VizWorld.com

NVidia has just released version 1.1.1 of their “Babadoom” Media Converter.  If you’ve never heard of it, it’s a GPGPU (CUDA) based Media Transcoder that makes use of an installed video card from NVidia for huge improvements to encoding speed.

Version 1.1.1 of Elemental Technologies’ Badaboom® Media Converter has been released! Badaboom® takes a fundamentally different approach to video format conversion from other solutions. Instead of performing format conversion on the CPU, it harnesses massively parallel GPUs from NVIDIA. By using the power of CUDA-enabled GPUs, the time required for video conversion is reduced. As an added bonus, you can still use the CPU for normal everyday tasks such as email and internet browsing. Anyone can now painlessly convert video from a wide array of formats to mp4 to play on your portable media device, leaving more time to enjoy the video and eliminating the frustration of video conversion delays. Not only is the Badaboom® Media Converter fast and easy to use, it provides high quality output (up to 1080p!) to keep your videos looking crisp and clear.

It’s available from the NVidia Store for 20.40GBP (approx $30).

via Nvidia Online Store – Badaboom.

Graphics cuda, gpgpu, nvidia

ExPreview has the information on a new PCB from NVidia with some interesting improvement at the very-technical level, as well as some “consumer” information like the addition of HDMI out.

According to the P897 design plan that NVIDIA sends its partners, it uses 4/6 phase NVVDD power solution ADP4100. It changes FBVDDQ power solution from 2-phase to single phase. And the MOSFET package has been changed from LFPAK to DPAK to save cost. Another noticeable change is the PCB layer decreases from 10 to 8. The length of PCB keeps unchanged, while the height of it is reduced by 1.5cm. In order to cut cost further, they will change DVI connector, crystal and probably change BIOS Rom from 1M to 512K.

But for the GT200 and NVIO2 chip, you might mistake GeForce GTX260 of P897 PCB design for GeForce 9800GTX+ (as they look so similar). Compared with P654 design, P897 GeForce GTX260 is expected to save cost of $10 to $15, which will undoubtedly improve its competitiveness. According to our source, this product will be available in the third week of this month.

via GeForce GTX260 Coming With New PCB Design to Cut Cost – Expreview.com.

Hardware nvidia

Over at OSNews they’ve got an article about the decline of SGI.  The last quarter (the economic downturn) has been especially bad for SGI, and there’s even talk of SGI requesting a Government bailout.  SGI has long been a favorite of government supercomputing agencies for it’s NUMALink technology (large shared memory spaces), and I’m sure they still make some money in that space.

In any case, SGI is a legendary company, and it would be a sad day for the computing world if they went under. Sure, companies come and go, but I’m sure SGI has a special place in the hearts of many computer fans out there.

Also over at insideHPC, John West has a good breakdown of what’s happened to SGI recently.  Of particular note is the news that the recent poor financials are partly due to the writedown of their recent restructuring (read, layoff).

via SGI in Trouble Again.

Hardware sgi

Luxology has begun posting information about the new version of Modo, named “modo 401″.  It seems they’ll be posting a new feature preview every few days up to the full release .  Currently they have information about Fur, Volumetric Lighting, and Replicators.

Luxology > modo 401 Partially Revealed: Introduction.

Graphics luxology, modo

On Monday, Amazon is holding a press converence (10am Eastern), that’s expected to be the announcement of the new Kindle.  There’s alot of rumors, and a few pics floating around, but the details are still a mystery until Monday.

I want one of these so bad..

Reminder: Monday is Kindle 2 Day!.

Hardware

VFXWorld has an interview with Eric Barba of Digital Domain, Paul Franklin of double Negative, and Ben Snow of Industrial Light & Magic about their big Oscar nominations for Benjamin Button, The Dark Knight, and Iron Man.

….. >> VFXWorld / Feature Articles << …...

Graphics

StudioDaily Blog has a short writeup on some of the effects used by Brainstorm Digital in the “Frost/Nixon” film.  Shot with a low-budget, alot of scenes had to be digitally altered and Brainstorm Digital got the entire job, all 180 scenes.

Studio Daily Blog » Brainstorm Digital Takes “Frost/Nixon” to Sydney.

Graphics

Over at Engadget they’ve got information on a pair of 24-inch e-paper displays being shown at a Taiwanese book show.  One is black-and-white (left), but the other is actually a Color e-paper display.

Giant e-paper display spotted, ogled at Taiwanese book show – Engadget.

Hardware epaper

VFXWorld has an interview with Ed Catmull, recipient of the Gordon E. Sawyer Oscar for a lifetime of visionary CG achievement and co-founder of Pixar, about some of his latest achievements.

BD: And what would you single out among WALL•E’s many advancements?

EC: Heavy use of depth of field for artistic purposes. Getting all this right and having it look great was a challenge. And they pulled it off: it was extraordinary animation. And we feel good about the next film coming from Pixar, Up, and it’s different from anything else.

via ….. >> VFXWorld / Feature Articles << …...

Science

Rising Sun Pictures has updated their Australian website to include VFX Breakdowns for their work on The Spirit.

Rising Sun Pictures.

Graphics rising sun pictures, spirit