Archive translation. Specifications, services and availability reflect the original publication date in 2003. Verify current compatibility before production use.
Softimage XSI 3.5 integrated NVIDIA Quadro FX hardware rendering into its Render Tree, exposing vertex and pixel shader programs for interactive content creation.
Programmable real-time shaders
Quadro FX combined 128-bit floating-point precision, eight pixel pipelines and a programmable graphics engine. Artists could create shaders with NVIDIA’s Cg language, modify them and view the result immediately.
The integration reduced the need to render a separate image after each material change. Parameters such as a creature’s skin appearance could be adjusted in the application and recalculated in real time.
The workflow targeted 3D film, television and game production. Current driver, host and shader compatibility should be tested before production use.
