Raytracing caught the eye at the GDC 2018, but NVIDIA also introduced a new version of VXGI, its Voxel Global Illumination solution inspired by Sparse Voxel Octree Global Illumination (SVOGI). As you may recall, VXGI was first introduced several years ago by NVIDIA’s senior technology development engineer, Alexey Panteleev, who shared a presentation at the 2014 GPU Technology Conference. However, to date, no commercial game has implemented VXGI, in all likelihood due to its high-performance cost.
NVIDIA VXGI 2.0, Enhanced Performance and High-Quality Lighting
A couple of years later, VXAO (Voxel Ambient Occlusion) was introduced as a dedicated solution for environmental occlusion with several advantages over other similar technologies: superior image quality, smoother response to camera shake, finer details and greater accuracy. VXAO is also much less resource intensive than Voxel Global Illumination and was implemented in Rise of the Tomb Raider, as well as in the recent edition of Final Fantasy XV: Windows. However, while providing superior image quality, performance is still not where it should be.
However, NVIDIA and Panteleev are not giving up. At the recent Game Developers Conference 2018, it hosted a presentation to showcase the advances in VXGI development, which will soon lead to the release of a new version 2.0 and integration with Unreal Engine 4.
VXGI 2.0 includes several enhancements, including one-step voxelization (which Panteleev says can almost double performance in most cases), support for custom G-Buffer and View Reprojection designs for VR games, simpler voxel formats, simpler and more flexible materials, simpler plotting controls, improved temporary and magnification filters, and several additional fixes.
4-bay, rackmount models for group work
Overall, this should make life easier for developers to implement VXGI 2.0 in games, having a lower impact on lower performance with higher image quality.