Never as in recent years have we had the opportunity to
experience the evolution and change in the gaming industry, accustomed to
perceiving generational leaps gradually and often without even realizing it,
only to look back and find out how far we have come.
If we think about it for a moment, Ray Tracing took just
three years to go from feature to normality, yet if we take just a few steps
back, to be exact at Gamescom 2018 , the Project Sol media earthquake left
everyone speechless, between lights and reflections in real time and that once
mysterious object which has now become almost essential, the DLSS.
In the race for photorealism, the videogame industry has
invested heavily in the development of ever more powerful machines, but the
real change of gear occurred when we also started working on technologies able
to collaborate with hardware and perform a synergic work to achieve the final
result , without compromise.
For this reason Turing does not represent only a
generational and performance leap, a refresh or a rebranding of the GeForce
range, but its exaltation, bringing into our homes a new concept of PC Gaming,
the one that photorealism has in its blood.
The Ray Tracing algorithm is no joke
To fully understand the RTX phenomenon it is necessary to
clarify what lies behind these three letters. As we said, Ray Tracing
undoubtedly represents one of the biggest evolutionary steps in the industry, a
tool that has definitively changed the concept of lighting and its interaction
with the surrounding environment reproduced by the PC, and the most recent
implementations of this technology. have shown once and for all how a correct
calculation of reflections, light sources and their consequences on surfaces
can really overturn the concept of graphics. All through an algorithm that has
actually existed for over forty years and that has been used in cinematography
and design for several decades.
So why have we been talking about the NVIDIA revolution for
years ? The ray tracing algorithm involves, in terms of performance, an
exaggerated cost . Until two years ago, even thinking of putting it in the
context of a real-time rendering was as liable to be abjured like Galileo's
statements. Years in which we were already witnessing the projection of
numerous films with ray tracing, because its implementation in cinematography
was no less expensive in terms of resources but facilitated by processing
times, which could last even hundreds of hours. The time parameter in cinema is
in fact absolutely secondary, since only the final result counts.
The Turing architecture hides within it units capable of
performing ray tracing calculations in an "interactive" environment,
therefore while we display the content on the screen, more than 25 times faster
than Pascal and this is just a clue of how much this technique can be
expensive. In fact, today Turing represents the minimum condition for obtaining
these effects. But this is certainly not just mere computing power. For this
NVIDIA took the bull by the horns and developed the so-called denoising
process, without which all this would never have been possible: the ray tracing
algorithm creates a lot of noise, an amount so high that 3000 to 5000 samples
per pixel would be needed to obtain a sufficiently adequate image quality.
Figures that, in fact, can only be afforded in other areas, such as in the
cinema.
The Denoising technique developed by NVIDIA is based on the
same principles on which DLSS also rests: the neural network, deep learning and
Tensor Cores . By studying a certain amount of stock images, the so-called
NVIDIA Training Set , AI models are created to be fed to the Tensor Cores which
will then be perfectly able to reconstruct the rendered image at just 4 samples
per pixel .
To further improve the overall experience, NVIDIA has
developed the DLSS, a system that would be reductive to define revolutionary .
NVIDIA's secret weapon allows you to get an incredible Framerate boost using
Artificial Intelligence. Not surprisingly, DLSS stands for Deep Learning Super
Sampling . DLSS is one of the upscaling methodologies , a large group of
techniques that, starting from an image at a given resolution, are able to
obtain a final result with a higher resolution . In DLSS this process is
proposed and improved exponentially thanks to AI and Deep Learning. NVIDIA's
multi-year research work finally sees the light in its first iteration in 2019.
Initially foreshadowed by the much more promising Ray
Tracing, the DLSS immediately showed its full potential on albeit few supported
games, but in reality the research on AI-based rendering in the NVIDIA
laboratories had already been standing for several years. The first hypotheses
of use in the purely photographic field immediately made us understand how the
application in the Gaming PC could shake the industry from its foundations.
The titles that marked the advent of Ray Tracing
The first year of life of the new 2000 Series RTXs hasn't
exactly been downhill. Thanks to a limited number of titles although
qualitatively excellent, both Ray Tracing and DLSS were able to show their
potential only to a limited extent. Three the most significant titles of the
first RTX phase, but also the only ones in the first months of diffusion:
Battlefield V, Shadow of the Tomb Raider and the alienating Metro Exodus , the
only one of the lot to present global lighting entirely managed in ray tracing.
