Graphics cards, games or workstations?!

Hi everyone,

Having worked in the CGI (Computer Generated Imagery) industry for a long time now, one of the main questions I have been asked in the past is what the difference is between Professional CGI graphics cards and gaming graphics cards.

Nvidia & ATI are the two leading manufacturers of graphics cards

Below, I have explained the main differences but I am not going into any of the boring technical details as this is not a blog about which is best. This is very much a 'layman's terms' comparison as most of the people who ask this question have no interest in statistics and technical info. 

Asus 680 GTX - High performance gaming card

I will start out with gaming graphics cards as they tend to be the more complex of the two. The easiest way to describe these is to think of them as magicians. Games studios have to be really clever when creating anything that needs to run on games consoles such as PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360, this is because they have very little memory and can only display a certain amount of information on-screen at a time. For this reason, games companies need to find lower memory intensive ways of displaying the visuals on screen, this is where the gaming cards are very specialist.

The various technologies that are developed to achieve the visual trickery in games are then integrated into the hardware of the gaming graphics cards. This includes things such as specialist lighting techniques and texturing hardware which can help to make the scenes look more realistic while essentially being quite simple.

Nvidia Quadro FX5800 - performance workstation card

Workstation CGI cards are in many ways more straight forward, the main focus here is raw power. Basically when modelling and texturing in CGI you need the view port to be as fast and smooth as possible, especially when handling scenes containing thousands of objects. So where the gaming cards have specialist hardware to deal with the 'smoke and mirrors', the professional cards are pure work horses which are able to fly around the most complex of scenes with pure power.

The other main advantages professional cards have in the CGI industry are the drivers. They are very tailored and specialist drivers for specific applications such as 3D Studio Max, Maya and Lightwave. These drivers optimise the cards to benefit the applications much more than a gaming card ever could.

The final big difference is the cost. Professional cards are generally much more expensive than gaming cards. This is largely due to the additional power that the cards deliver and the very specific optimisations they are put through.

Well there you have it, if you ever wondered why professional graphics cards are used over gaming cards in the CGI industry, you have your answer.

Happy reading.


Media productions
www.sovibrant.co.uk

Artist of the Week : Fausto De Martini

Good morning readers

Today we bring you a 3D artist from Huntington Beach, USA. Frausto De Martin has worked in the gaming industry for a number of years now and has made a name for himself creating some of the most realistic creatures and characters in 3D using software like 3ds Max and Mudbox. 

The software aside his actual designs are inspiring. The way his concepts mix organic anatomy with the hard surfaces of nuts, bolts and metal is brilliant.

If you are interested in learning more about Fausto please visit his Gnomon workshop page where he is planning to do a live workshop.

http://www.thegnomonworkshop.com/live/

Enjoy

Sovibrant / Artist of the Week

Artist of the Week : Scott Robertson

Good morning readers.

Today we bring you a true legend in the industrial design industry. Being a lecturer at the Art Center in Los Angeles, as well as creating numerous training DVDs and books. Scott Robertson is the antithesis of the phrase "those who cant, teach"

Please find below a few pages from his latest book "DRIVE" which shows some of his best vehicle designs from the past year or so.

Enjoy.

Sovibrant / Artist of the Week

Artist of the Week : David Levy

Good afternoon readers.

This week we bring you the work of the lead Concept Artist's for Ridley Scott's Prometheus. 

David Levy has spent the past few years travelling the world on his way to the top. He started his career studying Industrial Design and Architecture in France and the Netherlands before taking a one way ticket across the pond to begin his role as a lead concept artist in Los Angeles. 

He has worked on many movies and games in the last few years including Tron Legacy, Prince of Persia, Assassins Creed and just recently Prometheus.

Let's take a look at a small selection of his work from the past few years.

Enjoy!

Sovibrant / Artist of the Week

Artist of the Week : Francesco Corvino

Good afternoon readers and welcome to another instalment of Artist of the week.

This week we bring you Francesco Corvino, an amazing matte painter from Los Angeles. Francesco has just recently finished working on Wrath of the Titans and Abraham Lincoln - Vampire Hunter. He has also created incredible pieces of artwork for TV commercials for big names like Mercedes and Gillette.

At a young age Francesco had an eye for environment and landscape design and had a love for architecture. In 2009 he attended the Gnomon School of Visual Effects in Hollywood where his primary focus was the creation of Digital Matte Painting and Concept Design. 

Nowadays Francesco is working at The Aaron Sims Company in LA.

Let's take a look at some of his most recent work.

Sovibrant / Artist of the Week

Artist of the Week : Anthill Films

Good morning readers. This week SoVibrant introduces you to an up and coming film studio from the US called "Anthill". 

These guys are at the pinnacle of extreme sports film making and we've chosen these as our artist of the week due to the innovation and creativity that is put into every shot filmed. 

Whether it's the wired rig's placed high up in the trees or the painstaking time spent editing and post producing. This small studio is definitely at the head of the game putting just as much effort and time into their movies as you would a Hollywood blockbuster.

Check out some of the latest trailers and demo reels from this studio.

"Anthill Demo Reel"


"Strength in Numbers"


"Follow Me"

SoVibrant / Artist of the Week

Artist of the Week: Troy Lee Designs

Good afternoon readers. This week we bring you not one artist but a whole art department of one of the most recognized paint shops in the world. 

Troy Lee Designs have been at the leading edge of motor sport and extreme sports protection for decades and being a biker myself I am a big fan, especially their custom paint shop.

Troy Lee have produced some of the most memorable and creative helmets on the market so we at SoVibrant thought we would share with you some of the classics.

Enjoy

http://www.troyleedesigns.com/

SoVibrant / Artist of the Week