Amiga.org
Amiga News and Community Announcements => Amiga News and Community Announcements => Topic started by: Pyromania on February 08, 2012, 02:20:39 PM
-
News from A-EON Technology
Wellington, 8th February 2012
Hardware Accelerated 3D using 2D Compositing
AmigaOS graphics guru, Hans de Ruiter, has issued another update to his RadeonHD graphics driver for the AmigaOS. Version 0.32, which makes its official debut on the AmigaOS 4.1 Update 5 CD especially created for AmigaONE X1000 "First Contact" system, delivers full 2D support for all Radeon graphics cards from the Radeon X1300 through to the RadeonHD 4890. When asked about the improvements in his new driver De Ruiter said, "I'm quite pleased with the updated driver. Apart from fixing a few bugs, the biggest change is the addition of homogeneous texture coordinate support to the compositing function. This allows 2D warping and even perspective-correct texturing". In reply, A-EON Technology's Trevor Dickinson commented, "I am pleased to help support Hans' graphics driver work and look forward to the future release of hardware accelerated 3D graphics drivers which should benefit the AmigaONE X1000 all other AmigaOS 4 users".
To illustrate the improvements in his new driver De Ruiter created "Composite3DDemo", an interactive 3D "Boing Ball" demo remake that renders everything using hardware accelerated 2D graphics without the use of 3D drivers. Originally developed as a test application for the RadeonHD driver running on the AmigaONE X1000, it demonstrates what can be done with AmigaOS 4.1's powerful compositing feature and a little creative thinking. In other good news De Ruiter revealed that he is releasing the source-code which he hope will help others to use these features, and encourage them to see what they can do. The "Composite3DDemo" is included on the AmigaOS 4.1 Update 5 CD and can be downloaded from the web link shown below. Please also check the link to the "YouTube" video.
About Hans de Ruiter & HDRLab: Hans de Ruiter is an electrical & electronic engineer and leading AmigaOS developer and Amiga enthusiast. His website - HDRLab - details various projects, many of which are AmigaOS related. The biggest of these is the RadeonHD driver for AmigaOS, an ambitious project that aims to deliver modern graphics capabilities for the AmigaOS platform.
Links:
Composite 3D Demo download (http://hdrlab.org.nz/projects/amiga-os-4-projects/c3d/)
RadeonHD development log (http://hdrlab.org.nz/projects/amiga-os-4-projects/radeonhd-driver/radeonhd-development-log/radeonhd-chip-0-32-bug-fixes-and-fully-working-2d/)
Composite 3D Demo video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDDBhGLTPPI/)
A-EON Technology (http://a-eon.com/)
YouTube Link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDDBhGLTPPI&feature=player_embedded#!
-
Another small step for man, another giant leap.....
...Oh, OK, so it isn't exactly the moon landing but it is great news and another step in the right direction. Well done Hans, great stuff.
-
Another small step for man, another giant leap.....
...Oh, OK, so it isn't exactly the moon landing but it is great news and another step in the right direction. Well done Hans, great stuff.
And that man is Hans...you're the man! :)
-
what happened..an OS4 thread and no usual suspect moobunny clan here yet:laughing:
-
what happened..an OS4 thread and no usual suspect moobunny clan here yet:laughing:
Let me break that streak and say it's good news. :)
-
Am I the only one who was never all that infatuated with the boing-ball demo? I'm sure it was kind of cool at CES and all, but compared to absolutely anything else that makes use of the Amiga hardware it's pretty underwhelming...
-
Am I the only one who was never all that infatuated with the boing-ball demo? I'm sure it was kind of cool at CES and all, but compared to absolutely anything else that makes use of the Amiga hardware it's pretty underwhelming...
-
what happened..an OS4 thread and no usual suspect moobunny clan here yet:laughing:
What are you on about now?
I think everyone *expects* Aeon to develop drivers for their system...
