3D --- Media Creation --- Shared Space
Published by 4th WAVE, Inc.
Issue #613 11/15/96
CONTENTS
People World Company, the second largest online service in Japan, and ParaGraph International have joined forces to create an Internet based 3D Virtual Reality service in Japan. The new service, People Space, consists of 3D virtual worlds where users can communicate via text chat or electronic ink. The service uses ParaGraph's 3D VR, electronic ink, networking technologies and art content.
The service, which is targeted to Japan's domestic market, is supported by access fees (approx. $2.00/day) and advertising and contains both business and personal worlds which are updated on a regular basis.
http://www.paragraph.com and http://www.people.or.jp
The new GLoria-L2D/3Dvideo accelerator from ELSA Inc., will be incorporated into Compaq's new line of professional workstations. Compaq's new workstations will have faster 3D texture mapping and geometry performance, 3D animation and CAD/CAE capabilities, and many of the other features provided by the G Loria accelerator, such as the GLINT 500TX chip from 3D Labs, Inc. (See below for additional Compaq info)
http://www.elsa.com and http://www.compaq.com
GVM - Global Virtual Manufacturing, March 19 - 20, 1997 in Detroit, MI. Billed as the first commercial conference and trade show dedicated to virtual manufacturing. The show is produced by VR NEWS and the EDS Detroit Virtual Reality Center and sponsored by Silicon Graphics.
Contact: Greg Laskaris of VR News (619)294-3034
Yesterday, on November 14, Microsoft announced that they have outlined the development of DirectSound 3D version 5, which was recently reviewed and endorsed by a meeting of 27 leading audio hardware vendors. DirectSound 3D, the newest member of the DirectX API set, is expected to form the basis 3D audio PC standards.
In an impressive display of what Shockwave technology can do, Activision recently employed leading Web producer LightSpeed Media to create the Web-based online game MechWarrior2: Mercenaries. Based on Shockwave technology, Mercenaries is an arcade-style game with sound, action and animation, featuring a futuristic robotic battlefield simulation.
http://www.activision.com/mechmerc/mech-gunnery.html
613.2 Sandcastle - Conquering Latency in Networks by John Latta
The Wave Report visited the offices of Sandcastle and interviewed its President Will Harvey to learn more about its unique approach to handling delays on long latency networks such as the Internet. The mission of the company is to provide tools and technology for enabling interaction on the Internet. Sandcastle was started in April 1996 with $300,000 in seed funding from Mohr Davidow Ventures and it is now seeking its first round in venture funding.
The premise of the Sandcastle approach is that the clocks on each playing client can be different based on actions and latency of the opposite player. Their premise is that it is synchronization of object level interactions and not the replication of pixels on the screen which is important. Thus, when playing a game over a network with latency the opposite party is seen with a time delay and your play actions are seen in correct time. To demonstrate the impact of latency Sandcastle simulated play on three types of networks: traditional client server, a DIS like dead-reckoning predictive system and the Sandcastle synchronization approach. A simple football game was simulated where the opposite player tossed a ball. The objective was to catch it over a network which had both packet loss and latency. Even in this simple example the results were striking in that the synchronization technology of Sandcastle made for natural and successful play. Will described the implementation in two layers. The first is the technology which implements the synchronization between the two players by adjusting the clock of the opposite player and the second layer is that which is application specific, in this case a sports example.
The central technology for synchronization is in their DataClock product. This is an SDK for writing distributed games. The components of DataClock lie above the OS and its networking layer and below the application. DataClock is to work in conjunction with Microsoft's DirectPlay. Some of the components in DataClock include: clock synchronization, timelines, locks, latency tables, and request/reply protocols. Presently the software is in alpha form and expected to be in beta for use by its partners by Q1 1997. RTM is expected in July 1997.
The other product is the DataClock Toolkit. It provides a set of tools to simplify the testing and debugging of distributed games. Sandcastle describes these tools as analogous to compilers and debuggers for distributed interaction. There are four tools in the toolkit: network simulator and corrupter, a network load monitor, an event logger and a global assertion checker.