The manifesto of the first wave was certainly Battlefield V
with its incredible reflections , while we will have to wait until the
following years to be able to appreciate the Quake 2 RTX tech demo , a clear
example of how path tracing can distort the visual impact of a video game. The
guys from Mojang managed to put a similar experience on the plate thanks to the
reinterpretation of Minecraft with Ray Tracing and DLSS 2.0 .
Speaking of DLSS, its first implementation allowed to obtain
excellent results in terms of performance, managing to provide up to 40% more
frames per second . The price to pay was, of course, in terms of visual
quality. How? Through the so-calledSuper Sampling . With DLSS the GPU is allowed
to render at a lower resolution than the one set, then it will be this
particular technique that will allow the PC to recreate an image as similar as
possible to the native resolution one, despite the lack of pixel information.
additional.
The additional information was certainly not randomly
generated. Harnessing the potential of machine learning , NVIDIA trained its
supercomputers to produce artificial intelligence models. These libraries, then
distributed through Game Ready drivers, were the result of the sampling of
countless frames and the related "perfect frames" produced by 64x
supersampling, coming from every single supported game.
Each pair of images then ended up in the training set that
taught the AI to fill in the game's FPS with the missing pixels. Precisely this
step helps us to understand the real value of this technique and its
substantial difference from the more traditional SSAA , which allows to perform
the supersampling locally rendering the image at a higher resolution but which
involves an extremely higher cost in terms of resources. of the GPU. In DLSS,
this step is carried out precisely by the NVIDIA neural network and the end
user will only receive the "digested" model to be fed to the Tensor
Cores.
In the summer of 2019 comes a game that was worth all the
ticket price by itself for the owners of the new GPUs: Control. A test of
strength and substance, that of Remedy, which unleashed the full potential of
Ray Tracing and DLSS with breathtaking effects.
Everything changes, again
During 2020, many software houses began to take steps to
implement the new real-time lighting dogmas, until NVIDIA decided to give the
market a further shake with the announcement of DLSS 2.0. The NVIDIA
AI-mediated SuperSampling, in its second version, allows you to push even more
on the lighting system without worrying about performance and image
degradation. The new DLSS promises performance boosts of up to 75% and image
quality close to the original.
DLSS 2.0 marks the definitive consecration of NVIDIA's miracle
and manages to make us understand its philosophy once and for all. From this
moment on it becomes an essential component for new generation games , with and
without Ray Tracing. The same work by Remedy Entertainment first exploits the
DLSS 1.9 and then veers towards the definitive version 2.0.
In our technical analysis of Controlwe were fascinated by
the breakthroughs that NVIDIA has made. Thanks to the comparison between the
initial version and the one with DLSS 2.0, we have actually verified how the new
method at 1080p resolution is able to churn out better frames than the previous
version at 1440p. In a very short time NVIDIA has managed not only to create
but also to refine its filter to the point of making it so efficient that it
can reduce if not completely eliminate the temporal ghosting.
The definitive solution lies in the removal of the limits
imposed by the first generation . NVIDIA's new neural network allows you to
overcome the barriers of single-game study: now the central unit can learn generic
rules that apply to all supported titles. However, the novelties of DLSS 2.0
certainly do not stop there, since the numerous optimizations implemented by
NVIDIA allow the Tensor Cores to maximize their efficiency and perform
calculations at a speed almost doubled compared to the initial version. Where
implemented, DLSS 2.0 will now allow you to choose between three different
quality presets , allowing the end user to decide whether to set it to maximum
quality, maximum performance or an intermediate solution.
An impressive generational leap but above all without
contraindications, since support for the second version was also guaranteed for
owners of first generation RTX video cards, namely the NVIDIA GeForce RTX
Series 20. Among the best titles to highlight the feats of your Tensor Cores,
we definitely recommend returning to the wastelands of Metro Exodus with the
beautiful Enhanced Edition , free for owners of the original version. A
brilliant title from a technical point of view, which allows you to fully enjoy
Ray Tracing in one of its best implementations ever. Never as in this title the
use of DLSS is essential. Its activation will accompany us in a fluid game
world and simply perfect in terms of sharpness, without practically ever coming
to terms with the devil. A look towards the new generation, through the lenses
of a world devastated by atomic war.
Today we can get lost in the transgression of Night City and
be terrified by Capcom and its horrifying Resident Evil Village , in whose
technical analysis we could see the greater propensity of the new NVIDIA GPUs
in the management of Ray Tracing in absolute terms, even without the use of the
DLSS.
