Awesome Graphics

Turing is the latest tech from GPU experts NVIDIA. It represents a breakthrough in real-time ray tracing – long thought of as the holy grail of CGI due to its ability to replicate reflections. The tech is currently pricey, but we hope to see it in gaming systems someday.

A look at one of the slick 3D graphics workflows in the latest version of Autodesk Maya, the ability to no only model realistic hair, but to sculpt, paint, and groom a hairdo like a virtual hair stylist. Even individual strands of hair can be manipulated if you so choose.

Data Radar look back at the incredible progress made in video game graphics in the last five decades – from the rudimentary black and white pixels of the ’70s, to the near-photorealistic imagery of today. Next time you gripeabout a game’s graphics, watch this.

Ideally, you’ll strap on a VR headset for this, but if you don’t have one, you can still appreciate the ethereal fractal journey that Julius Horsthuis has laid before you, accompanied by excerpts from one of evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins‘ most profound lectures.

A brief look at some of the fantastic, vibrant, otherworldly, and whimsical environments created by CGI and game development students using the Unreal graphics and gaming engine. Lord of Horticulture is particularly wonderful and charming.

A visually stunning short film created entirely using the Unity Engine. The surreal science fiction short has amazing volumetric light and shadow effects, tearing fabrics, motion blur and more. Apparently, it can run in real time on a GeForce GTX980 card at 1440p resolution.

3D graphics modder Martin Bergman shows what you can do by tweaking the renderers and textures for Star Wars: Battlefront, then running the game on a powerful gaming rig with an GeForce GTX 980 Ti graphics card and an Intel Core i7 6700K CPU. More on Imgur.

Awe-inspiring footage from the upcoming space epic Star Citizen, showing off real-time footage of its incredibly robust procedurally-generated planets, which can be viewed from up close or afar, with astounding realism. Guess it’s time to upgrade our graphics cards.

California-based graphic designer Khoa Ho created this striking series of silhouettes that capture both the incredible strength and humble origins of some of our greatest imagined heroes.