A key question about these technologies is - how well do they scale? According to Sandcastle most games accommodate from 4 to 12 players. As the level of game play increases the architecture becomes more complex but the underlying principles of synchronization do not. Will Harvey described the architecture of the network with a tree structure. That is, clients would be allocated among a number of servers and the servers would be connected to other servers and ultimately to one master controller. At the lowest level, i.e., client to server level, the interaction between clients on the same server would be very similar to that which is done by DataClock today.
The difficult part comes in allocating the responsibilities between the servers. The analogy applicable here is in LOD switching in real time 3D image generation. That is, the level of synchronization between clients is based on how close the clients are to each other and the impact they have on another client. In LOD selection the hardware picks the best object texture map and object size based on its proximity to the observer. Thus, in the case of interaction the server allocation is based on proximity - the closer the players are to each other the more important synchronization is. In a network which simulates many players, within a common virtual space, the complex part comes in the dynamic allocation of clients and servers based on their proximity and interaction. Will described this as being a set of server tools and its implementation is 1 year away. The priority at hand is the implementation of the DataClock technology in the Toolkit.
We came away with the impression that this is core technology to making game play workable in real networks. Yet, it would appear that these concepts have much broader application than to just games. Would not many forms of interaction on the Internet which involves the synchronization of one person with a site or other persons gain from this technology? Sandcastle is working on technology which has the potential of making interaction on the Internet more realistic in the face of a network which is less than ideal.
Sandcastle is updating its web site to show some of the principles discussed in this profile. Visit
to experience the latest technology to support interaction on the Internet.
613.3 COMDEX Pre-Show by David Lohse
Next week, an estimated 200,000 will descend on Las Vegas for the show of all computer shows, COMDEX. Although extensive conference proceedings and keynotes will be held, the real draw of the show are the 2,000+ exhibitors with more than 10,000 new products and announcements. COMDEX will be held from November 18-22 at the Las Vegas Hilton, Sands Expo and Convention Center. For more information, check out: http://www.comdex.com.
At WAVE, we have contacted a number of companies to find out their COMDEX plans.
613.4 SMOS Systems, Inc. by Malisa L. Burkeen
WAVE contacted S-MOS as a follow-up to several announcements on their PIX 3D rendering engine. According to Sandeep Gupta, Sr. Product Manager, Graphics, S-MOS has created a reference design which incorporates their 3D chip with 2D chips from other companies. In addition to marketing PIX as a 3D only solution, S-MOS has announced agreements with ARK Logic, Inc. and IGS, Inc. ARK Logic's QUADRO64 2D VGA and IGS' CYBERPro2000 will each be incorporating S-MOS' PIX.
No products are ready yet, but the reference design is available now for graphics card vendors or OEMs to use in their designs. According to S- MOS, the price of the final product will depend on what features are available, but Allan Beaulieu, Product Marketing Engineer, says ". . .we should be able to provide a complete high performance 2D/3D solution for under $180 retail."
Mr. Beaulieu explained their strategy as follows, "We've all seen the 2D companies that include low quality 3D (aka "Free-D"), and the 3D companies that include low quality 2D. We wanted to avoid getting bogged down in this type of compromise situation by playing to our strength in 3D AND to our partners' strengths in 2D. As a result, we have been able to create a variety of truly uncompromising solutions at varying price/performance points. . . Also, by offering a common reference design, our common customers know that there won't be any finger pointing between the 3D and 2D if problems need to be addressed."
S-MOS' Beaulieu sees these moves as benefiting everyone involved. S-MOS benefits by establishing PIX as the "3D Accelerator of choice;" ISVs can port to PIX knowing a larger installed base; end users will have more choices at different price and feature points; and 2D vendors are provided with a low cost quick-to-market 3D solution for their current customers.
All of this said, Mr. Beaulieu adds, "both us and the other 2D companies are continuing to drive our new products toward better price/performance implentations."
