Brazil R/S Explained

Brazil R/S
Logo Alt:Logo of Brazil R/S
Developer:SplutterFish LLC
Released:1.0 / [1]
Discontinued:yes
Latest Release Version:2.0
Latest Release Date:[2]
Latest Preview Version:3.0 beta
Latest Preview Date:[3]
Genre:Rendering system
License:Proprietary
PowerVR Brazil SDK
Developer:Imagination Technologies
Latest Release Version:1.1
Discontinued:yes
Platform:OpenRL
Genre:Rendering system
License:Proprietary

Brazil Rendering System was a proprietary commercial plugin for 3D Studio Max, Autodesk VIZ and Rhinoceros 3D. Steve Blackmon and Scott Kirvan started developing Brazil R/S while working as the R&D team of Blur Studio, and formed the company SplutterFish to sell and market Brazil. It was capable of photorealistic rendering using fast ray tracing and global illumination.

It was used by computer graphics artists to generate content for print, online content, broadcast solutions and feature films. Some major examples are ,[4] Sin City,[5] Superman Returns[6] and The Incredibles.[7]

Imagination Technologies announced Brazil's end-of-life, effective May 14, 2012.[8]

PowerVR Brazil SDK

Caustic Visualizer
Developer:Imagination Technologies
Latest Release Version:1.3
Discontinued:yes
Platform:Maya, SketchUp
Genre:Rendering system
License:Proprietary
Neon
Developer:Robert McNeel & Associates
Latest Release Version:1.0 SR1[9]
Platform:Rhinoceros 3D
Discontinued:yes
Genre:Rendering system
License:Proprietary

Splutterfish was acquired by Caustic Graphics in 2008[10] (which was later acquired by Imagination Technologies in December 2010.)[11]

After Splutterfish's acquisition by Caustic Graphics, they began a rewrite of Brazil r/s using Caustic's OpenRL API to leverage Caustic's raytracing hardware. The new render engine was initially publicly called the "Brazil 3.0 SDK"[12] but was later renamed the "PowerVR Brazil SDK".) [13]

The PowerVR Brazil SDK was used in Caustic Visualizer, a real-time rendering plugin for Maya and SketchUp, and Neon, a viewport rendering plugin for Rhinoceros 3D.[14] Caustic Visualizer for Maya and R2100/R2500 hardware were EOLed on June 13, 2014[15] [16] and Caustic Visualizer for SketchUp was EOLed on March 23, 2015.[17]

In 2015 Imagination Technologies introduced the PowerVR Wizard GPU architecture, that integrated Imagination's hardware raytracing cores. Wizard replaced the OpenRL API with vendor-specific OpenGL ES raytracing extensions. The Brazil SDK, using its internal name 'Resin', was updated to demo the new architecture.[18]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: SplutterFish Announces Worldwide Availability of Brazil Rendering System v1.0. 3 September 2002. CG Society. 19 July 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20150929073839/http://www.cgsociety.org/index.php/cgsfeatures/cgsfeaturespecial/splutterfish_announces_worldwide_availability_of_brazil_rendering_system_v1. 29 September 2015. dead.
  2. Web site: Brazil r/s v.2. 29 November 2007. CG Society.
  3. Web site: Imagination previews Brazil 3.0 Beta running on OpenRL at SIGGRAPH 2011. 9 August 2011. Imagination Technologies.
  4. Web site: Revenge of the Sith: Part 2 — Digital Environments Strike Back . Desowitz, Bill . VFXworld.
  5. Web site: 'Sin'-ful effects . Crabtree, Sheigh . Hollywood Reporter . 2008-07-22 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20050417031601/http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/crafts/feature_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000865347 . 2005-04-17 .
  6. Web site: Brazil r/s 2.0 Announcement Press Release . 2008-07-22 . Splutterfish LLC . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20081203153619/http://www.splutterfish.com/sf/WebContent/PressBrazil2Announced . 2008-12-03 .
  7. Web site: Inside the Incredibles . 2008-07-22 . Computer Arts.
  8. Web site: End-of-Sale and End-of-Life Announcement . 14 May 2012 . 4 February 2013 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20130205052339/https://www.caustic.com/splutterfish/index.html . 5 February 2013 .
  9. http://v5.rhino3d.com/group/neon/page/neon-change-log Neon change log
  10. Web site: Important Announcement from Caustic Graphics . https://archive.today/20130407224532/https://caustic.com/splutterfish/forums/showthread.php?t=24269 . dead . 7 April 2013 . 4 December 2009 . 4 February 2013 .
  11. Imagination Technologies plc – Acquisition Announcement . 4 December 2010 . 4 February 2013 . 14 March 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130314104140/http://imgtec.com/corporate/newsdetail.asp?NewsID=602 . dead .
  12. https://imgtec.com/news/press-release/imagination-previews-brazil-3-0-beta-running-on-openrl-at-siggraph-2011/ Imagination previews Brazil 3.0 Beta running on OpenRL at SIGGRAPH 2011
  13. https://web.archive.org/web/20210916211323/http://www.prweb.com/releases/2012/4/prweb9395485.htm
  14. http://www.cgchannel.com/2013/02/can-raytracing-really-kill-raster-graphics/ Can raytracing really kill raster graphics?
  15. https://web.archive.org/web/20140809022256/https://getvisualizer.com/series2-eol End-of-Life Announcement - Caustic Series2 Ray Tracing Accelerator Cards & Visualizer for Autodesk Maya
  16. http://www.cgchannel.com/2014/07/imagination-technologies-retires-caustic-visualizer-for-maya/ Imagination retires Caustic Visualizer for Maya
  17. https://web.archive.org/web/20150409191815/https://www.getvisualizer.com/ Visualizer for SketchUp - Official End-of-Product Announcement
  18. https://imagination-technologies-cloudfront-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/idc-docs/gdc16/2_Ray%20Tracing%20API%20Overview.pdf Ray Tracing on the Wizard GPU