Develop3D Live is the place to be this week if you are into the latest in product development technology. More than 1400 product development professionals are attending (this number does not include speakers or press or exhibitors). As GFXSpeak notes, the list of attendees reads like a who’s who of product design technology innovation: e.g. McClaren Racing, Rolls Royce, Triumph Designs, Formula One, Bosch, Volkswagen, Dyson, Airbus Olympus.
Speakers include Autodesk CEO Carl Bass, SolidWorks VP of research and development Gian Paolo Bassi, Jon Hirschtick, founder of SolidWorks and current chairman of Belmont Technologies, Efrain Rovira, ED Dell Precision Workstations, Chris Randles, CEOP SpaceClaim, Joe Graney, Dir of engineering at Santa Cruz Bicycles, industrial designer Gustovo Fontana, and sustainable design expert Dr. Vicky Lofthouse, as well as speakers from Siemens, Proto Labs, Ansys, AMD FirePro and more. All will be presenting on Dell mobile workstations using AMD FirePro graphics.
AMD FirePro technology is prominently represented in demos and presentations from Dell, LightWorks, Siemens, PTC, and NTCADCAM.
A few pics from the show from today (Just an FYI, that 4th pic is Carl Bass, CEO of Autodesk):
Desktop Engineering has published an article on CPU vs GPU computing for engineering and CAD. The article discusses using the Open Standard OpenCL programming framework, as well as Nvidia’s proprietary Cuda option. OpenCL can be used to give an application access to a GPU for non-graphical computing , such as engineering data analysis or simulation. Importantly offers the ability to use both CPUs and GPUs in combination.
AMD has integrated OpenCL as its programming framework for its FirePro family of GPUs, as well as its CPU and APU offerings. As noted by BSN AMD’s focus on OpenCL puts them in a competitive advantage against Nvidia as many of the compute programs out there tend to run faster on AMD hardware if they are optimized correctly.
So I am not the only one excited by the announcement that AMD worked with Adobe to accelerate the next release of Premiere Pro using OpenCL on FirePro graphics and APUs.
“The performance increases are said to be so dramatic that with the proper hardware it should be possible to render DV, HD and even 4K Ultra HD fast enough for it to be done on the fly, real time. This is accomplished using OpenCL.” - Niels Broekhuijsen, Tom’s Hardware
“The performance improvements are, of course, substantial. On an A10-6800K processor with integrated graphics, AMD says OpenCL acceleration yields a 4.3x speedup when one applies a three-way color corrector filter to a 1080p video and exports that video to iDevice format. The quoted processing times are 46.6 seconds with OpenCL enabled and 246.1 seconds without.” - Cyril Kowaliski, The Tech Report
“For AMD, this is a huge development, as it effectively expands the potential number of Adobe Premiere Pro customers that run systems with AMD graphics and allows the company to compete more directly with NVIDIA in this space. AMD likely especially sees good things to come for its line of FirePro professional/workstation-class GPUs.” - Seth Colaner, Hot Hardware
“Anyhow, for AMD this is of course a big deal. While some other NLEs like Sony Vegas have supported hardware accelerated effects with their cards for some time, Premiere Pro represents a sizable part of the NLE market that they were previously locked out of. Especially since this lets AMD leverage their APU advantage, including both the consumer A-series and the rarely mentioned FirePro APUs. That the A-series is being supported is actually a big deal in and of itself since Premiere Pro CS6’s CUDA path only officially supports a small number of high-end NVIDIA consumer cards, so this marks a major broadening of support on Adobe’s part.” - Ryan Smith, AnandTech
“AMD can also show the difference between NVIDIA’s latest Kepler based Quadro workstation cards using CUDA and AMD FirePro cards featuring GCN architecture and using OpenCL accelerated effects. The performance increase varies by product but the more affordable solution, the FirePro W5000, is claimed to be 27% faster than NVIDIA’s Quadro K2000. At the same ~$499USD price point, that makes the FirePro a compelling option over the Quadro card, ostensibly a quarter more performance for free.” - James Prior, Rage 3D
“Even greater improvements are in store for users of AMD’s FirePro professional graphics cards. AMD outlines some examples in this blog post. By the looks of it, FirePro GPUs don’t just speed things up over plain-old software processing; they’re also quite a bit faster than Nvidia’s competing Quadro GPUs. AMD says it’s “kicking the butt” of the Quadro K4000 and K5000 in particular.” - Cyril Kowaliski, The Tech Report
Adobe today announced that they will be previewing the next generation of their flagship video tools including Adobe Premiere Pro, Adobe After Effects and SpeedGrade.
