Page 6 - Shaders 3.0 continued

The advantage here is that a game programmer has the ability, and thus freedom, to render features they could only dream of before. Shaders were introduced when the GeForce 3 was launched. Right now Shader Model 3.0 is being supported by the GeForce Series 6 graphics cards. It is and has been one of the biggest developments in photo-realistic rendering of 3D Scenes. The end-user that is playing the game is demanding though, only the best visuals will be accepted for us to consider buying a game. Shader model 3 fit's that profile as there is an increasing number of rendering features, which means better visual effects and this time on a GPU that has the power to actually do some bigtime stuff with it. Shader model 3.0 can do an infinite length of Vertex programs, Dynamic Flow Control, Displacement mapping (vertex processing with textures) etc etc. Shader Model 3.0 handles an infinite length of Pixel Shader programs, Dynamic Flow Control, Multiple Render Targets and so on. l33t stuff for programmers, hard to understand for gamers though.

Shaders Model 3.0 is part of what NVIDIA calls the CineFX 3.0 engine, which is also responsible a number of new effects:

• Soft shadows - Shadows take on a less harsh look with this technique. The shadows edges that are created from the lighting and objects in the scene are softened, more accurately depicting the visual look that would occur.
• Environmental and ground shadows - Shadows can be cast onto environmental surfaces, such as grasses and other vegetation, without introducing eye-catching anomalies or slowing performance. The 32-bit pipeline allows ground shadows to accurately move as the viewers point of view changes.
• Sub-surface scattering - Skin and surfaces take on depth, with variations that show realistic translucent qualities.
• Global illumination - One of the biggest differences between prerendered and real-time graphics is lighting. To produce the most realistic imagery possible, film renderers spend hours determining how light bounces between objects in a scene. With support for near-infinite-length pixel shaders and floating point filtering and blending, these incredibly complicated effects can be approximated in real time, bringing higher levels of photorealism to real-time applications

Shader model 3.0 titles that we can expect soon: Lord of the rings; Battle for middle-earth, Stalker, Vampire; Bloodlines, Splinter Cell X, Driver 3, Grafan, Painkiller, Far Cry and more ...

This is one of the new technology demo's. Now, look at her face closely. Next to reflecting water you can see soft shadows.