A quick summary of the latest key elements of the CUDA 4.0 include:

• Nvidia GPUDirect 2.0 Technology — offers support for peer-to-peer communication between GPUs within a single server or workstation. This enables easier and faster multi-GPU programming and application performance
• Unified Virtual Addressing (UVA) — provides a single merged-memory address space for the main system memory and the GPU memories, enabling quicker and easier parallel programming
• Thrust C++ Template Performance Primitives Libraries — provides a collection of powerful open source C++ parallel algorithms and data structures that ease programming for C++ developers. With Thrust, routines such as parallel sorting are 5x to 100x faster

01 - Nvidia's CUDA website is showcasing CUDA 4.0's release.

The new Mac OS X support includes new features in CUDA-GDB. A release candidate for CUDA Toolkit 4.0 will be available free of  charge beginning March 4, 2011. You can enroll in the CUDA developer program here: www.nvidia.com/paralleldeveloper

To learn more about CUDA go here.

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VolView 3.0 for Mac allows medical doctors and researchers 3D volume rendering capabilities with GPU hardware acceleration.

New in this release is a simplified user interface, quick-access toolbar, GPU acceleration under Nvidia graphics platforms, ability to load and display multiple datasets, and a new Bezier contour tool. To learn more visit them at: www.kitware.com

Nvidia Releases OpenGL 3.0 Drivers

Nvidia announced this week that they have released fully supported OpenGL 3.0 drivers for Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Linux platforms on select GeForce and Quadro GPU solutions. 

The company stated: “Further demonstrating our leadership and commitment to OpenGL and the standardization process, these drivers enable software developers to take full advantage of all OpenGL 3.0 capabilities, accelerating their delivery of cutting-edge media platforms and applications. 

Apple’s Mac OS X 10.6 “Snow Leopard” is expected to support OpenGL 3.0 for applications and many of Apple’s professional applications like Motion may push the limits of OpenGL 3.0 capabilities. New OpenGL 3.0 extensions include:

• WGL_create_context
• GLX_create_context
• ARB_draw_instanced
• ARB_geometry_shader4
• ARB_texture_buffer_object

Rhino News/Tutorials

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Now granted, a vast majority of these are small, free or nearly free apps that do one very specific thing. And perhaps most of these are not useful to the vast majority of iPhone users. Still, even if just one percent or 3,650 apps were truly amazing iPhone applications that is a very large number of great apps to choose from to run on your iPhone. Next year at CES 2009 in Las Vegas, Apple maybe telling exactly that story in a keynote there. 

Apple's iPhone Applications table glowed with great applications.

In the photo above Apple employees show off some of the great new iPhone applications to show attendees. 

Britney H.R. checks out some cool iPhone apps.

One of my favorite features of Apple’s booth this year was this vast wall (see below photo) where Apple is broadcasting loud and clear that it has far more applications available to it (for the iPhone) than any other smartphone maker. 

10,000 iPhone apps and counting - and some great ones too!

We realize that most iPhone apps are targeted to consumer digital life-style functions but there are actually an amazing amount of apps for specific businesses or professional fields and industries. One current app on my iPhone is a great “feet and inches” calculator that is useful to architects and general contractors (and those in the building design industry). Another one is clinometer application that turns my iPhone into both a “leveler” (think leveler bubble tool from your hardware store) and a clinometer which helps me find angles of roofs and ceilings for instance while out in the field. 

But that is just touching the surface…

iPhone Apps!

For big business, enterprises have access to great iPhone apps from large enterprise software companies like Oracle (see photo above) and many others. Small and medium businesses can use such outstanding tools as Marketcircle’s Daylite touch on the iPhone (more on this in another report).

Some iPhone apps are truly amazing...and clearly cost more! But where else can you carry the entire human body in vivid multi-layered anatomical drawn form like this?

And specific industries like higher education and healthcare have wonderful new tools like this above, Netter’s Anatomy Flash Cards, the best selling anatomy reference in your pocket.

The post MWSF: Gallery Two appeared first on Architosh.

Wolfram Research has introduced Mathematica 7, the latest version of its mathematical and computation software program for Mac OS X and other platforms. The new software includes over 500 new features including built-in image processing and analysis. 

Other key improvements include built-in parallel computing, new visualization and graphics capabilities — including comprehensive spline support and the representation of industrial NURBS surfaces.

New support for industrial NURBS

New image processing capabilities.

Mathematica 7 can adds a variety of computable data sources including the complete human genome, weather, astronomical data and GIS and geodesy data. 

Lastly, one key new feature is the new integrated programmatic email features, allowing you to construct any form of email including graphics, sounds and other attachments and to manage recipients and lists programmatically. To learn more click here.

VMware Fusion 2.0.1 Gets Performance Boost

Hot on the heels of Parallel’s new Parallels Desktop 4 for Mac, VMware has updated Fusion to version 2.0.1 adding a new performance boost. The new release will begin to ship Friday and will include a performance boost due to better CPU utilization and the patching of several previously unresolved issues. 

