FirePro V5700 vs Quadro FX 1700 with Catia

DEVELOP3D's hardware expert, Greg Corke, has been playing with graphics hardware again (it keeps him out of trouble). This time he's been comparing the performance of FirePro V5700 vs Quadro FX 1700 in Catia V5.
As the blurb says: The FirePro V5700 and the Quadro FX 1700 are tested side-by-side for real-time performance in CATIA using the standard CATBench high polygon count models. These tests were conducted at X3DMedia in London on Oct 25, 2008 under the supervision Greg Corke and Martyn Day of Develop 3D magazine. The tests were run on identical HP xw8600 workstations.
See the next issue of DEVELOP3D (coming very soon) for more the first in a series of articles on how to tune your graphics performance and get the best out of your hardware - this month its Catia (as you might have guessed), but we'll be covering all the biggies in the coming months.

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Reach out and touch it...

Researchers at the University of Tokyo have unveiled their latest haptics prototype that allows it's user to 'touch' objects on the screen using ultrasonic technology.

By setting up an array of ultrasonic transducers that emit sound waves that create a 'solid' object where the wave interfere with each other. It is hoped that this technology will become commercially available for 3D designers and gamers after the team were approached about the technology by several industrial companies last month.

Currently there is only scope for resistance in one direction, and there are underlying fears that the ultrasound used could scatter, causing damage to nearby eardrums. However, work is underway to combat the possible deafness, while increased power and direction should bring more 'feel' and 'stiffness' to geometry, and raises questions over its compatibility with hologram technology.

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Just how fast is your graphics card?

SPECviewperf is a worldwide standard for assessing graphics performance. It's easy to use, freely downloadable and doesn't require a design software license to run. It uses datasets from a variety of CAD/DCC applications and these are developed by tracing graphics content from actual applications. These include 3ds max, Catia, EnSight, Maya, Pro/Engineer, SolidWorks,
UGS NX, and UGS Teamcenter Visualization Mockup.

So what's this post all about? Well, I'm a bit puzzled about the recent release of the Linux/Unix version of SPECviewperf 10. I understand it has SolidWorks and 3ds Max datasets in it. Now, the last time I looked, neither of those products ran on Linux/Unix, so why include them in a Linux/Unix benchmark?

Putting that rhetorical question to one side for a minute, my point is that the results from SPECviewperf can often be misleading. The benchmark's scores are broken down by software brand names, but the scores don't necessarily reflect the performance you'd achieve in the real world application of the same name. Historically, some scores have been known to be off by a huge factor, but I'm pleased to say SPECviewperf 10 is much more accurate than its predecessors - much more accurate, but still not perfect. This is because the graphics card vendors continue to spend precious development time optimizing their drivers to make the benchmark run faster instead of channeling all of their resources to the applications themselves. Why? Well, the clue is in the first line of this post - it's a 'worldwide standard' and gets coverage all over the Internet.

So, what's the alternative? Well, the SPECapc benchmarks are better as they actually run inside the CAD/DCC application, so the graphics cards vendors can't optimize their cards as much for these, but the downside is that some benchmarks are quite a bit out of sync with the actual software releases.

Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not criticizing the Standard Performance Evaluation Corporation (SPEC). I think they do an excellent job in helping guide engineers and designers in decisions on hardware purchases, I'm just saying don't take the results as gospel.

The only real way to assess how fast a graphics card is to take your own datasets and test them in your CAD/DCC application of choice. The problem is most end users don't have access to the many different graphics cards, just as most journalists don't have access to the many different software applications.

So I guess that brings us back to Viewperf 10. Why don't you download it and let me know what you think. I'd also be interested to hear how you make decisions on hardware purchases, what internal benchmarks you carry out and what you'd like to see us test on DEVELOP3D.

www.spec.org

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Microsoft Touch Screen TouchWall

Seems like Josh over at SolidSmack.com got to it first, but this looks sweet. Its a hacked together rear projection unit with some fancy bits and bobs running on Vista. What's interesting is the multi-touch manner. A lot of the CAD vendors are talking about this as the future - SolidWorks went multi-touch crazy at their press event preceding the last SolidWorks World. I wonder how it could be packaged up - maybe some sort of hand held device like the Wacom's Cintiq maybe. One thing's for sure, we all ain't gonna be standing in front of a wall to get the job done are we?

As a recent convert to the Apple platform and owner of a macbook air, I have to say multi touch is pretty compelling - as this technology develops, its going to be interesting to see how its implemented in CAD systems. Of course, most of my work is done on a big old workstation running windows, but I do my writing on OSX.. but if I do fancy designing something, I now have the early test version of Rhino for the Mac - and that has multi-touch implemented in a very subtle manner.

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Crystal gazing: the future of wide format colour printing?

It's not often I get animated about printing, but when I first saw a Oce's new CrystalPoint technology in action on YouTube recently I was genuinely excited - so much so I that immediately showed my girlfriend the video. She now thinks I'm genuinely 'sad'.

This 'sad' individual has just got back from the official launch event at Oce's headquarters in Venlo, Holland, so what is all the fuss about? Well, for starters, it's the first new wide format print technology for a number of years and is designed to bridge the gap between inkjet and LED by offering full colour, faster colour print speeds, and there being no need for coated paper.

To do this CrystalPoint uses TonerPearls instead of inkjet ink or powder-based toner. Each TonerPearl is about the size of a small marble and is heated into a gel which is then jetted and crystallised onto plain or even recycled paper.

The first machine to bear this technology is the ColorWave 600, which Oce claims will beat any inkjet on the market when it comes to throughput. From what I saw today it is undoubtedly a fast technology, but image quality, while great for linework, fell a little short of my expectations for full colour - it's good, but not photo inkjet quality.

It's certainly a cool technology, and one that could have huge implications on engineering and architecture with the ability to produce colour prints in real volumes. However, I have to say I've calmed down a little since first seeing the video. This is undoubtedly a good thing for my relationship.

We'll have a full review in the first issue of DEVELOP3D.

www.oce.com/colorwave

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