613.5 Compaq Introduces Professional Workstations by Christina Person
On October 29, 1996 Compaq Computer Corporation introduced the Compaq Professional Workstation. These products are for professional workstation customers in finance and other computer intensive applications to clients using 2D and 3D graphics. The workstations will also appeal to customers who are seeking high performance at a favorable price performance. For example, the Compaq products are designed to outperform the RISC/UNIX workstations at a cost of up to 75% less.
Compaq worked with workstation software and hardware developers in three market segments. This includes MCAD software vendors such as Autodesk and Parametric Technology and interactive content companies such as Kinetix and SoftImage. Dow Jones Telerate participated in financial information and analysis development markets.
The five models include:
Processors: One or two 200 MHz Pentium Pro
Operating System: Windows NT Workstation 4.0
Graphics: Matrox Millennium w/ 2MB WRAM (2D models); ELSA GLoria-L w/ 8MB VRAM & 8 MB DRAM (3D models)
Memory: Up to 128 MB
Disk Space: 4 GB
Features: Wide-Ultra SCSI controller, 8X CD-ROM, up to 512 MB of ECC DIMM memory, and an integrated NetFlex-3 autosensing NIC
613.6 AUTOFACT '96: The Disappearance of 3D by John Latta
It seems odd that 3D can vanish in an industry which has become reliant on the technology, yet, AUTOFACT was the first show we've seen where 3D, as a standalone display technology, disappeared. That is, 3D has become so embedded into the suite of computational tools in CAD/CAM that it is taken for granted. 3D has become just another necessary system component. Part of the credit goes to SGI as the supplier of 3D workstations and the prevasivness of solid modeling and CAD programs which rely on 3D. At the same time the software technology is moving up scale from just CAD/CAM to a higher level of simulation called Virtual Prototyping and Virtual Factory. This encompasses the design and simulation of all aspects of a product from concept to prototyping to manufacturing to training to repair to disassembly for recycling. Again 3D is an essential component but it is buried in the implementation of these higher level tools.
PC workstations based on Intel microprocessors running Microsoft's Windows NT with OpenGL and 3D accelerators have made computational power and 3D available with improved price performance. Yet, with these complex virtual simulation applications there is a continuing for massive CAD data bases and the ability to manipulate complex models in real time. Thus, the need for the high end continues and the market for real time 3D will be shared between the Wintel platform and traditional workstations.
It was clear from AUTOFACT that the future industrial design landscape will shift from 3D as an enabling hardware technology to software and software integration as the enabling technology. Thus, as hardware enables increased software capabilities, software moves up the value chain in the totality of industrial design. Yesterday it was the design of part of an object with a 2D CAD program and tomorrow it is the factory which will be designed, tested and evaluated on the desktop.
Call 1-800-733-4763 for the Society of Manufacturing Engineers, AUTOFACT organizer.
613.6.1 Mitsubishi by John Latta
AUTOFACT was more than just software, Mitsubishi highlighted its 3DPro chip in a technology demonstration. This chip is associated with a new company Vsis, a wholly owned subsidiary of Mitsubishi. Vsis is the organization by which Mitsubishi will move into new technologies and new markets, however, the 3DPro will be sold by Mitsubishi. 3DPro is the first of many in a strategic move into 3D. 3DPro has not been formally announced, however, chips, in quantity, are expected for card OEMs in Q1 1997 and there will be a formal product launch at approximately the same time. One of the reasons that Mitsubishi was present at AUTOFACT is they recognize that CAD/CAM is one of the most important 3D market segments. In the booth they sought to show the technology, help establish their brand name and make contact with OEMs and ISVs, i.e., jump start the market.
