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 Maya Cg plugin Available Posted by: amigo
Source: Press Release
Date: Wed Dec 18 2002
December 18, 2002 - NVIDIA Corporation and Alias|Wavefront today announced the availability of a Cg plug-in that integrates advanced real-time shaders into Maya(R) 4.5. Cg, also known as High Level Shading Language (HLSL), is a C-like high-level graphics programming language that allows 3D artists and content developers to create cinematic-quality images and interact with them in real time.
First shown at Siggraph in July 2002, NVIDIA co-developed the Maya Cg plug-in for Windows(R) with Alias|Wavefront, a world leading innovator in 3D graphics software technology, to allow Maya 4.5 users to take advantage of the advanced hardware rendering capabilities of NVIDIA(R) Graphics Processing Units (GPUs). The new plug-in is available for download today at no cost from www.aliaswavefront.com/maya/plugins/, http://developer.nvidia.com and www.cgshaders.org.
"I have been waiting for something like this for a couple years now. To have the ability to see our high-end in-game shaders in the Maya viewports is going to streamline our art pipeline and put a lot of creative power in the hands of our artists," said Jeff Dobson, senior artist for Star Wars: Galaxies at Sony Online Entertainment. "The integration of the tools into Maya is seamless."
"Our work with NVIDIA on the Maya Cg plug-in perfectly complements our efforts to simplify the artist's workflow and to provide other enhancements specifically aimed at the game developer," said Rob Hoffmann, senior product manager for Maya at Alias|Wavefront. "The Maya Cg plug-in gives programmers and artists a much simpler, saner way to create, apply, modify and control shader effects that take full advantage of the graphics hardware rendering muscle."
The Maya Cg plug-in allows Maya 4.5 users to create shaders for DirectX(R)-based platforms, such as PCs or Microsoft(R) Xbox(TM), and view them in Maya's OpenGL viewport. The cross-API capability of the Cg language specification is a breakthrough for development teams targeting content creation for multiple platforms by enabling simultaneous work in a WYSIWIG manner in OpenGL(R) applications, while delivering content for DirectX platforms.
The Maya Cg Plug-in supports the CgFX file format (.fx) and automatically provides intuitive interface controls and semantics to users and developers alike for editing shader effects in real-time. Since the CgFX format also supports both DirectX and OpenGL, developers may encapsulate a series of fallback techniques for rendering any effect. CgFX files are text-based and describe the complete render state for a particular effect-multiple passes, texture states, and any number of individual vertex and pixel shaders may be defined to create a complete appearance or effect.
About Cg
The Cg (also known as HLSL) Language Specification provides developers with a complete programming environment that is easy to use and allows for the fast creation of special effects and real-time cinematic quality experiences on multiple platforms. By providing a new level of abstraction, Cg removes the need for developers to program directly to the graphics hardware assembly language, and thereby more easily target OpenGL and DirectX. Cg was developed by NVIDIA in close collaboration with Microsoft Corporation and is compatible with Microsoft's HLSL for DirectX 9.0 and the OpenGL API. For more information about the Maya CgFX Plug-in, the Cg Language Specification, the NVIDIA Cg Compiler or NVIDIA's next-generation CineFX(TM) architecture, go to http://developer.nvidia.com .
About Alias|Wavefront
As the world's leading innovator of 3D graphics technology, Alias|Wavefront develops software for the games, film and video, web, interactive media, industrial design, and visualization markets. Entertainment and games customers include: Acclaim Entertainment, Inc., CNN, Core Design Limited, Digital Domain, Disney, Electronic Arts, Industrial Light & Magic, Factor 5 LLC, Midway Games, Nintendo, Pacific Data Images (PDI), Pixar, Sega, Sony Pictures Imageworks, Square Co., Ltd., Warner Feature Animation and Weta Ltd.
Alias|Wavefront is a wholly owned, independent software company of SGI with headquarters in Toronto and custom development center in Santa Barbara. Please visit the Alias|Wavefront web site at http://www.aliaswavefront.com or call 1-800-447-2542 in North America. International contact numbers include: Northern Europe, Middle East and Africa, +44 (0) 1494 441273; Germany, East & Southeast Europe, 0049 89 31 70 20; France, Spain and Portugal, +33 1 44 92 81 60; Japan, 0120 764 088; other parts of Asia Pacific, 81 3 3470 8282 and Latin America, 770 393 1881.
About NVIDIA
NVIDIA Corporation is a market leader in visual computing technology dedicated to creating products that enhance the interactive experience on consumer and professional computing platforms. Its graphics and communications processors have broad market reach and are incorporated into a wide variety of computing platforms, including consumer digital-media PCs, enterprise PCs, professional workstations, digital content creation systems, notebook PCs, military navigation systems and video games consoles. NVIDIA is headquartered in Santa Clara, California and employs more than 1,400 people worldwide. For more information, visit the company's Web site at http://www.nvidia.com
Related Links: Maya Cg plugin at nvidia.com
Maya Cg plugin at Alias|Wavefront
Maya Cg plugin at cgshaders.org
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