NVIDIA® Gelato® 2.1 Film Quality Rendering Software Delivers 'Hair-Raising' Results


Story by Geo - Monday 12th March 2007, 09:09:00 AM


NVIDIA® Gelato® 2.1 Film Quality Rendering Software Delivers "Hair-Raising" Results

Powerful GPU-Accelerated Final-Frame Rendering Software Adds New Features for Joe Alter's Shave and a Haircut, and Autodesk Maya 8.5 and 3ds Max 9.0 Software

Kelly Dove
NVIDIA Corporation
(512) 401-4514
kdove@nvidia.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SANTA CLARA, CA—March 12, 2007— NVIDIA Corporation (Nasdaq: NVDA), the worldwide leader in programmable graphics processor technologies, today announced the release of NVIDIA® Gelato® 2.1 high-quality, GPU-accelerated rendering software, which now includes support for Joe Alter's Shave and a Haircut software for computer-generated hair and fur effects. Other enhancements in this newest release of Gelato include support for Autodesk® Maya® 8.5 and 3ds Max® 9.0, improved stereo rendering, fog lights, and significant performance improvements.

"Gelato is extremely powerful rendering software capable of delivering amazing results," said Joe Alter, CEO Joe Alter, Inc. "Now, with support for Shave and a Haircut, Maya users can easily add Gelato to their rendering pipelines to achieve extremely realistic hair and fur—Gelato is a potent rendering solution for Maya/Shave users."

Gelato 2.1 is available as a free download at www.nvidia.com/gelato. Gelato Pro 2.1, priced at $1500, offers advanced rendering features and greater scalability for professional production pipelines. Volume pricing and educational discounts on Gelato Pro 2.1 are also available.

Gelato is final-frame rendering software for the creation of high-quality computer-generated images that is accelerated by the NVIDIA Quadro® FX and NVIDIA GeForce® graphics hardware. Originally developed to render film and broadcast visual effects and animation, Gelato is well-suited for any 3D software application that requires high-quality rendering such as animation, game development, CAD, industrial design, and architecture. Gelato ships with plug-ins for Autodesk Maya and Autodesk 3ds Max.

New Features in Gelato 2.1

  • Significantly faster raytracing and ambient occlusion
  • Improved stereo rendering features new off-axis and parallel projection modes and a better anaglyph (red/blue) display in the image viewer
  • Mango™ plug-in for Autodesk Maya improvements:
    • Shave and a Haircut 4 support
    • Maya 8.5 support
    • 64-bit Maya support (currently Linux only, Windows 64-bit coming soon)
    • Easy multi-pass rendering
    • Full support for Maya texture bake sets
    • Fog lights: volumetric effects for spotlight cones
  • Improvements to Frantic Films' Amaretto™ for Autodesk 3ds Max plug-in include:
    • 3ds Max 9 support
    • Sorbetto™ relighting functionality now available for 3ds Max
  • Improvements in Gelato Pro Sorbetto relighting technology:
    • Interactive adjustment of camera parameters, including depth-of-field and stereo controls
    • Dynamic shadows

Gelato 2.1 and Gelato Pro 2.1 currently support the Windows XP and Linux operating systems and run on NVIDIA GeForce 5200 or higher graphics, or any NVIDIA Quadro solution. Gelato Pro is certified and supported only on NVIDIA Quadro solutions. For more information about the features of Shave and a Haircut, visit www.joealter.com.

NVIDIA Corporation
NVIDIA Corporation is the worldwide leader in programmable graphics processor technologies. The Company creates innovative, industry-changing products for computing, consumer electronics, and mobile devices. NVIDIA is headquartered in Santa Clara, CA and has offices throughout Asia, Europe, and the Americas. For more information, visit www.nvidia.com.

Certain statements in this press release including, but not limited to: the benefits, performance, uses and features of Gelato 2.1 and Gelato Pro 2.1 as well as availability and pricing of Gelato Pro 2.1 are forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause results to be materially different than expectations. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, developments of new products and technologies by competitors; software defects; loss of performance when different systems are used; continued acceptance and use of new technologies and products; the impact of competitive products and pricing alternatives; changes in industry standards and interfaces; as well as other factors detailed from time to time in the reports NVIDIA files with the Securities and Exchange Commission including its Form 10-Q for the quarter ended October 29, 2006. Copies of reports filed with the SEC are posted on our website and are available from NVIDIA without charge. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and speak only as of the date hereof, and, except as required by law, NVIDIA disclaims any obligation to update these forward-looking statements to reflect future events or circumstances.


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Copyright® 2007 NVIDIA Corporation. All rights reserved. All company and/or product names may be trade names, trademarks and/or registered trademarks of the respective owners with which they are associated. Features, pricing, availability, and specifications are subject to change without notice.

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