Using the REALimage (tm) technology from Evans & Sutherland it is claimed that the 3DPro chip is capable of up to 2M polygons/sec and 60M pixels/sec (filtered, bilinear MIP Mapped and 32bit Pixels). The chip is a 384 pin BGA with flip tab caps. Texture memory (CDRAM) can include: 1MB, 4MB and 16MB while display memory is 5MB, 7.5MB and 15MB. The latter is in 3D-RAM and will support switched frame buffers and z-buffer all at 32 bits at 1280 X 1024 with 15MB. Driver support includes: Direct3D, Heidi and OpenGL (client installed). The reference design includes a fast DMA bridge chip to support memory transfers; later in 1997 this will be replaced by a full geometry engine. The RAMDAC is a TI 3026 and the design also supports the use of an IBM RAMDAC. The next reference design card will have a VGA chip for boot up only and it has its own 1MB of display memory. It is expected that a limited number of reference cards will be available for qualified OEMs in December on a test and evaluation basis.
http://www.vsisinc.com, 408-774-3685
613.6.2 Silicon Graphics by John Latta
SGI was showing impressive new software technology for Intelligent Data Reduction. In real time a model of the recently introduced Jaguar XK-8 was being manipulated. This model was derived directly from the actual Jaguar CAD data base which came from multiple programs including CAD 5 and ICEM. What was striking was the complexity: 200,000 NURBS and 3.5M polygons. Although it took a number of weeks to prepare the data (production operations are not expected to face such a limitation) SGI was showing real time object simplification (Intelligent Data Reduction) which is directly linked back to the original data base. The argument made by SGI is that conventional data bases are too slow and cumbersome for real time manipulation. They claimed that their methods resulted in a 100X to 1000X performance improvement.
In this example, one could highlight a section of the car on the display or its parts and go directly to this in the data base for more detailed examination. We were shown this on the transmission and the muffler system. The muffler could literally be dragged and dropped from the total model. SGI is using this technology to highlight the role which COSMO 3D can play as an open standard. Given the role of COSMO, as a cross platform standard, this software or subsets of it will run on Windows 95 and NT. The performance will scale based on the platform. Although SGI was careful to state that this is a technology demonstration it is their desire to have this software adopted by all the major CAD programs and they are in discussions with many.
613.6.3 Division by John Latta
Division marked its shift to a totally software company with a number of announcements at AUTOFACT. The center of their strategy is the Universal Virtual Prototype (UVP) which is supported by its revised dVISE software. The modules include: dV/Player which allows users to navigate large 3D product environments; dV/Review can be used to allow multiple users in remote locations to review and interact with models; dV/Reality which supports real time animation and behaviors of an end product; and dVISE Manikin to allow users to add human models to UVP. dV/Reality is available now for $13,600 and dV/Review and dV/Player will ship in the spring. These latter two modules are available free to those who purchase dV/Reality but rise in price to $1,500 for dV/Player and $5,000 for dV/Review after release.
We spoke with Charles Grimsdale, CEO, and he described the significant relief which came with the exit from the hardware business, i.e., the sale of the license and operational responsibly for Pixel Flow technology to Hewlett-Packard. Given the slow development of the LBE (Location Based Entertainment) business, where Division has been selling its Pixel-Planes technology, Charles stated that they are looking for partners.
3D/Eye was showing its TriSpectives Technical for the CAD/CAM market. This is actually 2.0 of the older TriSpectives Professional version. The existing Professional version will become the Standard version when the product is released in January 1997. 2.0 is a major improvement. The underlying object definition is in NURBS but the rendering is done in polygons. The capabilities include extensive geometry translators, geometry simplification, texture mapping, animation and complex modeling features. The target market is for those who do not normally use CAD, however, we were impressed with the feature set as even a basic modeling program. The program supports Direct3D and will take advantage of accelerators which use this API. The price at $549 makes it available to many buyers.
613.6.5 Denab Robotics by John Latta
Deneb Robotics was advocating what they called the Virtual Factory. It was stated that Deneb has moved into this simulation market based on customer demands from their core robotics business. They see their products covering the following parts of the factory: concept development (likely best approached using traditional CAD/CAM tools), product design review for assembly and virtual prototyping; process simulation; manufacturing simulation and programming; and training, ergonomic, and maintenance. The core software components which Deneb provides include: IGRIP for programming robotic workcells; QUEST as a factory layout and simulation tool; ENVISION which is a 3D simulation based environment for virtual prototyping; Virtual NC for simulating CNC controllers and material removal; UltraArc for robotic arc welding; UltraSpot for robotic spot welding, UltraPaint for robotic painting and Deneb/ERGO which examine human placement in the workplace.
