics of relevance to Professional ISVs. Space is limited and registration closes September 17th. If you have specific questions please contact your NVIDIA representative. The registration form is available online.

NVPerfHUD Quick Reference Card Available

We've created a handy Quick Reference Card for NVPerfHUD. The card has information about identifying bottlenecks, optimization techniques, NVPerfHUD commands, and much more.

Using Vertex Textures Whitepaper Published

Since the introduction of programmability to the GPU, the capabilities of the vertex and pixel processors have been different. Now, with Shader Model 3.0, GeForce 6 Series GPUs have taken a huge step towards providing common functionality for both vertex and pixel shaders.

Our Using Vertex Textures whitepaper focuses specifically on one such Shader Model 3.0 feature: vertex texture fetch. Vertex texture fetch allows vertex shaders to read data from textures, just like pixel shaders can. This additional feature is useful for a number of effects, including displacement mapping, fluid and water simulation, explosions, and more.

SIGGRAPH 2004 Presentations Published

Our presentations from SIGGRAPH 2004 (Shader Model 3.0 Unleashed, Transforming Production Workflows with the GPU, GPU Performance Tools and Analysis Techniques, and Image Processing on the GPU) are now available.

Cg 1.3 Beta 2 Released

Cg Release 1.3 Beta 2 has been released with support for the latest GeForce 6 Series (NV4X) GPUs. This version of Cg offers the following features and improvements:

• New vp40 profile, which enables texture sampling from within vertex programs
• New fp40 profile, which provides a robust branching model in fragment programs, and support for output to multiple draw buffers ("MRTs")
• Support for writing more than one color output (i.e., MRTs) in the arbfp1 and ps_2* profiles
• New semantics to access OpenGL fixed-function state vectors from within ARB_vertex_program and ARB_fragment_program
• New "-fastprecision" option for arbfp*, fp30, and fp40 profiles, to use reduced precision storage (fp16) when appropriate.
• Support for 16 profiles

NVSG SDK Released

The NVIDIA Scene Graph Software Development Kit (NVSG SDK) is an object-oriented programming library for creating scenegraph-based applications. It provides a comprehensive set of classes that developers can easily combine and extend to create fast and reliable graphics applications.

Shader Model 3.0 Support in NVIDIA SDK 8.0 and FX Composer 1.5

New versions of the NVIDIA SDK and FX Composer with Shader Model 3.0 support are now available. SDK 8.0 includes hundreds of all-new Shader Model 3.0 code samples and effects, and FX Composer 1.5 includes the following new features:

• Shader Model 3.0 support
• Material panel improvements
• Complies with Microsoft DirectX Standard Semantics & Annotations Specification (DXSAS)
• Compatible with Microsoft DirectX XNA preview pipeline
• Save/load effects properties in XML file
• ShaderPerf updates supporting vertex shader analysis and GeForce 6 Series GPUs
• Geometry importer plug-in API

NVPerfHUD 2.0 Released

Now available to all developers, NVPerfHUD 2.0 helps you analyze your graphics pipeline performance one stage at a time and displays real-time statistics that can be used to diagnose performance bottlenecks in your Direct3D 9 applications. NVPerfHUD 2.0 includes several new features, including drag-and-drop application launching, a batch size histogram, shader visualization, and new pipeline analysis options.

Melody 1.1 Available

NVIDIA Melody 1.1 is now availble, supporting larger models (twice the size of the previous version). This release also includes several bug fixes and better support for a variety of special-case geometry.

More Headlines...

GPU Gems 2 Call for Participation

Following the success of GPU Gems: Programming Techniques, Tips, and Tricks for Real-Time Graphics (it was the runaway bestseller at GDC 2004 and entered its second printing just weeks after being published), we have decided to produce a second GPU Gems volume in order to showcase the best new ideas and techniques for the latest programmable GPUs. Like the first GPU Gems volume, GPU Gems II will be hard bound and in full color.

Tentatively titled GPU Gems II: Techniques for Graphics and Compute Intensive Programming, this book will be edited by Matt Pharr, software engineer at NVIDIA. Matt has extensive experience in the field of computer graphics and has recently authored a book on physically-based rendering, several SIGGRAPH publications, and three chapters in the original GPU Gems book. Randy Fernando, editor of the first GPU Gems, will serve as the series editor.

We’re looking for innovative ideas from developers who are using GPUs in new ways to create stunning graphics and cutting-edge applications. Chapters should present techniques and ideas are broadly useful to GPU programmers and can be integrated into their applications. GPU Gems II will have an increased focus on chapters exploring non-graphics applications of the computational capabilities of GPU hardware (learn more at www.GPGPU.org).

