The Envisiontec Ultra caught our eye

In my first blog I promised to report today on 3D printing and storage, but I realised that, with a couple of exceptions, there is nothing particularly new that has came out of Siggraph in these areas.

So, after a short report, take a ride with me to virtual Hollywood – it might have more relevance than meets the eye.

As expected, the output of 3D printers at Siggraph leaned toward toys, human heads and various alien life forms. Exhibitors included established vendors such as 3DSystems, ZCorporation and Objet. One vendor offering something a bit different was Germany’s EnvisionTEC.

Instead of building objects in layers the company’s Ultra system uses patented technology to produce very smooth surfaces based on what it calls “pixel shift” and “pixel tuning.”

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The X-Scan 3D scanner from 4DCulture, compatible with Geomagic, PolyWorks, RapidForm and GSI Studio processing software

It has been about a decade and a half since 3D scanners burst onto the scene, fuelling speculation about whether we would see an end, or at least a big diminishing, to the type of blank-screen modelling provided by CAD programs.

These days we know better: 3D scanning and processing has evolved into a complementary approach to traditional CAD modeling.

Although 3D scanning and processing, or reverse engineering if you like, has not exploded like its early proponents might have hoped, it has progressed steadily, even within years of almost negligible CAD growth.

Recent years have not brought any revolutions, but there has been an orderly march forward indicative of a mature market – lower hardware costs or greater capabilities at the same cost, more entrants in the field, better portability, and greater ease of use.

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The majestic North Shore Mountains, the backdrop for Siggraph 2011, Vancouver

It’s relatively easy to complain about the Siggraph conference and exposition – not enough engineering-related products, small show floor lacking major CAD and system vendors, no sessions related to product development.

But when you’re at the Vancouver Convention Centre overlooking the Burrard Inlet with the majestic North Shore Mountains in the background and weather so perfect you don’t even think to call it weather, you have absolutely no right. Please don’t hate me because I’m in a beautiful place.

On top of this bucolic backdrop, vendors of graphics systems have another reason to feel good: Jon Peddie Research reported last week that graphics shipments were up by 6.3 percent for Q2 2011.

Although Siggraph is about as far from a CAD conference as poutine is from risotto, there are still enough interesting developments to report. So report I will, in three installments for each day of the exposition. This one centres on processing and performance; the second on 3D scanning; and the third on 3D printing and storage.

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At Siggraph 2010, a not-so-subtle battle is taking place.  It’s the battle of the graphics computing future.  Depending on whom you listen to, the path to graphics performance nirvana is paved by graphics processing units (GPUs), central processing units (CPUs) or a combination of the two called heterogeneous processing units (HPUs) by analyst Jon Peddie.

At Peddie’s annual luncheon on Wednesday, the graphics processing future was discussed by a panel of high-ranking technologists, some with vested interest in which acronym comes out on top:

Eric Demers, GPG CTO of AMD
Brian Harrison, CTO of SolidWorks Labs
Rolf Herken, CEO & CTO of mental images
Bill Mark, Senior Research Scientist for Intel
Paul Stallings, VP of Software Development for Kubotek

Cheaper and faster

The principal area of interest for designers and engineers, of course, is how high-end rendering can improve their work, now and in the future.

Prices for heterogeneous computing are dropping dramatically, according to Peddie, giving more designers and engineers access to capabilities such as real-time ray tracing on lower-cost workstations.  More bandwidth, better compression and optimized software are making it more feasible to work with computer graphics via the cloud, whether over a company intranet or public internet.

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Nvidia’s new 3D Vision Pro, one of the many new 3D technologies on show

The show floor opened Tuesday in Los Angeles for SIGGRAPH 2010, the 37th edition of the conference and exposition that sets the stage for where computer graphics technology is going to take us. And although a few splashy demos were on display, there was little in the way of concrete product introductions to set hearts racing for CAD/CAM/CAE professionals.

Siggraph is the place where we first hear about exciting developments that make their way into the CAD/CAM world: 3D graphics; solid modelling; real-time rendering and ray tracing; textures, shadows and image mapping; and graphics processing units (GPUs) as stand-ins or maybe even superior alternatives to central processing units (CPUs).

Over the years, the Siggraph exposition has migrated from a general computer graphics event that included CAD/CAM and workstation vendors to one geared to the entertainment business. It’s an atmosphere of hope and sometimes desperation, a bit like a sports camp: A few of the prospective technologies on display are potential breakthroughs, but many will never quite find a lucrative application.

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