-
Am I the only one who was never all that infatuated with the boing-ball demo? I'm sure it was kind of cool at CES and all, but compared to absolutely anything else that makes use of the Amiga hardware it's pretty underwhelming...
It's a bit like Chinese Mooncakes. It's a tradition and people respect that, but Black Forest Gateau is way nicer.
Hello world, yup, that's Mooncakes too. Tradition, nothing more.
-
Am I the only one who was never all that infatuated with the boing-ball demo? I'm sure it was kind of cool at CES and all, but compared to absolutely anything else that makes use of the Amiga hardware it's pretty underwhelming...
Yes, later demos were much more impressive, and got much more out of the Amiga. However, the boing-ball demo was what first got people's attention. When I wrote this remake, my goals were to test certain aspects of the RadeonHD driver, and to prove a concept (3D rendering using 2D compositing). The boing-ball demo's simplicity suited these goals just fine.
Hans
-
Fair enough. I do recognize the historical significance, I just kind of don't get the degree to which it is enshrined in the Amigan consciousness...
-
What are you on about now?
I think everyone *expects* Aeon to develop drivers for their system...
its work done by one person, Hans, for different OS4 hardware, and if anyone wants to bring their own personal issues into this thread instead of supporting great work then thats just sad
-
its work done by one person, hans, for different os4 hardware, and if anyone wants to bring their own personal issues into this thread instead of supporting great work then thats just sad
wtf?!?11!? (Edit: ???!??!??!11!!??1!!???1!!)
-
What are you on about now?
...
usually the opposite of what you're on about;)
@ dammy
:)
@ commodorejohn
the boingball demo was the very first thing many of us ever saw on the first Amiga 1000 back in the day and yes the influence of that original demo still remains strong in my mind ! heck to thinkmy friends back then were praising their Apple II systems with mono graphics and tiny 'beeps' for sound LOL
@ Hans
thanks again !
-
Real entertaining little demo to watch and a fun nod to history.
-
Fair enough. I do recognize the historical significance, I just kind of don't get the degree to which it is enshrined in the Amigan consciousness...
It had lapsed for a long while, but Escom / Amiga Technologies brought it back into the public consciousness in 1996/1997 with their marketing and licensing programs, and it's been back with us ever since.
@ Thread
Call me old fashioned, but I'm damn impressed with this demo. There's life in 2D yet! Nice work, Hans.
-
Fair enough. I do recognize the historical significance, I just kind of don't get the degree to which it is enshrined in the Amigan consciousness...
Did you see this demo in 1985 when it was first shown on dealer demo Amiga 1000s (just before the computer became publicly available)?
I think it might have been a case of "you had to have been there". It certainly left a lasting impression, when we still all owned 8-bit computers.
I realise it's not impressive compared to what came later, but it's like people who were there for the original Star Wars in the 1970s....the later movies had better special effects, but this one was like nothing that had come before, so you remember it.
-
Did you see this demo in 1985 when it was first shown on dealer demo Amiga 1000s (just before the computer became publicly available)?
I wasn't born until some 16 months after the CES show, so that'd be a "no" ;D
I think it might have been a case of "you had to have been there". It certainly left a lasting impression, when we still all owned 8-bit computers.
I realise it's not impressive compared to what came later, but it's like people who were there for the original Star Wars in the 1970s....the later movies had better special effects, but this one was like nothing that had come before, so you remember it.
As I said, I get that there is some significance to it...it just seems that people's sentimental attachment is a bit wildly out of proportion, to me. Less like Star Wars, I think (which is still a hell of a film today, and I'll have unkind words for anybody that says differently,) and more like Grateful Dead concerts - certainly there's a lot of legitimate talent on display, and certainly it must have been better yet in person (live shows always are,) but on the other hand there's a tendency for them to grow in the telling, so that they become less concerts and more epoch-making life-changing experiences...until you pop in a bootleg tape and listen to it and go "well, I haven't achieved nirvana yet..."
I dunno, that's just my reaction.
