In 2019, if you wanted to check out the cutting edge in video game graphics, you needed an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 20 Series GPU and a copy of a game that was released in 1997, Quake II. With those pieces in hand, you could be among the first players in the world to see path tracing running in real-time on a consumer GPU. “Somehow a game from 1997 convinced me it was time to upgrade…
]]>Six years ago, real-time ray tracing was seen as a pipe dream. Back then, cinematic-quality rendering required computer farms to slowly bake every frame overnight—a painstaking process. By 2018, this level of performance was achievable in real-time, at 45 frames per second, enabling applications like video games to take a massive leap in graphical quality. As part of our RTX 500…
]]>Since 2018, NVIDIA DLSS has leveraged AI to enable gamers and creators to increase performance and crank up their quality. Over time, this solution has evolved to include groundbreaking advancements in super resolution and frame generation. Now, the AI neural rendering technology takes the next step forward with DLSS 3.5. This update includes an important new feature called Ray Reconstruction.
]]>This week at GDC, NVIDIA announced a number of new tools for game developers to help save time, more easily integrate NVIDIA RTX, and streamline the creation of virtual worlds. Watch this overview of three exciting new tools now available. Since NVIDIA Deep Learning Super Sampling (DLSS) launched in 2019, a variety of super-resolution technologies have shipped from both hardware…
]]>A total of 23 of the most often requested Vulkan extensions developed by NVIDIA and other Khronos members are now incorporated into the brand new Vulkan 1.3 core specification. NVIDIA is ready with day one drivers for developers to immediately try out this significant new version of the industry’s only modern, cross-platform GPU API on their own systems. Some of the most significant new core…
]]>Today, developers can access the latest versions of RTX Global Illumination (RTXGI), RTX Direct Illumination (RTXDI), NVIDIA Real-Time Denoisers (NRD), and OptiX Ray Tracing Engine (OptiX). The updates are available through NVIDIA SDKs and select technologies through the NVIDIA Branch of Unreal Engine (NvRTX). Unreal Engine is the world’s most open and advanced real-time 3D creation platform.
]]>Ray Tracing Gems II is now available to download for free via Apress and Amazon and as a hardcover on Apress and Amazon as well. For those who love books as a physical medium, we recommend purchasing a copy for your home library, while also downloading the free PDF version for easy digital access on the go. This Open Access book is a must-have for anyone interested in real-time rendering.
]]>Today, Unreal Engine developers receive access to several NVIDIA updates. Our custom branch of Unreal Engine 4.27 (NvRTX) improves Deep Learning Super Sampling (DLSS), RTX Global Illumination (RTXGI), RTX Direct Illumination (RTXDI), and NVIDIA Real-Time Denoisers (NRD). The Unreal Engine RTXGI plugin has been updated, making it easy to add the latest version of this global illumination SDK (1.1.
]]>Next week, Ray Tracing Gems II will finally be available in its entirety as a free download, or for purchase as a physical release from Apress or Amazon. Since the start of July, we’ve been providing early access to a new chapter every week. Today’s chapter, by Juha Sjöholm, Paula Jukarainen, and Tatu Aalto, presents how all ray tracing based effects were implemented in Remedy Entertainment’s…
]]>In just two weeks, on August 4, Ray Tracing Gems II will be available to download for free in its entirety, or to purchase as a physical release from Apress or Amazon. We’ve been counting down to this date by providing early releases of select chapters once every week in July. Today’s chapter presents two real-time techniques for rendering caustics effects with ray tracing. The first is built on…
]]>RTX Memory Utility (RTXMU) Available Now Reducing Memory Consumption with an Open Source Solution Real-time ray tracing has advanced the art of lighting in video games, but it’s a computationally expensive process. Aiming to reduce these costs, NVIDIA has developed a memory utility that combines both compaction and suballocation techniques to optimize and reduce memory consumption of…
]]>As the August 4 release date for Ray Tracing Gems II nears, NVIDIA is offering another free chapter from the book to celebrate. This time, the topic is reservoir sampling, which is a family of algorithms that, given a stream of N elements, randomly select a K-element subset in a single pass. Usually, K is defined as a small constant, but N need not be known in advance. This powerful gem is a…
]]>Every Wednesday in July, NVIDIA Developer is making pre-print PDFs of full chapters from the upcoming book Ray Tracing Gems II available free for download. This week’s pre-print release is Chapter 14: The Reference Path Tracer, written by Jakub Boksansky and Adam Marrs. The addition of ray tracing to a real-time renderer makes it possible to create beautiful dynamic effects—such as soft shadows…
]]>The Game Developer Conference (GDC) is here, and NVIDIA will be showcasing how our latest technologies are driving the future of game development and graphics. From NVIDIA Deep Learning Super Sampling (DLSS) to RTX Global Illumination (RTXGI), our latest tools and technologies are helping game developers create realistic and stunning virtual worlds for gamers. Attendees will also get an…
]]>Developers, engineers, artists and leaders from game studios across the world gathered virtually at this year’s virtual GTC to learn how the latest NVIDIA technologies are revolutionizing game development. NVIDIA RTX enables developers to create breathtaking, interactive worlds with performance that exceeds gamers expectations. Integrating RTX has never been easier – gain access through popular…
]]>Game developers around the world attended GTC to experience how the latest NVIDIA technologies are creating realistic graphics and interactive experiences in gaming. We showcased the NVIDIA-powered tools that deliver stunning graphics and improved game performance, and how developers are integrating that technology into popular game titles such as Minecraft, Cyberpunk 2077…
]]>Unity made real-time ray tracing available to all of their developers in 2019 with the release of 2019LTS. Before the end of 2021, NVIDIA DLSS (Deep Learning Super Sampling) will be natively supported for HDRP in Unity 2021.2. NVIDIA DLSS uses advanced AI rendering to produce image quality that’s comparable to native resolution–and sometimes even better–while only conventionally rendering a…
]]>We spoke with Ignacio Llamas, Director of Real Time Ray Tracing Software at NVIDIA about the introduction of real-time ray tracing in consumer GPUs. How did you get started on ray tracing at NVIDIA? I joined NVIDIA about four years ago, on the GPU architecture team. If somebody told you that you’d be shipping consumer GPUs in 2018 capable of real-time ray tracing in 2018 in their games…
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