3D Ray Tracing Technology

ARTVPS has developed unique solutions for generating photorealistic images from 3D data.  At the heart lies a custom designed processor built to visualise 3D data using the most advanced ray tracing technology available.

 

ARTVPS's second generation ray tracing processor, the AR350 is the basis of our hardware rendering solutions, PURE and RenderDrive.

 

The first ray tracing chip - the AR250 - represented a new class of graphics processor. Unlike other graphics chips that use simple 'painter' algorithms to generate images, ART's processors use the physically-based ray tracing algorithm to generate images of stunning quality. The AR250 was the first processor to use ART's dedicated ray tracing architecture, giving . 

The AR350 goes further to deliver unrivaled rendering performance - every detail of surface shading or shadow, each refracted or reflected ray of light is correctly modeled and contributes to a photorealistic final image.

 

The AR350 features a memory manager to access local DRAM, an on-chip data cache to reduce the bandwidth required of the host bus and two 3D rendering cores. Each rendering core performs both the geometry and the shading operations of the ray tracing algorithm. The geometry co-processor of each core is capable of performing a ray / triangle intersection calculation every processor cycle. The shading co-processor is completely end-user programmable through the RenderMan Shading Language.

 

A simple interface between AR350s produces a scaleable architecture with good processor linearity. The AR350 uses a 0.22-micron line size and is delivered in an SFBGA package for integration into the heart of ART VPS rendering devices. The AR350 delivers four times the rendering speed of the AR250.

 

The power and scalablility of the AR350 enables ARTVPS to deliver the most advanced ray tracing technology available.  Combined with its unique graphics raytracing processors ARTVPS products utilise custom hardware and sophisticated software to deliver powerful, flexible and reliable rendering environments.

 

Our hardware rendering systems are designed to work with the most commonly used 3D applications.  Either directly or by partnering with software vendors, ARTVPS develops application-specific 'RenderPipe' plug-ins that provide complete integration of its products within an applications GUI environment.