VMD-L Mailing List

From: John Stone (johns_at_ks.uiuc.edu)
Date: Thu Nov 13 2014 - 00:21:33 CST

Hi,
  I've posted another updated test version of VMD with the
interactive GPU-accelerated ray tracer. The new version adds
support for depth-of-field effects (see new items at the bottom of the
"Display Settings" menu), and many other improvements:
  http://www.ks.uiuc.edu/Research/vmd/alpha/optix/

I will be posting new example images with depth of field and
other features tomorrow as I get a chance.

Cheers,
  John Stone
  vmd_at_ks.uiuc.edu

On Thu, Oct 30, 2014 at 11:33:12AM -0500, John Stone wrote:
> Hi,
> Since VMD 1.9.2 beta 1 was released, I have been working
> hard on making the first version of a new interactive GPU ray
> tracing feature available before VMD 1.9.2 ships. I have had
> a small group of people testing the code up until now, but I
> think it's time to get feedback from a broader range of users,
> particularly since several hundred people have already been
> downloading and testing the previous VMD beta version that
> includes the batch-only version of the GPU ray tracer.
>
> The new VMD build _REQUIRES_ the latest NVIDIA driver versions.
> You MUST be running NVIDIA driver version 344.xx or later otherwise
> you will not be able to use new GPU ray tracer.
> Best results will be obtained on GPUs that contain several gigabytes
> of GPU memory. GPUs with 4GB of memory are in the sweet spot where
> you can render even fairly large scenes without running out of memory.
>
> The reward for going through the trouble to update to the latest
> driver version is that this new version of VMD can do real-time
> interactive ray tracing for large molecular scenes, at rates of
> 20 to 60 frames per second, even when sophisticated rendering
> effects such as ambient occlusion light or depth of field are
> enabled, by virtue of the use of a progressive rendering approach
> that refines the image when the view orientation is not changing.
>
> The new interactive GPU ray tracer is currently listed in the VMD
> File|Render menu as "TachyonL-OptiX (live real-time GPU display)".
>
> The interactive ray tracer will open a new graphics display window,
> which uses similar control keys to the main VMD graphics display,
> and it also supports the use of the SpaceNavigator input devices.
>
> I have posted a 64-bit Linux VMD test build for RHEL 5.x systems,
> and I'm writing initial documentation for it here:
> http://www.ks.uiuc.edu/Research/vmd/alpha/optix/
>
> The new VMD test version also supports depth-of-field rendering in
> the standard CPU versions Tachyon, and POV-Ray.
>
> I would appreciate feedback users have when they begin testing
> the new features. I will be updating the documentation as
> questions, problems, and solutions arise.
>
> Cheers,
> John Stone
> vmd_at_ks.uiuc.edu
>
> --
> NIH Center for Macromolecular Modeling and Bioinformatics
> Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology
> University of Illinois, 405 N. Mathews Ave, Urbana, IL 61801
> http://www.ks.uiuc.edu/~johns/ Phone: 217-244-3349
> http://www.ks.uiuc.edu/Research/vmd/ 

-- 
NIH Center for Macromolecular Modeling and Bioinformatics
Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology
University of Illinois, 405 N. Mathews Ave, Urbana, IL 61801
http://www.ks.uiuc.edu/~johns/           Phone: 217-244-3349
http://www.ks.uiuc.edu/Research/vmd/