GeForce Tech Demo: VXGI

[Gregster]

Hopefully not just another tech demo and something we will see in games in the coming months. Very impressive use of lighting IMO.

Nvidia, with a rather gifted bit of marketing, has used the new Maxwell-based GTX 980 and GTX 970 graphics cards… to prove that we did indeed land some astronauts on the Moon. By using Maxwell’s new voxel-based global illumination (VXGI) tech, plus a version of Unreal Engine 4 with global illumination enabled, Nvidia reconstructed the famous photo of Buzz Aldrin climbing down the ladder of the Apollo 11 lunar lander in 3D — and apparently, they found evidence that will forever silence the conspiratorial lunar landing loons.

In all honesty, Nvidia’s “proof” — a 10 minute video (embedded below) — is a bit thin. Basically, Nvidia tackles two common arguments used by conspiracy theorists: a) Buzz Aldrin on the shaded side of the lander, so why is he so well illuminated? and b) Why can’t you see any stars in the sky? The second question is very easily answered: It’s effectively daytime on the Moon (that’s why it’s so bright), and cameras don’t have the dynamic range to capture a bright foreground and the tiny specks of light produced by stars.

The first question has a slightly more interesting answer — but I’ll let you find out for yourself by watching the video:

http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/...tion-to-prove-the-lunar-landings-werent-faked

 

[Pottsey]

All I could think about after watching that video on the moon is how fake it looks in motion so it seems like marketing fluff to me. As for the first video in the post still seems very poor compared to real time ray tracing.

 

[Orangey]

Would be nice to look down at your sword in Elder Scrolls 7 and see your face reflected.

Then it'd get dull after a few fights and you'd have to grind some smithing points getting it shiny again.

 

[Ayahuasca]

How to read a Pottsey post:

1. Read post.
2. Read sig.
3. Ignore.

 

[Gregster]

Would be nice to look down at your sword in Elder Scrolls 7 and see your face reflected.

Then it'd get dull after a few fights and you'd have to grind some smithing points getting it shiny again.

Lighting is one of the things that isn't there in games for me and reflections work but not as good as they could, so would be nice to see these things in-game. Watchdogs didn't do bad with reflections mind and the best I have seen but even then it was wrong in places.

 

[Silent_Scone]

Would be nice to look down at your sword in Elder Scrolls 7 and see your face reflected.

Then it'd get dull after a few fights and you'd have to grind some smithing points getting it shiny again.

No one would ever complete it. It would be like those nonces on Detailing World who wash their cars in mineral water, and we'd have shiny sword threads.

 

[Orangey]

Remember the cinema toilets at the beginning of Duke3D?

 

[Stas823]

just me or the final composed picture is super blurry?

 

[Dicehunter]

Wish we could download the new tech demos *Physx Flex, Grass and lighting* but I bet typical Nvidia won't release them for public use just like the fracture tech demo and hairy bigfoot/guerrilla tech demos for kepler got shown but never release for public use