Real Time in Real Time - The Engines Behind The Engines
Just 10 days ago, I wrote a short piece on Unity and Unreal unveiling their latest accomplishments surrounding manufacturing and real time processing of CAD files, by using very cool real time rendered videos for the automotive industry. My how time flies when your having Siggraph.
The latest and greatest news has come from Nvidia, with their back to back announcements of their new line of graphics cards based utilizing real time ray tracing to bring advanced computer graphics to both end users and developers alike. First, they announced the RTX line of graphics cards aimed at the gaming market. These cards occlude the capabilities of the Pascal based GTX cards by many times over. The truth is games require more processing power than ever. High resolution graphics, higher poly count models, complex AI, and particle effects, and all running at 60fps on a 4k screen, represent just a few of the challenges facing games developers and game players. Players want the games, and need the gear to run it, and they are willing to pay quite a price for a good setup. For gamers, the new GeForceRTX cards range anywhere from $499 USD for the RTX 2070, to the top of the line RTX 2080Ti which will be priced at around $1199 USD.
Nvidia is stepping up, and at the same time is pushing the technology exactly where everyone wants it to go. Not just the gamers, but the developers as well. Which brings us to their second announcement on the following day of their new line of pro-grade graphics cards for serious real time developers of all descriptions and industries. The Turing based real time raytracing pro grade cards represent an amazing advancement in real time computer graphics rendering. The three cards introduced were the Quadro RTX 5000, Quadro RTX 6000, and the Quadro RTX 8000, with pro grade price tags to match, $2,300 USD, $6,300 USD, and $10,000 USD respectfully. They also announced the Quadro Server, which will pack a heavy punch when it comes to real time frame counts at high resolutions with amazing raytraced graphics.
While these price tags on the developer side are in no way for the timid, they aren’t meant to be. We are in the beginning of a full throttle, exponential technology transformation that will ultimately transform our games, our film making, our art, our apps, and our culture. Just like every advancement stands on the shoulders of those that came before them, it will be very interesting to see what developers come up with standing on these latest “shoulders”. No matter what, we will all be watching in real time.