The Linux Foundation, the nonprofit organization enabling mass innovation through open source, today announced an intent to form the Open 3D Foundation to accelerate developer collaboration on 3D game and simulation technology. The Open 3D Foundation will support open source projects that advance capabilities related to 3D graphics, rendering, authoring, and development. As the first project governed by the new foundation, Amazon Web Services, Inc. (AWS) is contributing an updated version of the Amazon Lumberyard game engine as the Open 3D Engine (O3DE), under the permissive Apache 2.0 license. The Open 3D Engine enables developers and content creators to build 3D experiences unencumbered by commercial terms and will provide the support and infrastructure of an open source community through forums, code repositories, and developer events. A developer preview of O3DE is available on GitHub today. For more information and/or to contribute, please visit: https://o3de.org

3D engines are used to create a range of virtual experiences, including games and simulations, by providing capabilities such as 3D rendering, content authoring tools, animation, physics systems, and asset processing. Many developers are seeking ways to build their intellectual property on top of an open source engine where the roadmap is highly visible, openly governed, and collaborative to the community as a whole. More developers look to be able to create or augment their current technological foundations with highly collaborative solutions that can be used in any development environment. O3DE introduces a new ecosystem for developers and content creators to innovate, build, share, and distribute immersive 3D worlds that will inspire their users with rich experiences that bring the imaginations of their creators to life.

Samsung is readying a powerful Arm-based SoC rivaling Apple's groundbreaking M1 silicon, under its Exynos brand. This chip is being designed for thin-and-light notebooks, as well as premium tablets, essentially letting Samsung target Apple's MacBook (M1) and iPad Pro form-factors. Unlike Apple, Samsung won't be burdened with having to rally its ISV partners to develop specifically for its hardware; the company is preparing to launch notebooks in the second half of 2021 that are powered by a Windows 10 on Arm derivative. This would give the notebook access to all of the applications already developed for the OS, including Office and certain Adobe Creativity Suite apps. The M1-rivaling Exynos chip will pack the latest-generation 64-bit Arm CPU cores, as well as an integrated GPU designed by AMD.

NVIDIA today released the latest version of GeForce Game Ready drivers. Version 466.11 WHQL comes with optimization for "Mortal Shell," including support for raytracing and DLSS. The drivers also add NVIDIA Reflex support for "Valorant" with its latest patch. The drivers also integrate NVIDIA Broadcast noise reduction feature into OBS. The list of monitors with support for NVIDIA G-SYNC grows, with the addition of LG's 2021 G1, B1, C1, and Z1 series monitors; and the MSI MAG301RF.

Among the bugs fixed with GeForce 466.11 drivers are low frame-rates on "Supreme Commander/Supreme Commander 2," RAW files showing up black on Adobe Lightroom; "Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 VR" stuttering on machines with hardware-accelerated GPU scheduling disabled; and some displays showing incorrect color levels after booting into Windows. Grab the drivers from the link below.

DOWNLOAD: NVIDIA GeForce 466.11 WHQL

NVIDIA Wednesday released a Hotfix update to its GeForce software. Version 461.33 Hotfix addresses a few glaring bugs with the software that need to be immediately put out than waiting for the next WHQL update to take shape. For starters, the update fixes an Adobe Premiere Pro crash observed when using Mercury Playback Engine with CUDA GPU acceleration.

An application hang with NVIDIA Broadcast camera filters seen after GeForce 461.09 drivers has been fixed. Certain stuttering and lagging issues observed with Steam VR have been fixed. Random crashes with "Detroit: Become Human" have been fixed. Incorrect colors on Zoom video calls when using NVENC have been fixed. "Assassin's Creed Valhalla" crashing after extended gameplay has been fixed. "X4: Foundations" game crashes on GeForce RTX 30-series GPUs, and a broken HUD in Vulkan API mode, has been fixed. Grab the drivers from the links below.

DOWNLOAD: NVIDIA GeForce Hotfix 461.33 Standard | NVIDIA GeForce Hotfix 461.33 DCH

ViewSonic Corp., a leading global provider of display solutions, showcases its latest display solutions ranging from monitors for gaming and work-from-home environments to projectors for entertainment and portability. Packed with the latest technology features for functionality and designed for multiple applications, these ViewSonic display solutions deliver performance that remains uncompromised.

ViewSonic will introduce its line of new display solutions, including the company's first 8K ColorPro monitor with Adobe RGB and color-sensor and -blind modes; new ViewSonic ELITE gaming monitors including a 32-inch, 4K, HDMI 2.1 monitor with FreeSync for next-generation PC/console gaming; a value-rich 4K projector for astounding entertainment and casual gaming experiences, and an upgraded LED-based, 1080p portable projector with smart connectivity.