If you would like to participate, please read through the abstract submission guidelines and send an e-mail to articlesubmissions@nvidia.com with your proposed chapter title as the subject line, and the required description (abstract) in the e-mail body. The deadline for abstract submissions is Monday, August 16, 2004. If your abstract is accepted, you will receive additional time to write the complete chapter.

GPU Programming Guide Updated

The NVIDIA GPU Programming Guide has been updated with Stereoscopic Gaming information as well as SLI information, other minor updates, and corrections. Stereoscopic gaming can dramatically enhance the visual realism and immersion of your applications with only a little effort on your part.

Presentations from 6800 Leagues Under the Sea Posted

Our presentations from the recent 6800 Leagues Under the Sea developer event in the United Kingdom are now available. Topics include deferred shading, shadow rendering, high dynamic range effects, FX Composer 1.5, NVPerfHUD, and more.

Tell Us About Your Projects and Win a GeForce 6800 GT!

NVIDIA is constantly asked by press and analysts what games are supporting the latest features that are showing up in PCs. If you’d like your title to be included in the lists that we provide, please take the time to fill out this quick and easy form. Everyone who fills out the form will be entered into a random drawing for two GeForce 6800 GTs on August 1!  (That is, there will be two separate winners.)

Summer Blow-Out for Developers on NVIDIA Quadro FX 2000 by PNY!

Sizzle into summer with special Developer pricing on Quadro FX 2000s at only $650.00! Supplies won't last long at that price, so get them while they're hot! To purchase, go to http://ecommerce.pny.com and use promo code fx2000spec

NVIDIA Iron Developer 2004

You are invited to attend NVIDIA's 4th annual conference in Japan, "Iron Developer 2004," held this year on September 6, as a component of CEDEC 2004 at Kogakuin University in Shinjuku, Tokyo. Engineers from NVIDIA’s Developer Technology Group will focus on OpenGL and DirectX programming techniques covering advanced special effects, performance optimization, workflow & pipeline integration, as well as other topical issues for today’s real-time developers.

Hello GPGPU Tutorials

GPGPU.org has posted "Hello GPGPU" tutorials in both Cg and GLSL. The tutorials provide an introduction into the world of general-purpose computation with GPUs. They show how to implement a very simple edge detection filter on a dynamic scene.

Got SLI? Introducing NVIDIA SLI Multi-GPU Solutions

SLI (Scalable Link Interface) is new NVIDIA technology that intelligently scales graphics performance through multiple NVIDIA GPUs in a single PCI Express system. SLI scales both geometry and fill rate/pixel shader performance for two GPUs using various methods, including inter and intra-frame scalability algorithms. Most importantly, it just works! SLI technology is application transparent (DirectX or OpenGL) and is enabled automatically through the driver, with no application modification required. Developers using certain rendering techniques will benefit from increased performance by following our guidelines in the updated NVIDIA GPU Programming Guide (Chapter 6).

Learn more about the awesome power of NVIDIA SLI Multi-GPU solution -- detailed information available via the links below.

SLI Product Page
NVIDIA GPU Programming Guide (includes a Chapter on SLI)
Frequently Asked Questions About SLI
Press Release

Shader Triathlon at ShaderTech.com

Inspired by the summer Olympics taking place this year, ShaderTech.com is hosting a shader contest this summer with three categories: Materials & Environmental Effects, Image Processing & NPR Effects, and Thinking Outside the Box.

With over $20,000 worth of prizes available, the Shader Triathlon is a great way to show off your shader skills. Participants can win gold, silver, and bronze prizes for each category, as well as the grand prize: 3ds max, RT/Shader, and a GDC 2005 Gigapass! In addition, all entrants will be entered into a random drawing for the following prizes: 3ds max, RT/Shader, and GPU Gems books.

The Shader Triathlon is sponsored by NVIDIA, discreet, RTzen, and the Game Developers Conference 2005.

Event Calendar Updated

Our Event Calendar now includes links to upcoming event pages, which describe the events and how to register for them.

Individually Packaged SDK Samples Now Available

Individually packaged samples and effects are now available on our Web site. This feature is particularly useful for those with lower-bandwidth Internet connections, since it gives access to specific examples without requiring download of the entire SDK. In each release of our SDK you'll find hundreds of code samples, effects, and tools to help you take advantage of the latest in graphics technology.

6800 Leagues Under the Sea

On June 28 and 29, we'll be holding an intense two-day developer workshop at the Ministry of Sound in London. Register now to learn all about the GeForce 6800, including DirectX functionality, game developer case studies, Shader Model 3.0, and much more.

GPU Gems Interview

The Compulsive Creative has posted an interview with NVIDIA's Randy Fernando, editor of GPU Gems: Programming Techniques, Tips, and Tricks for Real-Time Graphics. The interview covers many aspects of the project, including the approach that was used, effects covered, the review process, and more. 

