ATI presents the Smartshader technology which will be implemented in the next generation 3D chip of the canadian company. The name Smartshader stands for Pixel- and Vertexshader features of DirectX 8 in an extended form. The new add-ons come with the new DirectX version v8.1 and are implemented in the pixel shader part. ATI will also release similar new extensions for OpenGL.

The 3D Pipeline - developers can use self programmed shaders instead of fixed functions

Vertex Shader

Vertex Shaders were first presented in consumer 3D cards with NVIDIA´s GeForce 3. Thanks to those shaders, game developers can now program their own 3D accelerated operations. These functions are made in an own assembler-like programming language which can be excecuted by the new 3D chips like GeForce 3 and RADEON 2. So game developers do not have to wait until 3D functions of a chip are implemented in core and API - they can simply programm their own sets of 3D accelerated effects.

There are many ways to use those new shader effects on geometry. One of the greatest that becomes possible through Vertex-Shaders are real time shadows and the deformation of objects.

The Vertex-Shader functions in ATI´s Smartshader are the same than in NVIDIA´s nFinite FX Engine for GeForce 3. The chip can handle 16 sets of data per vertex as individual streams. A vertex shader program can have up to 128 instructions with the use of 96 constand values and 12 temporary data registers.

Examples for the use of Vertex Shaders:

The deformation of one object by another one - calculated on-chip by Vertex-Shaders.

Realtime shadows of multiple light-sources.

The imahe shows a soap bubble that is animated (just imagine that) by VS.

Copyright: 16.07.2001 -   RIVA Station 2001 - Lars Weinand
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