Over the last year, we've seen a lot of interest in a new category of PCs designed for content creators. With high-end specifications and serious styling, these new creator PCs are being marketed to animators, designers, photographers, videographers, musicians and other digital content creators. Today, to meet growing demand from our press and retail partners, we're releasing two new benchmarks for measuring the performance of creator PCs. These two benchmarks use popular Adobe applications to test PC performance for photo editing and video editing work.

Enthusiast creators now have easy access to many of the same software tools used by professionals. Add increasingly powerful, yet affordable PC hardware, and creators have everything they need to develop their talent and unlock their potential. For creators who make a living from their craft, focus and productivity are key. When the process gets in the way, creativity suffers. Even the smallest interruption can break the flow. Longer delays from loading images or exporting video files are even more frustrating. Creator PCs promise to smooth out the wrinkles in the production process. Many manufacturers are now offering dedicated systems for content creators. Benchmark scores offer an easy way for creators to compare the performance of these different systems.

Today at Adobe MAX, HP Inc. announced its latest innovations to the HP Create Ecosystem to capture, create, and experience. HP continues evolving the Create Ecosystem, offering creators new remote solutions and the necessary tools to collaborate, accelerate workflows, and iterate, ensuing they can truly share their creations and work in real-time from any environment. Additionally, the next-generation Z by HP and DreamColor displays are reimagined with the creator in mind, providing seamless color accuracy, industry-leading performance, and an ultra-thin frameless design.

As creators work in new hybrid work environments, the need for the right technology and tools to keep them productive, connected, and collaborative has never been more essential. Eighty percent of companies are doing what they can to keep up with today's new normal by accelerating the adoption of collaboration applications for workers. Even in a pandemic, the creative community never stops creating as consumers still crave the entertainment and the escape that artists, designers, and engineers bring to the world. The importance of enabling remote work for creators will continue to increase, with 80% of creators reporting a desire to continue to work from home post-pandemic.

Without question, MSI is not only the market leader in the gaming hardware industry but also the pioneer in the Content Creation market with an innovative range of technologies. As the world tends to be unpredictable, MSI keeps on developing products with stylish, stable, and the best performance for all kinds of creators. Today, MSI launched the brand new Content Creation Desktop PCs: Creator P100X and Creator P100A with another new monitor, Creator PS321QR & Creator PS321URV, designed for creators and multi-taskers.

George Nelson, one of the most creative designers in the mid-20th century, played a very important role in that period and was representative of the Mid-Century Modern style. George Nelson always foresaw the unknown world and put his imagination into the creation of living objects. The MSI Creator P100 series was gifted with clean lines, geometric forms, gentle organic curves, a love for different materials, and functionality that meet the desires of different creators. Instead of making just a "PC", Creator P100X and P100A will be part of creators' life with a stylish, luxury & aesthetic design.

BenQ, a global leader in digital lifestyle devices, continues its legacy of excellence in photo and video editing monitors with the debut of SW321C. The 32" 4K UHD display lets professionals create better work, faster. Expertly calibrated screen uniformity, HDR10 support, and new Paper Color Sync for color accurate print previews make SW321C the best 4K monitor for photo and video editing.

Designed with photographers in mind, SW321C features BenQ's new Paper Color Sync, which enables screen-to-photo color matching for soft proofing images before printing. By matching the image on the display to your paper profile, SW321C allows precise results while easing workflow. The new monitor also incorporates updated Uniformity Technology to ensure edge-to-edge display consistency. Also noteworthy, the innovative panel is specially designed to reduce reflection and glare to absolute minimal levels.

ASUSTOR Inc. is now included in the list of Adobe official video and audio partners. Every ASUSTOR Network Attached Storage (NAS) provides high capacities as well as backup capabilities, providing professional creators with a secure and professional video and audio creation environment. In order to meet the needs of both professional creators and remote workers, ASUSTOR has optimized this solution for Adobe Creative Cloud video applications, providing a safe storage solution for both video and audio content as well as enabling smooth collaboration between teams of content creators. ASUSTOR NAS devices support a wide variety of videos, music, images and other files in a safe and stable storage space, exceeding the standards of professional designers in both content creation and remote collaboration.

Newer ASUSTOR NAS devices have faster Ethernet connections, including but not limited to 2.5-Gigabit or 10-Gigabit Ethernet. These connections enable quicker uploads and downloads, especially for those who work with files in Adobe products. For those working with Adobe products, ASUSTOR provides a comprehensive backup solution that greatly improves the experience for working with photos, images, videos and music. ASUSTOR also has multiple ways that content creators can manage and store multimedia, including, but not limited to remote backups, cold storage with MyArchive and ASUSTOR Live, which broadcasts and records live streams to multiple platforms. ASUSTOR NAS continues to be an excellent choice for Adobe creative professionals.