613.7 More From ATI by David Lohse
ATI's onslaught of new products has continued over the last few weeks, including the announcement of three new cards: the ATI-TV, the All-In- Wonder and the 3D RAGE LT.
ATI-TV, announced on October 28, is described by ATI as a "multi-function 'smart' TV tuner card." As an ISA-based card, the ATI-TV connects to an ATI 3D or video accelerator to bring TV tuning capabilities to a user's desktop. Features include closed captioning (with support for "hot words" that can sound an alert when broadcast), video wallpaper, and zoom, video and frame capture features. ATI-TV retails for $129 and is shipping now.
The All-In-Wonder, announced on November 11, is ATI's entry into the single-card integrated multimedia acceleration market, providing seven multimedia functions: 3D acceleration, 64-bit 2D acceleration, video acceleration, video capture, TV tuning, TV-out for large screens and stereo TV audio. The card's 3D capabilities are based on the RAGE II chip (announced in September), while its TV capabilities are based on the ATI- TV technology. According to ATI, the card can perform up to 30 million pixels/sec (bilinear filtered, perspectively correct, texture filtered, mip-mapped, Gouraud shaded, Z-buffered and alpha blended), with graphics resolutions up to 1280x1024 (24-bit). The All-In-Wonder will be available in January 1997 for a SRP of $349 (2 MB) and $379 (4MB).
Also announced on November 11, the 3D RAGE LT is an LCD accelerator for laptop PCs, providing 3D and 2D acceleration along with video playback. Utilizing a dual-clock synthesizer and triple 8-bit palette, the chip can achieve resolutions up to 1024x768 at more than 85 Hz. Based on the RAGE II design, the RAGE LT sports 3D performance rates up to 26 million pixels/sec (texture mapped, perspectively correct), and with features including mip-mapping, Gouraud shading, Z-buffering, Direct3D texture lighting and alpha blending. The 3D RAGE LT chips are available now in sample quantities and will be available for volume production by January 1997 for $40 in quantity.
613.8 Omnicomp and the Importance of Certification by David Lohse
Last month, Omnicomp announced that their 3Demon series of accelerators had been certified by Microsoft for use with SoftImage 3D 3.51 on Windows NT 3.51. In a market place quickly becoming crowded with increasingly similar accelerator products, certification may prove to be a crucial differentiate. As production-quality animation continue to move to the PC, certification on a leading platform such as Microsoft's SoftImage (see WAVE #610.5, 10/11/96) may help an accelerator edge out its competitors. As Kelly D. Stuart, the V.P. of Sales and Marketing at Omnicomp told WAVE, "One good thing is that with so many new players, it shows Omnicomp made the right decision two years ago to start early. Too many low cost/low performance cards are comparing themselves to high-end 3D cards, in fact, most are excellent 2D cards, but have very poor 3D performance."
With hardware acceleration essential for high-end PC animation products such as SoftImage, Microsoft has developed a set of Hardware Certification Tests to ensure full compatibility with their product. Among the first accelerators to achieve certification for SoftImage, Omnicomp's 3Demon Pro8 and DTX88 accelerator cards, which are based on 3D Lab's 500TX and Delta processors, have a distinct advantage in the market. Omnicomp has already seen the important role that certification will play for its products, as explained by Mr. Stuart: "Hopefully, there will only be a few manufacturers who can 'stay on course' long enough to make it in this market. Omnicomp plans are simple: stay certified and keep the products coming. True players in this market understand how important certification and standards have become."
