Scan/NVIDIA "Performance Day #2"
<i>This post was originally made by <b>danij</b> on the dengDevs blog. It was posted under the category: Blog.</i>
Today is the day of the <a href="http://web6.scan.co.uk/aspnet/forms/performance2.aspx">Scan/NVIDIA Performance Day #2</a>, which I plan to attend. Whilst there I intend to try out their 3D Vision stereoscopic 3D solution for myself. I'm quite looking forward to it and hopefully it should be fun day in general.
There is a lot of interesting things happening in the graphics industry presently and although stereoscopic 3D is nothing new, the 3D Vision solution represents (imo) the first big push towards the mainstream for this technology.
What does this mean for deng and the Doomsday Engine?
I don't know about the rest of deng team but I personally am particularly interested in this solution both as a developer and as a gamer. Support for stereoscopic 3D in the Doomsday Engine is pretty poor at present but that is understandable given the age of our renderer. When we begin work on the renderer rewrite, this is something I would like to address.
It remains to be seen whether I am sufficiently impressed enough to drop the requisite cash on NVIDIA's solution but at the very least, I want to be going home with a free pair analygraph glasses.
However, should I decide to bring a kit home with me, it will be a powerful motivator to improving support for stereoscopic 3D in the Doomsday Engine
Today is the day of the <a href="http://web6.scan.co.uk/aspnet/forms/performance2.aspx">Scan/NVIDIA Performance Day #2</a>, which I plan to attend. Whilst there I intend to try out their 3D Vision stereoscopic 3D solution for myself. I'm quite looking forward to it and hopefully it should be fun day in general.
There is a lot of interesting things happening in the graphics industry presently and although stereoscopic 3D is nothing new, the 3D Vision solution represents (imo) the first big push towards the mainstream for this technology.
What does this mean for deng and the Doomsday Engine?
I don't know about the rest of deng team but I personally am particularly interested in this solution both as a developer and as a gamer. Support for stereoscopic 3D in the Doomsday Engine is pretty poor at present but that is understandable given the age of our renderer. When we begin work on the renderer rewrite, this is something I would like to address.
It remains to be seen whether I am sufficiently impressed enough to drop the requisite cash on NVIDIA's solution but at the very least, I want to be going home with a free pair analygraph glasses.
However, should I decide to bring a kit home with me, it will be a powerful motivator to improving support for stereoscopic 3D in the Doomsday Engine
Comments
I also think that stereo 3D graphics are interesting and definitely should be part of the new renderer. I predict it won't take that many years before stereoscopic 3D TVs/monitors start entering the mainstream, so we should be ready for it.
Although, the 2D sprites will look even more like flat boards when seen in true 3D...
The event turned out to be pretty much what I had expected. I had quietly hoped for something a tinsy bit more elaborate though it was clear from the get go that the day was mostly focused around the gaming tournaments. No, I didn't get involved but I did spot a few known faces in the esports arena.
NVIDIA's 3D Vision was everywhere. Literally every running system was equipped for stereoscopic-goodness (including those being used in the tournaments) so there was plenty opportunity for research (*cough*).
Of the various games up for demonstration I opted to try Batman: Arkham Asylum and UT3.
Unfortunately, I can't say the experience wowed me anywhere near what I was expecting, nay, hoping for. Now don't get me wrong, I thought the effect in both games I tried looked brilliant and the added perception of depth really heightened the game experience. However on both occasions, on completely different systems, I had nothing but problems and after asking a couple of random people nearby, I wasn't the only one.
Clearly the environment in which the demo units sat was simply unsuitable and the glasses were having big problems sync'ing. Worse than that though the demo systems themselves were obviously struggling to produce enough discreet frames to provide each eye with a consistent 60, in two very demanding games. Whilst the occasional dip under 60 isn't that noticeable on a conventional setup (at most resulting in missing a sync/refresh) the result with the 3D Vision setup here was unbearable and pretty much unplayable.
Elsewhere, in the darkness of the "gaming rooms" which had been set aside for the tournaments, players didn't seem to be suffering at all from such problems.
So the upshot is that I'm still not sold on NVIDIA's 3D Vision. I wanted it to wow me. I <em>really</em> wanted to be so damn impressed that I talked myself into buying the thing on the spot but sadly, that was not my experience. I still want to try before diving into my wallet and committing myself to the NVIDIA camp for the foreseeable future (especially considering the mystery surrounding their next gen video cards).
<p>Although, the 2D sprites will look even more like flat boards when seen in true 3D?</p>
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Yeah,,, unfortunately I don't think there is much (if anything) that we can do to negate the inherent flatness without making the situation worse.