Other improvements focus on better performance when running 3D applications (including games and applications like Google Earth with 3D hardware acceleration) on the latest new MacBook and MacBook Pro and MacBook Air systems. 

Unity view has been improved, there are new hints in the Help menu and improvements to sharing, including nested folders and publishing Windows guest applications to the Mac. Fusion 2 users can download the latest release starting tomorrow here.

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Solid Modeling Solutions provides advanced NURBS-based geometry software libraries sometimes called modeling kernels or engines. The company serves software application developers and one of its best known OEM clients is Nemetschek North America, the makers of VectorWorks. Essentially SMLib is made up of a small elite team of PhD level geniuses in the field of software engineering and mathematics, whose backgrounds include such places as Boeing and leading universities such as MIT. The company was likely at Siggraph for both professional and OEM client reasons. SMLib products are not for end-users but end-users may be interested to learn which modeling kernel technology drives their favorite CAD and 3D applications.

IntegrityWare

Another modeling kernel provider who was at Siggraph wasIntegrityWare. IntegrityWare’s modeling kernel is behind such applications as Autodesk 3ds Max, Viz and Robert McNeel & Associates’ Rhino. Since Rhino is coming to the Mac and there is a current working advanced beta we assume it is based on the same modeling kernel and therefore IntegrityWare’s software libraries for NURBS and polygon modeling are fully OS neutral libraries. Architoshwill confirm this in a later report in September focused on kernel discussion.

RapidMind

Also at Siggraph this year was a company called RapidMind. Another technology company that serves other tech companies rather than end-users,RapidMind first came to our attention at Siggraph Boston two years ago. They were exhibiting in the IBM booth at that time. 

RapidMind and AMD jointly demonstrated real-time medical imagery application at Siggraph this year. RapidMind is the maker of the award-winning RapidMind Multi-Core Development Platform, a series of API’s (application programming interfaces) available to software developers who wish to speed up their applications specifically on multi-core processors.

RapidMind’s API technology can accelerate such things as real-time ray tracing, image reconstruction for the medical industry, intensive image processing in the graphics industry and fluid simulation and computation in gaming, science and animation entertainment industries.

RapidMind API Stack

RapidMind’s API sits as a layer between the underlying hardware and OS and the end-user application. Developers can focus on investing in single-threaded application development and let the RapidMind technology take care of “parallelizing” the application across multiple cores.

The API integrates with C++, requires no new tools, compilers or workflow changes. It leverages AMD and Intel Multi-Core x86 microprocessors and even utilizes GPUs. It also supports the IBM Cell processor used in the IBM Cell Blade server and Sony PlayStation 3 as well as select Cell-based workstations from IBM, Sony and Mercury.

RapidMind runs on Mac OS X 10.5 or better as well as flavors of Windows and Linux. Compatible compilers include Microsoft Visual C++ 7-8, GCC 4 under Linux and Xcode under Mac OS X. A case-study in a QuickTime moviedemonstrates the performance gain using RapidMind.

Most of this page has focused on tools underlying the applications in CAD and 3D that matter to us. This last entry in our Highlights series is from a company behind a lot of products that matter to Mac users.

LightWork Design at Siggraph

LightWork Design is the world leader in rendering software engine technology, used in a vast array of leading Mac CAD and 3D applications. This year the company used Siggraph to introduce LightWorks SE (Studio Edition) and LightWorks 7.9. Key new features in version 7.9 include:

• Ambient Occlusion – adds intelligent predictable ambient light to images for greater depth and realism
• New Complex Reflectance Shaders – targeted at the generation of a wider range of realistic material effects; new color and reflectance shaders include Glossy Reflections and Frosted Glass, Enhanced Car Paint, Plastics and Metallic effects
• CgFX – Extends the number of effects in real-time rendering with external CgFX materials
• Specular Final Gather – refined to concentrate work dependent on the properties of a material: the smoother the surface, the less work will be spent calculating specular Final Gather results, yielding faster rendering times

LightWork Design also demonstrated a new Progressive Rendering technology currently under development. The company is running quarterly rendering contests. See the submissions here.

The post Siggraph Highlights for Mac Users – Part 6 appeared first on Architosh.

“We are proud to bring the latest version of WireFusion to the Mac community, which we know contains many of the very best designers and architects worldwide,” says Stefano de Carolis, Demicron’s CEO. “It is our ambition that WireFusion 5 will become a market leader for interactive 3D visualizations on the Mac platform, as it has become on the Windows platform.”

WireFusion 5

WireFusion 5 is a powerful and affordable solution for small to mid-sized industrial design, architecture and manufacturing companies wanting to speed up and improve the decision processes during a product lifecycle. Demicron has become a global leader of interactive rich media and its products and technology are distributed to more than 40 countries around the world. Customers include Fortune 500 heavy-weights like AT&T, Sony, Philips and Lockheed Martin, as well as government branches like the US Army and NASA.