Currently, SoftImage certified cards include:
--OpenGL accelerators certified to run SI3D 3.51 on Windows NT 4.0
Intergraph Realizm Series, Intense3D
Elsa GLoria-L
3D Labs 300SX, 500TX
--OpenGL accelerators certified to run SI3D 3.51 on Windows NT 3.51
Diamond Multimedia Fire GL 2000, Fire GL 3000
Elsa GLoria-L
3D Labs 300SX, 500TX
Dymanic Pictures V192
Intergraph Realizm Series, Intense3D
DEC PowerStorm (Alpha only)
Densan PCI 300DX/A
Omnicomp 3Demon Pro88, 3Demon DTX88
--OpenGL accelerators certified to run SI3D 3.01 on Windows NT 3.51
3D Labs 300SX, 500TX
AccelGraphics AG 500
Dynaminc Pictures V192
Intergraph GLZ1, GLZ2
Netpower Elite2
http://www.microsoft.com/Softimage/softimage.htm
613.9 Intense 3D's Problematic Debut by David Lohse
Intergraph's first foray into stand-alone accelerators with the Intense3D card may not be entirely smooth. Several unpublicized problems with the card may prevent it from working properly on some non-Intergraph systems. Specifically, two compatibility problems have been recognized and are documented in an Intergraph internal report obtained by WAVE:
1. BIOS support for VGA behind a PCI bridge: Intense 3D is a single card solution that includes a Cirrus device for VGA compatibility during bootup (DOS-mode) and includes the Intergraph developed high-performance 2D/3D acceleration technology for use once the NT operating system has booted. It has been determined that some BIOS vendors do NOT have full functionality to support the VGA device on a secondary PCI bus (that is, VGA behind a PCI bridge).
2. 3.3Volts on the PCI bus: Intense 3D includes several integrated circuits that require 3.3 Volts. Many PC systems include support for 3.3Volts on the PCI bus but it has been determined that some systems do not.
A system compatibility list has been created that shows systems known to fully support the PCI 2.1 specification and have been tested with the Intense 3D card. For a current list of Intense 3D-tested PCI 2.1 compatible systems, customers can contact the Intergraph Pre-Sales Support and Information Desk at 1-800-763-0242.
http://www.intergraph.com/ics/intense3d/
613.10 Yahoo! and Caligari Bring 3D to the Web by David Lohse
On November 1, Yahoo! and Caligari announced the debut of Yahoo! 3D, a VRML-based representation of the popular Internet guide. The site, which was created entirely using Caligari's Pioneer VRML authoring tool, consists of 15 worlds made up of a record-breaking 450 unique objects. Yahoo! 3D is the largest VRML project yet created for the Web, and even more importantly it is one the first attempts to use VRML technology for for a useful application.
Yahoo! 3D represents the beginning of the shift from the traditional 2D GUI interface to 3D, according to Roman Ormandy, the President and CEO of Caligari, who told WAVE, "3D provides an alternative way of navigation, and is much more functional than other media types. 3D originally had its roots in entertainment, but it will also prove to have many business applications, such as electronic commerce, training, and most importantly collaborative communications." However, the lofty goals of a 3D online environment may be somewhat premature. According to Mr. Ormandy, "Three problems still stand in the way of [online 3D]: standards, bandwidth, and 3D acceleration on the client. With all of the new 3D accelerators coming out, this problem will be eradicated in 1997 with 26 million 3D-enabled PCs by the end of the year. VRML is making good progress towards the standards issue, although VRML 2.0 is not yet of commercial strength and lacking in some key areas such as multi-user standards, but bandwidth will continue to be a big problem."
In fact, Yahoo! recommends at least an ISDN connection to the site; while the structure of the site (mostly designed by artists focusing on how to abstract the category concepts into 3D objects) is uniquely intuitive, WAVE's tests over a 28.8kbps modem revealed that the current bandwidth limitations render the utility of such an application questionable. Still, Yahoo! 3D still represents an important step towards the next era in computing. According to Mr. Ormandy, "A 3D user interface will make it much easier to access information, and will make a big difference in the number of users that can access that information."
The Yahoo! 3D site, which garnered 3,000 hits on its first day, is accessible through Yahoo!'s site by clicking on the "More Yahoo!" button, or directly through a URL. As a promotion, can purchase Pioneer Pro at the special price of $199 (normally $495) or Pioneer for $99.
Copyright 1996 4th WAVE Inc.
May be redistributed in full for individual readership and posted to newsgroups, Web, and FTP sites. May not be reprinted or redistributed for profit. Short quotes are permitted but must be attributed to the WAVE Report on Digital Media.