Year: 2021

Smoke, mirrors, DLSS on Arm—is that even possible?

Few people love ray racing more than me. And now Nvidia has made it possible to see ray tracing in a fast action FPS on a low-power notebook, proving it isn’t the CPU that makes it work. At GDC, Nvidia showed Wolfenstein: Youngblood running with ray-traced reflections enabled and DLSS in operation on an eight-core MediaTek CPU and an Nvidia … Read more

Smartglasses: Truly interactive or passive viewing goggles?

It's been nearly a decade since Google Glass landed on the scene. Still, many new smartglasses entrants remain plagued by essentially an underwhelming experience. Yes, there are already AR apps for art, directions, learning, trying on clothes, choosing new furniture, and more. But few smartglasses bring AR experiences to life. Real interactivity is missing. AR smartglasses designed for cycling and … Read more

Steam Deck—another game console win for AMD

If you’re going to go into the game console business, and don’t own a beloved Italian plumber franchise, then you’re probably going to be talking to AMD. AMD’s APU is making a clean sweep of every next-gen console. Valve’s proposed Steam Deck is a portable PC with an integrated 7-inch screen and game controls instead of a keyboard (although a … Read more

RenderMan 24: Pixar’s latest release focuses on look development

Pixar recently released RenderMan version 24. The highlight of this release is a new CPU + GPU hybrid renderer called RenderMan XPU. Pixar says that XPU has been designed for look development and to provide a good match to RenderMan's production pathtracer, RIS. XPU can handle the scale and complexity of Pixar’s feature animation projects. Pixar’s next-gen rendering engine can … Read more

Kubotek offers CAD viewer for MBD

Kubotek’s version of MBE crosses the divide between 2D and 3D. It enables users to add dimensions and PMI (product manufacturing information) to create 3D models that combine the best of 2D and 3D.    It’s been a while since we wrote about Kubotek, makers of KeyCreator and utilities for manufacturing. It’s a venerable company with long experience in 2D … Read more

Blackbird signs up Univision

Blackbird’s cloud-based video editing and distribution tools are designed to enable fast turnaround from capture to broadcast. The company is announcing a multi-year deal with Univision, the leading Spanish-language media and content company in the United States for large-scale video production. Univision selected Blackbird to enable efficient video production across its streaming and digital media operations. The companies say Univision’s … Read more