Important to these announcements are that each of these products (along with PhotoShop) will support OpenCL and OpenGL acceleration on AMD FirePro graphic cards. By working with AMD FirePro to use open standards (as opposed to proprietary soluitons i.e. Cuda), Adobe products will be accelerated on any modern graphics card (including any moves to mobile).
The chart below (from the FireProGraphics.com Adobe CS mini site) gives some initial results of how the next version of Premiere Pro performs when accelerated by AMD FirePro workstation graphics and OpenCL compared to CPU only and also compared to Nvidia Quadro workstation graphics and CUDA. This test applied several high quality effects (filters) to video footage in real-time, such as color matching, adjustments to compensate for gamma irregularities and color shifts, color layering, primary and secondary color correction, including many effects from Adobe’s Lumetri Deep Color Engine. The test then measured the time to render the effects In and Out.
At NAB 2013 next week (April 8-11, 2013), Adobe plans to showcase the next version of Premiere Pro in its booth (#SL3910) running on AMD FirePro workstation graphics cards. Look for real-time video editing for quality as high as 4k Ultra HD, multi-stream and mixed format accelerated workflows, Eyefiniy multi-display and many accelerated effects.
If you are attending this year’s NAB be sure to check out the AMD FirePro presence at events and on the show floor.
A Taste of Vegas” Sony User Event - Monday, April 8
Melanie Ball, senior manager of ISV Alliances for AMD Professional Graphics, is one of four keynote speakers at the “A Taste of Vegas” Sony User Event . She will talk about the Sony / AMD partnership, how GPUs benefit non-linear editing workflows and why AMD FirePro technology is the best choice for Sony Vegas Pro.
Adobe booth #SL3910
Previewing the next version of Premiere Pro, up to 6X faster when powered by AMD FirePro graphics using OpenCL
ASSIMILATE Inc. booth #SL12705
Showcasing SCRATCH 4K DI workflows taking advantage of AMD FirePro DirectGMA technology that enables low latency PCIe ‘peer-to-peer’ transfers and flexible SDI I/O connectivity. 4K displays from Eizo and Sharp
Autodesk booth #SL3316
Featuring multi-monitor 3ds Max and Maya 2013 workflows
bluefish444 booth #SL9721
Demonstrating how AMD DirectGMA technology enables low latency transfers between its Epoch video cards and AMD FirePro graphics cards
Dell booth #S110LMR
Previewing the next version of Adobe Premiere Pro, with AMD FirePro technology powering an OpenCL accelerated Mercury Playback engine in Windows for blazing fast performance
Sony booth #C11001
Multi-monitor Vegas Pro workflows
Ventuz booth #SL6830
Multi-monitor display walls powered by AMD FirePro graphics, showcasing Ventuz 4, Ventuz Director and Ventuz Express
Great video explaining and showing Stony Brook University’s Reality Deck. This is the world’s first gigapixel display, comprising more than 1.5 billion pixels using 416 HD monitors and 72 AMD FirePro graphics cards, and 18 AMD FirePro S400 cards syncing video signals to create one contiguous display.
This blog gives some of the details: “In total, 416 Samsung S27A850D LED monitors were used, each running at a native resolution of 2560 x 1440 pixels. To drive this many monitors, 72 AMD FirePro graphics cards were divided amongst 18 computer systems, or nodes, and each node fitted with an AMD FirePro S400 sync module to synchronize the output across all graphics cards and systems. Each AMD FirePro graphics card fed six monitors, and each node housed four AMD FirePro graphics cards. ”
WHAT: Sony Creative Software, developers of award-winning applications for video, audio, DVD and Blu-ray production, and AMD, a leading global provider of innovative microprocessor and graphics solutions, invite you to attend their 13th annual open house to hear exciting new product announcements about Sony's professional line of multimedia production software applications. This year's speakers harbor a lustful taste for adventure, life, and the latest in production technology, and bring it all together to create some of the most exciting content around. Don't miss this year's event!