WireFusion 5 allows the user to create powerful realtime 3D visualization solutions utilizing 3D content authored in popular 3D tools from Autodesk 3D products like Maya to C4D, SketchUp andLightWave 3D, or any tool capable of exporting 3D content to X3D or VRML. Without the use of complex scripting uses can produce interactive capabilities to their 3D content within WireFusion 5 and then export to the Web for interactivity within a Web site.

WireFusion 5 now includes powerful 3D mesh optimization technology for polygon reduction and polygon repair. Aside from the new Mac support, WireFusion 5 has been substantially re-written for faster performance, OpenGL hardware acceleration allows high polygon count models to perform better.

WireFusion 5 ships in several different versions, including: Educational (495.USD), Professional (1495.USD) and Enterprise (2995.USD).

For more information and to read the full features of WireFusion 5 for Mac OS X and Windows visit here:

http://www.demicron.com/

The post Swedish Demicron announces Mac OS X version of WireFusion 5 appeared first on Architosh.

Hi,

I saw you recently used your experience in 3D to help a doctor who uses Mac for scientific work (Mac3D Science Q: Mac medical scientist needs your 3D help!). I hope you will pardon me for addressing you directly, but I have a similar, if less complex problem. The following was posted in the Community today. Hopefully this is an easy one for you..

Dr. Lars Frisch’s Request

I have no experience in the world of 3D modeling.

As an ongoing medical research project I would like to be able to calculate an area based on a circumference.

Some more details: Having made a lesion in tissue we would like to slice the tissue in slices with predefined thickness, take a photo of the surface of each the slices and trace the circumference of the lesion / the border between normal and abnormal tissue. We would further like to be able to calculate the area within the part of the slice that is abnormal. Afterwards we would like to be able to build a 3D model of the abnormal tissue based on the area of the separate slices.

A simpler version of the same problem – how do you calculate the area of the yellow part of a sliced boiled egg, given that you know the scale of the image that you process? And how do you build a 3D model of the yellow part of the boiled egg from the slices of the egg and calculate the volume?

If possible, please consider that we would not like to buy a full (expensive) software package to make these quite simple operations if a simpler software package will do the job.

This problem sounds completely within the capabilities of a solids modeling program used for industrial design purposes, wherein area and volumes of negative cavities (or what’s left over subtractions, etc.) are often determined for various purposes.

Since we assume the lesions and tissue areas are not of simple geometric form a program would need to be able to trace and form shapes with bezier curves. The control points of which might greatly assist the doctors in controlling the precise shape of the abnormal tissue. The problem sounds pretty exciting when you think about it.

We think FormZ from Autodessys Inc., or Cobalt from Ashlar Inc, with its advanced associative Class-A NURBS surface modeling may do the trick. And again solidThinking by GESTEL, Maya by Alias/Wavefront and others maybe work as well. One last app that may be suitable is Neoform by Formation Design Systems.

To see other Mac 3D apps visit our comprehensive Digital Practice Guide.

The post Feedback: More help on Medical 3D on the Mac appeared first on Architosh.

I am wondering if you can provide a little architectural guidance for me. Currently we are putting together a proposal to reconstruct a portion of the retina (the thing at the back of you your eye that does all the computation) with all of the cell types. We are proposing to do this by taking electron microscopy images of serial sections through the retina and digitally registering them to one another to stack them back together in a 3D image or preferably vector space. What we want to do is model these structures using vectors and then label each cell structure according to its metabolic class.

Are there any Mac based architectural packages that will allow us to scan in images and then select portions of those images to create vector objects in 2D space and then reconstruct them in 3D space with labels or properties assigned to them? — Bryan William Jones

Answers

While accurate CAD solutions exist the best solution for this task may indeed by a 3d modeler application. And just from the description it sounds like such 3D constructions of the layered eye may be constructed of layered, extruded polys and possibly rendered in wireframe, hidden-line, or variably transparent polys.

Some solutions that come to mind on the 3D side are FormZ, Strata, LightWave, ZOOM and Artlantis, among others. For accurate 2D conversion of electron microscopy to a CAD program we are at a loss because we don’t fully understand what this might involve; however, VectorWorks as the best overall general Mac 2D/3D CAD program may indeed fit the bill nicely. From there 2D or 3D poly could be moved to a more advanced modeler (FormZ) and then onward to a very powerful renderer or animation package (Strata, Cinema4D, LightWave, Maya, etc.)

To view links to all of these mentioned apps please visit our Digital Practice Guide.

Offering Help: Have Suggestions or Guidance?

If you can help this reader please email him directly by clicking on the following line: Help Bryan – University of Utah School of Medicine

It is great being apart of a helpful Mac community. Thanks in advance.

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