Advances in Real-Time Rendering in 3D Graphics and Games: Part 2
Monday
3:45 - 5:30 pm
Room 403 AB
Level: Intermediate/Advanced
Theme: SIGGRAPH Core
Advances in real-time graphics research and the increasing power of mainstream GPUs have generated an explosion of innovative algorithms suitable for rendering complex virtual worlds at interactive rates. Every year, the latest video games display a vast variety of increasingly sophisticated algorithms that enable ground-breaking 3D rendering, push visual boundaries and expand the interactive experience of rich environments.
This course covers a series of topics on the best practices and techniques prevalent in state-of-the-art rendering in several award-winning games and describes innovative and practical 3D rendering research that will be found in the games of tomorrow. The course features examples recently shipped games by Crytek, Rare, and Bungie and upcoming titles from Blizzard Entertainment and MediaMolecule, as well as graphics research from AMD's Game Computing Applications Group.
Prerequisites
Working knowledge of a modern real-time graphics APIs like OpenGL or Direct3D, a solid basic understanding of commonly used graphics algorithms, and familiarity
with the concepts of programmable shading and shading languages.
Instructors
Natalya Tatarchuk
Christopher Oat
AMD Corporation
Alex Evans
MediaMolecule
Hao Chen
Bungie Studio
Michael Boulton
Rare/MGS
Dominic Filion
Blizzard Entertainment
Martin Mittring
Crytek GmbH
Instructor Information
Natalya Tatarchuk
Natalya Tatarchuk is a graphics software architect and project lead in the
Game Computing Application Group at AMD Graphics Products Group (Office of the CTO), which investigates innovative real-time graphics techniques. In the past, she has led ATI's demo team in creation of state-of-the-art interactive
renderings and the tools group at ATI Research. Prior to that, she worked
on 3D modeling software and scientific and financial visualization, among
other projects. She has published papers and articles in various computer
graphics conferences and technical book series, and has presented her work
at graphics and game developer conferences worldwide.
Christopher Oat
Christopher Oat is a member of AMD's Game Computing Applications
Group (Office of the CTO), where he is a technical project lead working on
state-of-the art demos. In this role, he focuses on development of
advanced rendering techniques for the latest graphics platforms.
He has published his work in various books and journals and has
presented his work at graphics and game developer conferences around the
world.
Alex Evans
Alex Evans beagn his games career making tea and writing software
renderers for Bullfrog Productions. After graduating from Cambridge
University, he joined Lionhead Studios, where we worked on the 3D engine of
the acclaimed game Black & White. His R&D work, spurred by the advent of
programmable GPUs, dovetailed with a long-standing interest in the intersection of art, games, visuals, and music. As Bluespoon, he has toured the
world creating real-time graphics for shows with artists such as Aphex Twin,
Squarepusher, Plaid, and the London Sinfonietta. In 2006, he founded
MediaMolecule with several like-minded friends, to bring "creative gaming"
to life on PlayStation3. The result is the much anticipated game:
LittleBigPlanet.
Hao Chen
Hao Chen is the graphics architect and one of the engineering leads
for Bungie Studio, where he currently heads research and development of
Bungie's next-generation graphics engine. He was the graphics engineering
lead for Halo3. Prior to that, he worked on numerous game titles for
Microsoft and Bungie on the Xbox and PC platforms, including Outwars,
AMPED1, AMPED2, and Halo2.
Michael Boulton
Michael Boulton has worked at Rare/MGS for over five years and is currently
a senior software engineer. He wrote the graphics engine for Viva Piñata on the Xbox360 and has given previous presentations at both GDC and ACM
SIGGRAPH. Currently, he develops technology for current and future hardware in the shared technology department at Rare/MGS.
Martin Mittring
Martin Mittring, a software engineer and member of the R&D staff at Crytek,
used text-based computers for his early experiments, which led to
a passion for computer technology and graphics in particular. He studied computer science and worked in one other German games company before he joined
Crytek. During the development of Far Cry, he improved Crytek's
Polybump tools and became lead network programmer for that game, and eventually
his passion for graphics led him back to his earlier work. He is now lead
graphics programmer Crytek's R&D department, where he is working on the next iteration of the engine and continually pushing future PC and next-generation console technologies.