We are currently looking for an editor to manage the next GPU Gems project. If you or someone you know would be interested, please let us know by e-mailing devrelfeedback@nvidia.com with the subject line "GPU Gems II Editor Candidate".

NVIDIA GPU Programming Guide Posted

A new version of our GPU Programming Guide, covering the latest GeForce 6 Series GPUs, is now available. The GPU Programming Guide covers a wide range of topics, including general programming tips, performance tips, Shader Model 3.0, and more.

Welcome!

Welcome to the new NVIDIA Developer Web Site. We have recently completed a full redesign of the site, making it easier to find the documentation, tools, and other resources you need to get the most from your GPU.  The navigation bar on the left side of the page is now available on all pages, and the simplified set of categories will help you quickly access the information on our site.  If you don't find what you need within a few clicks, try using our integrated Google search engine at the top of the page.

If you still can't find the information you need or would like to share suggestions for additional improvements, please contact us at devrelfeedback@nvidia.com.  Thanks for visiting - we hope you find what you need and come back soon!

ShaderTech.com Launched

ShaderTech.com is a new site that's focused on real-time shader development, providing numerous resources such as articles, forums, books, tools, and more. Because there are now several very capable high-level shading languages in active use by developers, ShaderTech aims to support the entire GPU development community regardless of shader language.

Videos of GDC 2004 NVIDIA Sponsored Sessions Available

Video recordings from our sponsored sessions at GDC 2004 are now available. There is also a ZIP file of all the videos (504 MB) for your convenience.

NVIDIA GeForce 6800 Announced

Our latest graphics processor (codenamed NV40) has now been announced. The NVIDIA GeForce 6800 GPU delivers phenomenal performance as well as unique new features like Shader Model 3.0, floating-point filtering, floating-point blending, video encode/decode, and much more. This combination will help you to create more stunning content more easily than ever before. 

Cg 1.2.1 Released

We've released a minor Cg revision consisting mostly of small bug fixes.  (Please see the Release Notes for more.)

NVShaderPerf Released

The NVShaderPerf command line utility uses the same technology as the Shader Perf panel in FX Composer to report shader performance metrics. It supports DirectX and OpenGL shaders written in HLSL, !!FP1.0, !!ARBfp1.0, PS1.x and PS2.x. You can get performance reports for your shaders on the entire family of GeForce FX GPUs, including cycle count, register usage and a GPU utilization rating.

GDC 2004 Presentations Posted

All our presentations from GDC 2004 have now been posted. There is also a convenient ZIP file (89 MB) of all the presentations. (Our apologies for the black-and-white versions that were incorrectly posted previously.)

NV40 Video Samples

We have some exciting new SDK samples in the works for our next release.  Instead of making you wait, we created several video clips we think you'll find interesting. These clips explain some of the techniques that will be possible with our next-generation hardware.

GPU Gems Available for Purchase

GPU Gems: Programming Techniques, Tips, and Tricks for Real-Time Graphics was released last week at the Game Developers Conference 2004, and has been received  very positively by the graphics community. We were happy to learn from the GDC bookstore that GPU Gems was the bestselling book during the show.

GPU Gems is now available for purchase on several web sites.

NVSDK 7.0 Released

Version 7.0 of our NVSDK is now available.  This includes a programmer SDK, tools, over a hundred effects, and numerous whitepapers explaining the various effects.

GDC 2004 Talks Available

The slides for our various talks at GDC 2004 will be posted one day after the talks take place. 

Introduction to FX Composer Video Available

We've created a three minute video that highlights FX Composer's key features, as well as several sample shaders. The video is 720 x 480, and is a 20 MB download.

FX Composer 1.0 Released

FX Composer enables developers to create high performance DirectX 9.0 HLSL shaders in an IDE with unique real-time preview and optimization features. FX Composer was designed with the goal of making shader development and optimization easier for programmers while providing an intuitive GUI for artists customizing shaders for a particular scene. FX Composer comes with dozens of sample projects, performance tutorials, and more than 120 sample shaders.

GPU Gems Excerpts Posted

A sample chapter of GPU Gems, "Skin in the 'Dawn' Demo," is now available. The Preface and Contributor Biographies have also been released. GPU Gems will be available at GDC 2004.

Cg Toolkit 1.2

The Cg Toolkit allows developers to write and run shader programs using a wide variety of hardware platforms and graphics APIs.  This release introduces several significant new features:

New Presentations Posted

Our presentations page has been updated with slides from recent the Techfest conference in India, as well as the ChinaJoy developer conference. The ChinaJoy slides are both in English and Chinese.