-
I wasn't born until some 16 months after the CES show, so that'd be a "no" ;D
As I said, I get that there is some significance to it...it just seems that people's sentimental attachment is a bit wildly out of proportion, to me. ..
well let's just say that your first sentence makes the second sentence make sense;)some things in life you just have to be 'there' to truly experience it
-
I wasn't born until some 16 months after the CES show, so that'd be a "no" ;D
As I said, I get that there is some significance to it...it just seems that people's sentimental attachment is a bit wildly out of proportion, to me. Less like Star Wars, I think (which is still a hell of a film today, and I'll have unkind words for anybody that says differently,) and more like Grateful Dead concerts - certainly there's a lot of legitimate talent on display, and certainly it must have been better yet in person (live shows always are,) but on the other hand there's a tendency for them to grow in the telling, so that they become less concerts and more epoch-making life-changing experiences...until you pop in a bootleg tape and listen to it and go "well, I haven't achieved nirvana yet..."
I dunno, that's just my reaction.
Just imagine a world without Boing Ball, and then - suddenly - there IS Boing Ball!
I'll pause while that sinks in...
-
Just imagine a world without Boing Ball, and then - suddenly - there IS Boing Ball!
I'll pause while that sinks in...
If he wasn't born until 16 months after the Amiga A1000 was released, I don't see how he can imagine a world of green screens with just an MSDOS prompt and flashing cursor, or some very crude screens, and menus, then all the sudden something like the Juggler or Boing Ball demos show up and a few million jaws drop to the floor.
It is like the difference between living by candlelight and then suddenly being taken to modern day Las Vegas at night with all the lights turned on.
-
Nice Boing :-)
I need to say that once when my dad was at the Amiga store picking up my Amiga500 from repair, there was two kids outside that went: "næææh Amiga !!"
Which roughly translates into "Whooooaaaa Amigaa !" And this was just from seeing the box carried out of a computer store .. !
Tønsberg Spaceworld , Norway .. :-)
Sadly the store was incompetent and did not fix my problem with the keyboard of the miggy, (capslock lamp flashing and keyboard locking up).
But this is a different story.
Soo, Amiga WAS big ! For sure.. at its heyday.
-
If he wasn't born until 16 months after the Amiga A1000 was released, I don't see how he can imagine a world of green screens with just an MSDOS prompt and flashing cursor, or some very crude screens, and menus, then all the sudden something like the Juggler or Boing Ball demos show up and a few million jaws drop to the floor.
It is like the difference between living by candlelight and then suddenly being taken to modern day Las Vegas at night with all the lights turned on.
I remember BBC micro's being sold in Boots the chemist, the joy of the amazing graphics on 3d Ant attack and my first picture made with DPaint on the A500. It was all so damn exciting.
Now the most exciting things are either jailbreak projects (I really enjoyed turning my original XBox into a true multi media centre, among other projects) and new Amiga stuff. It all feels so incremental these days. Back in the day great leaps in computing made us all pay attention, it's just not the same now, it's just one little hop after another.
The Boing Ball marks a leap, one that made an impact on anybody who saw it at the time. It should be remembered for that.
-
The Boing Ball marks a leap, one that made an impact on anybody who saw it at the time. It should be remembered for that.
AMEN! When it was first on display, attendees were caught looking under the table for the VCR that was playing the tape of the "High End" animation. :roflmao:
-
It is like the difference between living by candlelight and then suddenly being taken to modern day Las Vegas at night with all the lights turned on.
Hey, what wrong with 40 column greeen screens? ;-)
BTW, excellent comparison.
TrevorD
-
Am I the only one who was never all that infatuated with the boing-ball demo? I'm sure it was kind of cool at CES and all, but compared to absolutely anything else that makes use of the Amiga hardware it's pretty underwhelming...
except it was what 30 years ago and I have yet to see a PC do it with the proper tilt of the axis.
If one has been done please show me where I can find it.