Still today, we count more than 50 compatible titles. The
panorama that stands out in front of us could not be more rosy. A 2021 already
unequivocally marked by the Enhanced Edition of Metro Exodus and by Ghostrunner's
overwhelming blaze of neon sees the arrival of DLSS also in virtual reality
thanks to the 2.1 update, the state of the art . NVIDIA's latest update raises
the bar even further, putting native resolution rendering in check . The latest
version of the DLSS aims, in no uncertain terms, at 8K. Thanks to the Ultra
Performance Mode it is in fact possible to draw on an additional tank of Frames
on titles such as Wolfenstein:. However, this mode is strongly recommended only
at very high target resolutions, under penalty of a heavy compromise of the
aesthetic component.
As we said, with the advent of 2.1, the DLSS finally lands
also in VR and getting lost in the deep space of No Man's Sky in search of
glyphs and portals has never been so satisfying. Wearing the headset, the
procedural universe of Hello Games is ready to take the breath away of old and
new navigators with doubled performance compared to the past and now really
within everyone's reach, allowing to obtain a stable framerate of 90FPS at
Ultra details on an RTX 3080 .
What direction for the future?
NVIDIA itself has been at work for some time now on the
so-called Ray-Traced Caustics , or the reproduction of a physical phenomenon
generated by reflected rays, caustics . It is the common behavior of light that
draws particular geometric shapes in response to the encounter with certain
specific surfaces. The most effective example is undoubtedly that of the shapes
that are drawn on the bottom of a swimming pool when the sun is high or on the
ceiling if it is an indoor pool, or even the drawings impressed on the wall or
on the table by a glass.
Clearly, the arrival of RTX cards on the market has greatly
influenced the professional graphics sector as well, where these technologies
have drastically impacted not only on the creation and rendering process but
also on production times.
A practical example of the interference of the tools that
were once specific to the videogame industry in the professional field are
precisely these fine plays of light, obtainable through the Photon Mapping
algorithm , already implemented in real time in the Unreal Engine 4.
About Epic
Unreal Engine 5 will bring Lumen and Nanite to the table. On
the one hand we have Lumen, a global dynamic lighting system that can be
calculated in real time with completely different Ray Tracing methods compared
to what is proposed by NVIDIA - which therefore does not require dedicated
hardware to work. All with a tool perfectly integrated into the graphics engine
and able to generate light maps with just a few clicks, saving designers and
planners a huge amount of work and at the same time guaranteeing a wide
compatibility with the video cards on the market.
Of course, Lumen also has its limitations and mainly concern
the type of supported geometries and the general yield. Among other things, the
production of artifacts is not excluded, at least in the earliest versions. For
this reason Lumen will not give up the hardware acceleration of Ray Tracing
effects through those dedicated computing units present in the latest
generation GPUs, such as the RT-Cores and Tensor Cores of the RTX cards. It
will therefore be possible to benefit from these highly specialized units to
obtain a better final result, with reflections on the internal and external
surfaces more precise and photorealistic, expanding the possibilities of the
engine but at the same time reducing the amount of compatible configurations
In Unreal Engine 5 there will also be space for Nanite
which, on the other hand, aims to overturn the concept of rendering from the
root. The new Epic algorithm will allow you to import cinema-quality and
uncompressed assets , regardless of the number of polygons present, to bring
them to the screen in a much more efficient way than current standards,
instantly scaling the LOD and therefore the polygons based on the level of
magnification with respect to the viewing point. The parent company promises
unlimited levels of detail , in no uncertain terms, and the first field
teststhey do not disprove these claims. Again, implementation is a matter of
seconds. Just a check on the static elements to be converted into Nanite mesh
to make the change effective.
Ahead of the schedule?
It is therefore clear that the forward-looking work of the
major players in the industry is starting to bear fruit. A clear reversal of
the trend compared to the past in which it was necessary to intervene from the
foundations to ensure a better optimization of resources in the generations to
come, through the rewriting of the dogmas of the sector and their replacement
with new algorithms and new concepts of gaming.
Tools like artificial intelligence have allowed us to make
an unprecedented generational leap, dramatically reducing " cooking times
", while the streamlined workflow process will help developers achieve
even more incredible results with greater simplicity.
We just have to grab the mouse and keyboard or, for those
who prefer, the controller and fasten the seat belts because if we have tasted
the best, the best is yet to come .
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