NVIDIA Releases Gelato 2.1 Film Quality Rendering Software

NVIDIA Corporation, the worldwide leader in programmable graphics processor technologies, today announced the release of NVIDIA Gelato 2.1 high-quality, GPU-accelerated rendering software, which now includes support for Joe Alter’s Shave and a Haircut software for computer-generated hair and fur effects. Other enhancements in this newest release of Gelato include support for Autodesk Maya 8.5 and 3ds Max 9.0, improved stereo rendering, fog lights, and significant performance improvements.

“Gelato is extremely powerful rendering software capable of delivering amazing results,” said Joe Alter, CEO Joe Alter, Inc. “Now, with support for Shave and a Haircut, Maya users can easily add Gelato to their rendering pipelines to achieve extremely realistic hair and fur-Gelato is a potent rendering solution for Maya/Shave users.”

Gelato 2.1 is available as a free download at www.nvidia.com/gelato. Gelato Pro 2.1, priced at $1500, offers advanced rendering features and greater scalability for professional production pipelines. Volume pricing and educational discounts on Gelato Pro 2.1 are also available.
Gelato is final-frame rendering software for the creation of high-quality computer-generated images that is accelerated by the NVIDIA Quadro ® FX and NVIDIA GeForce ® graphics hardware. Originally developed to render film and broadcast visual effects and animation, Gelato is well-suited for any 3D software application that requires high-quality rendering such as animation, game development, CAD, industrial design, and architecture. Gelato ships with plug-ins for Autodesk Maya and Autodesk 3ds Max.

New Features in Gelato 2.1
Significantly faster raytracing and ambient occlusion
1. Improved stereo rendering features new off-axis and parallel projection modes and a better anaglyph (red/blue) display in the image viewer
2. Mango plug-in for Autodesk Maya improvements:
– Shave and a Haircut 4 support
1. Maya 8.5 support
2. 64-bit Maya support (currently Linux only, Windows 64-bit coming soon)
3. Easy multi-pass rendering
4. Full support for Maya texture bake sets
5. Fog lights: volumetric effects for spotlight cones

Improvements to Frantic Films’ Amaretto for Autodesk 3ds Max plug-in include:
3ds Max 9 support
1. Sorbetto™ relighting functionality now available for 3ds Max
Improvements in Gelato Pro Sorbetto relighting technology:
Interactive adjustment of camera parameters, including depth-of-field and stereo controls
1. Dynamic shadows
Gelato 2.1 and Gelato Pro 2.1 currently support the Windows XP and Linux operating systems and run on NVIDIA GeForce 5200 or higher graphics, or any NVIDIA Quadro solution. Gelato Pro is certified and supported only on NVIDIA Quadro solutions. For more information about the features of Shave and a Haircut, visit www.joealter.com.

www.nvidia.com