Real time Raytracing?
by Alex Huck · in General Discussion · 09/05/2006 (4:54 pm) · 10 replies
arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20060805-7430.html
After reading this article, I have to say, if this is a true article then the implications this has for game rendering would be incredible.
Any thoughts, speculation, skepticism?
Personally I'm a little skeptical of the time frame - Late 2007, but then again I don't know, hope it comes out soon :)
I'm not familiar with this website, is it credible?
In laymens terms what the article is talking about is this:
Graphics as good as these: hof.povray.org/
In a real time video game. This is the same similar technology used to make pixar movies, and other special effects.
After reading this article, I have to say, if this is a true article then the implications this has for game rendering would be incredible.
Any thoughts, speculation, skepticism?
Personally I'm a little skeptical of the time frame - Late 2007, but then again I don't know, hope it comes out soon :)
I'm not familiar with this website, is it credible?
In laymens terms what the article is talking about is this:
Graphics as good as these: hof.povray.org/
In a real time video game. This is the same similar technology used to make pixar movies, and other special effects.
About the author
#2
09/06/2006 (1:29 am)
Quote:AMDTI and NVIDIA would be dead if Intel could pull this off.I can't see how...
#3
Besides, the Core2Duo CPUs smoke anything that AMD have out at the mo. You don't see AMD rolling over because of that. They'll release a competitive/better CPU, just as ATI/Nvidia will release better GPUs.
09/06/2006 (1:57 am)
Intel have got a lot of ground to make up. Their onboard chipsets are currently diabolical for anything other than general office work. They'll have to market their little socks off to build up consumer confidence that the new chipsets will run games as well as the latest ATI/Nvidia cards.Besides, the Core2Duo CPUs smoke anything that AMD have out at the mo. You don't see AMD rolling over because of that. They'll release a competitive/better CPU, just as ATI/Nvidia will release better GPUs.
#4
People HAVE to buy motherboards when they get PC's. They don't HAVE to buy graphics cards. If they can make sure that the newer games runs well with their chipsets, people in that sector will rather get a better motherboard than spend money on a mid-range graphics card.
This also means that they can get better graphics to Laptop users...
Anyway, thats my 2 cents... don't spend it!
09/06/2006 (6:47 am)
I disagree. Intel has the money to through at it. Their graphics chipsets are the most used chipsets by far. Doubt that they would go for the high-end graphics market, but they certainly will take a lot marketshare in the mid-market. People HAVE to buy motherboards when they get PC's. They don't HAVE to buy graphics cards. If they can make sure that the newer games runs well with their chipsets, people in that sector will rather get a better motherboard than spend money on a mid-range graphics card.
This also means that they can get better graphics to Laptop users...
Anyway, thats my 2 cents... don't spend it!
#5
09/06/2006 (10:18 am)
This is talking about using all the processing power on a quad core system to render the lighting of a scene. What does that leave to run a game? Or maybe you can get it on an "RPU". Which would be a wonderfuly useless addition to sit beside your "PPU". Maybe movie studios could use it for development in that environment, but this sounds more like it'll be the OMG SHINIES pointless rendering feature to tout for the next next gen console/pc era. Nothing to worry about for a few more years at least.
#6
This is an excellent article on the issue from many different points of view.
09/10/2006 (4:45 pm)
Http://blogs.mercurynews.com/aei/2006/08/the_coming_comb.html#moreThis is an excellent article on the issue from many different points of view.
#7
I just found a Tim Sweeny post form the link:
09/10/2006 (4:49 pm)
My question is - Why should I use Raytracing just because It's available? Rasterization uses alot less system resources with alot less overhead for larger, more complex scenes. The majority of the gaming market, where I live anyway, doesn't even have a SM2.0 video card, let alone a multi-core or even a standard 64-bit processor and probably won't until they buy a 'state-of-the-art' sytem from Dell off the TV.I just found a Tim Sweeny post form the link:
Quote:Such a convergence means that real-time ray tracing will become possible, but by no means does it imply that ray tracing will become the de facto solution for 3D drawing. For example, ray tracing is poorer for rendering for anti-aliasing (looking towards multisampling and analytic anti-aliasing techniques), and typically imposes a 20-40X computational penalty compared to rendering. Ray tracing is superior for handling bounced light, reflection, and refraction. So, there are some places where you will definitely want to ray trace, and some cases where it would be a very inefficient choice.
#8
Just to add some info from this post that wasn't in TFA, if you play the indie-developed game Darwinia it includes a real time raytracer demo. Doesn't do much, but it is conceptually cool. Besides that, Darwinia is a very good game that you should go buy right now if you haven't already. (disclaimer: I have absolutely no connection to Darwinia or any of the developers.)
09/10/2006 (6:57 pm)
People will use it if it is superior (faster or as fast and looks better) at less cost. It has the potential for being all of those things.Just to add some info from this post that wasn't in TFA, if you play the indie-developed game Darwinia it includes a real time raytracer demo. Doesn't do much, but it is conceptually cool. Besides that, Darwinia is a very good game that you should go buy right now if you haven't already. (disclaimer: I have absolutely no connection to Darwinia or any of the developers.)
#9
Just to add some info from this post that wasn't in TFA, if you play the indie-developed game Darwinia it includes a real time raytracer demo. Doesn't do much, but it is conceptually cool. Besides that, Darwinia is a very good game that you should go buy right now if you haven't already. (disclaimer: I have absolutely no connection to Darwinia or any of the developers.)
09/10/2006 (6:59 pm)
People will use it if it is superior (faster or as fast and looks better) at less cost. It has the potential for being all of those things.Just to add some info from this post that wasn't in TFA, if you play the indie-developed game Darwinia it includes a real time raytracer demo. Doesn't do much, but it is conceptually cool. Besides that, Darwinia is a very good game that you should go buy right now if you haven't already. (disclaimer: I have absolutely no connection to Darwinia or any of the developers.)
#10
Just to add some info from this post that wasn't in TFA, if you play the indie-developed game Darwinia it includes a real time raytracer demo. Doesn't do much, but it is conceptually cool. Besides that, Darwinia is a very good game that you should go buy right now if you haven't already. (disclaimer: I have absolutely no connection to Darwinia or any of the developers.)
09/10/2006 (7:01 pm)
People will use it if it is superior (faster or as fast and looks better) at less cost. It has the potential for being all of those things.Just to add some info from this post that wasn't in TFA, if you play the indie-developed game Darwinia it includes a real time raytracer demo. Doesn't do much, but it is conceptually cool. Besides that, Darwinia is a very good game that you should go buy right now if you haven't already. (disclaimer: I have absolutely no connection to Darwinia or any of the developers.)
Bill Bouma
It reminds me of that farside cartoon. Two spiders are on a childrens playground spinning a web at the bottom of a slide when one says to the other, "If we pull this off we'll eat like kings!"