NVIDIA Corp. announced the immediate availability of the NVIDIA Developer Toolkit at GDC in San Francisco, a comprehensive suite of cutting-edge content creation, code integration, performance analysis and educational resources for game developers. Designed to make it easier for game developers to take advantage of the latest advancements in graphics hardware technologies, the NVIDIA Developer Toolkit can be downloaded for free at http://developer.nvidia.com.
NVIDIA also announced the arrival of GPU GEMS 2: PROGRAMMING TECHNIQUES FOR HIGH-PERFORMANCE GRAPHICS AND GENERAL-PURPOSE COMPUTATION, the sequel to one of the definitive source books for programming tips and techniques. Published by Addison-Wesley and written by experts in realtime graphics programming, GPU GEMS 2 provides programmers with tips and techniques for creating advanced visual effects, as well as valuable development strategies for managing complex scenes leveraging the power and feature set of today's graphics processing units (GPUs). The hardcover, 880-page book carries a suggested retail price of $59.99 and is now available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble and the Addison-Wesley websites.
"Providing game developers with the tools they need to push the limits on NVIDIA GPUs is a long-term commitment, and critical strategy for NVIDIA," said Mark Daly, vp of content development at NVIDIA. "With the NVIDIA Developer Toolkit, developers are empowered to take advantage of key new features in today's GPUs, such as Shader Model 3.0, to further advance their craft."
The NVIDIA Developer Toolkit combines updated versions of the Company's award-winning tools for game developers, such as NVPerfHUD, an advanced performance analysis tool for Microsoft DirectX 9-based applications. According to Remy Saville, graphics programmer at Relic Ent., "NVPerfHUD has way more features than I expected ... blew me away!"
Tools and resources featured in the NVIDIA Developer Toolkit include:
* NVIDIA SDK 9.0, a collection of hundreds of code samples, effects, plug-ins, and whitepapers for developers working with latest-generation NVIDIA GPUs
* NVPerfHUD 3, an advanced performance analysis tool for Microsoft DirectX 9-based applications to provide developers with the ability to freeze applications and get detailed information about the graphics pipeline for each scene
* NVShaderPerf, a performance analysis tool that delivers shader performance metrics for Microsoft DirectX and OpenGL applications across NVIDIA GPUs
* FX Composer 1.6, an integrated development environment for creating, debugging and tuning high performance shaders. Real-time preview and optimization features make it easy for programmers and artists to create unique visual effects, such as those enabled by Shader Model 3.0.
Santa Clara, California-based NVIDIA Corp. (www.nvidia.com) is a worldwide leader in graphics and digital media processors. The company's products enhance the end-user experience on consumer and professional computing devices.
Bill Desowitz, former editor of VFXWorld, is currently the Crafts Editor of IndieWire.
