Cinema 2.0: The Next Chapter in the Ultimate Visual Experience™ Story

Cinema 2.0 defines a new reality in which the boundary separating movies and video games has blurred to the point where one becomes intertwined with the other. Whereas once cinema was a passive, albeit visually compelling experience, it is quickly changing into an interactive medium. At the same time the image quality of video games has evolved from flat two-dimensional blocks to photorealistic environments barely discernible from reality.

Until recently, the technology to deliver cinema-quality video games was out of reach for most gamers. The launch of the ATI Radeon HD 4800 series changed that, putting the power of a supercomputer within reach of every video game and digital media enthusiast.

Introducing the ATI Radeon™ HD 4800 series of graphics cards, with over 1 TeraFLOPS of computing power.

Welcome to Cinema 2.0.

Courtesy of JulesWorld/OTOY and BLR studios ( run time: 40 sec )

On June 16, 2008, AMD demonstrated a milestone achievement in ultra-realistic and interactive visual computing through the processing power of its forthcoming "RV770" codenamed teraFLOPS graphics chip.

AMD news release
Video of news conference
Other Cinema 2.0 event videos
Photos
Cinema 2.0 Twitter feed
AMD Unprocessed Facebook page
Developer Video Transcript (PDF 44KB)
Gamers Video Transcript (PDF 41KB)
Halon Video Transcript (PDF 40KB)
Robert Rodriguez Video Transcript (PDF 41KB)

The demonstration of what AMD terms the "Cinema 2.0 experience" punches a sizeable hole in the sensory barrier between today’s visionary content creators and the experiences they desire to create for audiences around the world. The Cinema 2.0 demo showed the fusion of dynamic real-time interactivity with convincing cinematic digital effects that appear to be real places and things captured on video.

AMD this summer plans to introduce the world’s highest performing graphics processor ever – a chip more powerful than every generation of video game console ever brought to market combined, with one full teraFLOPS of processing power per chip.

Featured Videos

	How the Lightstage Works These videos by USC's Institute of Creative Technologies shows how an actor's kinetics can be scanned into a PC to create a 3D model that can later be controlled by a video game engine. Lightstage walk cycle demonstration Rendered head of a girl showing life-like detail Lightstage head demonstration Courtesy of Paul Debevec, USC Institute of Creative Technologies Graphics Lab; Lightstage LLC
	The World's First Digital Actor This video shows how actor data captured by the LightStage can be manipulated. Image Metrics technology allows the programmer to control Emily's spoken words and facial expressions. Courtesy of Image Metrics; Paul Debevec, USC Institute of Creative Technologies Graphics Lab.
	3D Holgraphic Display Demonstration This device uses vertical projection and spinning mirrors to create a 3D hologram viewable from all sides. 3D art assets or data from a lightstage can be fed into the device. Courtesy of Paul Debevec, USC Institute of Creative Technologies Graphics Lab; Lightstage LLC.
	The power of a supercomputer for less than $200! The ATI Radeon HD 4850 represents a breakthrough in the metrics of performance per dollar and performance per watt. For $200 MSRP, the ATI Radeon HD 4850 delivers 1.0 TeraFLOPS of compute power, more than enough to fuel an incredible game experience. (1:55)
	Some of the brightest game developers discuss the quest for Cinema 2.0 in the game industry. With past and future game credits ranging from Crysis to Enemy Territory: Quake Wars to Rogue Trooper to The Outsider to Alan Wake, some of the brightest game developers discuss Cinema 2.0. While their opinions range from three, to five, to 10 years of development until the first Cinema 2.0-quality games, all agree that faster graphics hardware is essential to accelerate that inevitable but elusive level of game realism. (3:12)
	Professional gamers contemplate the Cinema 2.0 experience. Professional gamers Cameron Hatzmann and "Frag Dolls" member Alyson Craghead envision the Cinema 2.0 game play experience, anticipating that it will completely change the way they look at games. But no matter how great the experience, it should be affordable and energy efficient. (2:13)
	A timeline of video game industry innovations and breakthroughs From 1972 to 2007, this video shows highlight innovations in the video game industry: wireframe 3D, polygons, the transition from 8- to 16- to 32-bit, and the addition of high dynamic range lighting. (1:30)