SAN FRANCISCO, April 20 /PRNewswire/ --

- Company Releases Caustic RT - Flexible Development Platform for 
No-Compromise Raytracing

Today Caustic Graphics released CausticRT(TM), the worlds only massively
accelerated raytracing system for achieving breakthrough levels of quality in
interactive, cinema-quality 3D computer graphics. The Caustic development
platform, which includes a raytracing accelerator card and SDK, are now
available to qualified developers so they can create new or port their
existing 3D applications to Caustic and deliver fast, efficient raytracing to
their customers.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090420/SF01320)

Raytracing duplicates the natural physics of light, creating stunning
images by meticulously tracing the path of light to and throughout any given
scene. Light rays naturally scatter in many different directions (incoherent
rays), and tracing and shading them requires memory access to many disparate
parts of the scene, a previously impossible caching task. CausticRT is based
on a breakthrough algorithm that addresses this issue and organizes
incoherent rays into a data flow that takes advantage of the full
computational power of CPUs and GPUs.

"CausticRT does not displace a GPU or CPU in a graphics system, rather it
acts as a co-processor that traces rays and schedules the results in a manner
that allows GPUs or CPUs to shade them as efficiently as they do with
rasterization," said James McCombe, co-founder and CTO of Caustic Graphics.
"We are working with an emerging developer community to create new or port
their existing renderers and applications to Caustic so artists and designers
can take advantage of the photorealism and visual effects that make
raytracing so compelling over rasterization."

"A breakthrough in raytracing would have a tremendous impact on our
customers, allowing them to significantly shrink design cycles, communicate
concepts quickly at a highest level and get designs to market faster," said
Gray Holland, chief design officer at Nemetschek Allplan GmbH, global leader
in design technologies for the architecture, engineering, and construction.
"I am enthusiastic about what Caustic has created and will be evaluating it
for potential integration into our product lines."

The release of CausticRT includes the CausticOne(TM) raytracing
accelerator card and the CausticGL(TM) programming API. CausticGL is a
programming API based on OpenGL. CausticOne is an optional co-processor that
works with CausticGL. It unlocks the ability of your GPU/CPU to efficiently
shade and allows it to render stunning 3D imagery up to 20 times faster than
it can today. A supporting SDK includes documentation, access to the support
portal and knowledgebase, and a one-year subscription to hardware and
software updates, as well as technical support. For details go to
http://caustic.com/caustic-rt_intro.php.

The first product being ported to Caustic is Brazil(TM) from graphics
innovator SplutterFish. Caustic Graphics recently acquired SplutterFish in
order to fully demonstrate Caustic implemented in a production renderer and
allow the company to document and streamline the process for other
developers. Brazil is currently implemented in 3ds Max and Rhinoceros 3D, and
as a standalone renderer. It will support CausticRT in its next release due
out early next year.

Pricing and availability

The CausticRT platform is US $4,000 and includes CausticGL, a CausticOne
card, and one year of firmware and software updates. Developers may also
purchase a one-year subscription for US $2,500 that includes support for up
to 10 incidents. Also available is CausticEngage(TM) a consulting services
program for developers that want additional support in creating or porting
their application to CausticRT. All are available now at www.caustic.com.

About Caustic Graphics

Caustic Graphics, creators of CausticRT, is reinventing raytracing and
changing how interactive cinema-quality 3D graphics are produced, used, and
enjoyed. The company is headquartered in San Francisco and funded by angel
investors. For more information, please visit www.caustic.com .