WHEN: Monday, April 8, 2013 from 6:30 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. WHERE: Las Vegas Convention Center, Room N250 REGISTER: Pre-registration is required to attend, as space is limited: http://vasst.com/nab2013.aspx
KEYNOTE SPEAKER:
Christopher Coppola – With over 25 years in filmmaking and television production, as well as fifteen years of experience lecturing on film and digital media, Christopher R. Coppola has established himself both as an expert and auteur. Born in Los Angeles, Calif., he is a digital entrepreneur, as well as a seasoned film director, writer, and producer.
When he's not in front of a camera or a classroom, he's the Director and CEO of Christopher Coppola Enterprises/PlasterCity Productions Inc., a full-service creative and production studio, and the Founder and CEO of Project Accessible Hollywood (PAH), a non-profit organization that brings digital empowerment and education to underserved communities and individuals worldwide.
Christopher is currently producing “Biker Chef,” wherein a “biker dude rides the lonely highway with a cat in goggles, cooks experimental gourmet cuisine and breaks bread with people from all walks of life.” As Biker Chef, Christopher shows his taste for the unconventional. At this year's User Event, he'll discuss his approach to film production and using Sony Creative Software products in PAH.
GUEST SPEAKERS:
Melanie Ball – With over 14 years of experience, Melanie is AMD's senior alliance manager in the Media & Entertainment market sector. Representing AMD FirePro at numerous industry and 3rd party conferences, Melanie strongly believes that the power of the right graphics backbone can push the boundaries of software applications like Sony Vegas Pro and is excited to be part of this ever growing community of artists and creative professionals.
Douglas Spotted Eagle – Audio/video professional, Douglas Spotted Eagle is the Managing Producer for the Sundance Media Group, Inc. and VASST. Along with receiving several Grammy, DuPont, Peabody, and Telly awards, he has authored numerous books and DVDs on media production. He's an accomplished aerial photographer and remains active as a multimedia producer, trainer, and presenter, utilizing the latest technology as part of his workflow.
Justin Fornal – Filmmaker and adventurer Justin Fornal's alter ego Baron Ambrosia has been nominated for multiple Emmys, and won for Best Narrator/Host in the television series Bronx Flavor. Aside from his TV show, Justin has produced two acclaimed cult-favorite independent films. Justin is also executive producer, host, and writer of The Culinary Adventures of Baron Ambrosia, currently airing on the Cooking Channel.
Ric Viers – Ric Viers is considered to be the world's largest independent provider of sound effects, with over 250,000 sounds and more than 600 sound effects with his company, Detroit Chop Shop. His sound design work can be heard in countless productions across television, film, radio, and video games. Ric is the author of “The Sound Effects Bible,” a comprehensive guide to recording, editing, and designing sound effects.
GIVEAWAYS:
AMD FirePro V5900 Graphics Card
Prizes from Detroit Cop Shop, BorisFX, iZotope, ProDAD, Sony, Sorenson and VASST
Join Saratech plus other industry experts from Siemens PLM, AlphaSTAR, and AMD FirePro at the 2013 CAE & Advanced Engineering Technical Forum. Discuss and share practical ideas and processes to achieve product development objectives using digital simulation, computer aided engineering (CAE) and advanced engineering methods/tools.
Topics include:
Composites analysis methodology for Aerospace components
Best practices for Design and Analysis integration
EK Water Blocks announced a water cooling solution for the AMD FirePro W9000 and S10000 server graphics cards.
This full-cover (see pic) water block directly cools single and dual GPUs, RAM as well as VRMs (voltage regulation module) as water flows directly over these areas thus allowing the graphics card and it’s VRM to remain 100% stable under any given workload. The water block features a high flow design so it can be easily used in liquid cooling systems with weaker water pumps.
Both solutions provide a single-slot design thus doubling the computing power per unit compared to factory heatsink fan (HSF) cooling solution.
FireUser.com is a community resource for CAD, visualization, 3D, video and engineering professionals to learn about the latest acceleration and display technologies and news with a focus on the AMD FirePro workstation graphics line.