Acer today announced a new suite of premium notebooks, desktops, and monitors to expand its ConceptD line, a series of powerful devices specifically designed for creators. Included in the lineup is the ConceptD 3 notebook range featuring the ConceptD 3 Ezel convertible notebook for creators on the move, the powerful ConceptD 100 desktop for content creators who work in small businesses and creative studios, and a trio of ConceptD monitors such as the ConceptD CP5, the ConceptD CP3 and the ConceptD CM3 for computer graphics professionals.

The ConceptD Series includes a variety of devices to suit the creative needs of professionals across the board from design students and YouTube enthusiasts to CAD designers, video editors, illustrators and animators.

MSI, following its glorious success of being a pioneer to launch a laptop with Mini LED panel, the Creator 17, now unveils another laptop from the best-in-class series, a refined laptop designed just for professional artists- the Creator 15! The Creator 15 packs with every important feature for experts from animators, filmmakers to the 2D retoucher. It is powered by the latest 10th Gen. Intel Core i7 H series processor and NVIDIA GeForce RTX SUPER graphic to load all your imagination, and outfitted with touch screen for more efficiency to catch up with your unlimited creativity.

The Creator 15 is crafted with a solid aluminium chassis and low-profile sandblasted carbon gray finish to create a minimal yet professional design. However, underneath the stunning hood is not simple at all! The powerful core is precision-engineered into an ultra-thin profile laptop for advanced creators. The latest 10th Gen. Intel Core i7-10875H processor, delivering faster performance up to 40% with 8 cores to run your software, while the world's most powerful NVIDIA GeForce RTX GPUs provide high-end cinematic-quality rendering. The new generation is designed for multitasking and pro-level processing jobs, whether it's graphic design, video editing, or 3D rendering, the Creator 15 can exceed your expectations and bring your imagination into life.

As we reported earlier this week, the release of Adobe Premiere Pro 14.2 brought GPU acceleration to select NVIDIA and AMD GPUs taking advantage of NVIDIA's NVENC chips to boost encoding and decoding speeds. Intel has now showcased the improvements to encoding and decoding with Intel Quick Sync Video (QSV) on 11th generation iGPUs found in mobile Ice Lake chips with Adobe Premiere Pro 14.2.

Compared to the previous 9th generation graphics found in Skylake and Kabylake CPUs the new 11th generation iGPUs perform anywhere from 49-82% better. While impressive, these performance gains can only be found on limited low power 10 nm mobile chips with a maximum of four cores and are yet to arrive on desktop platforms.

Adobe is releasing an important feature update to Premiere Pro later this week, which promises to introduce significant improvements to video encoding performance by better leveraging GPU acceleration. The new version 14.2 of Premiere Pro will leverage NVENC to boost encoding by over 5 times compared to CPU. The suite leveraged shaders to accelerate video effects and improving export times, but until now hadn't leveraged NVIDIA's hardware encoder. For machines with GeForce and Quadro GPUs, this means improved export times on H.264, H.265, and HEVC codecs. Without getting into specifics, Adobe mentioned that Premiere Pro will tap into video hardware acceleration capabilities of AMD Radeon GPUs, too.

Update 07:55 UTC: Adobe posted release notes of the latest version 14.2 of Premiere Pro. The list of system requirements needed for hardware-accelerated H.264 and HEVC encoding appears vague beyond pointing out that you need a compatible graphics solution. The list of compatible GPUs includes a wide selection of NVIDIA GPUs covering both its professional Quadro and consumer GeForce brands. On the AMD front, however, only the professional Radeon Pro SKUs are listed, and no consumer Radeon RX series SKUs.

ASUS today announced ProArt Display PA32UCX-P and PA27UCX, 4K HDR monitors for professional content creators with groundbreaking Off-Axis Contrast Optimization (OCO) technology that maintains color accuracy in wide-angle viewing and makes the monitors ideal collaboration tools. The 32-inch PA32UCX-P and 27-inch PA27UCX feature mini-LED backlighting and support for multiple HDR formats, including Dolby Vision, HDR10 and Hybrid Log Gamma (HLG). PA32UCX-P offers a peak brightness of 1200 cd/m² with 1152 zones of local dimming control, and PA27UCX offers a peak brightness of 1000 cd/m² with 576 zones.

Designed to give content creators professional-grade color performance, PA32UCX-P and PA27UCX come pre-calibrated and provide a Delta-E (ΔE) color accuracy of less than one in the sRGB and Adobe RGB color spaces. They also feature quantum-dot technology that supports the DCI-P3, Rec. 709, Rec. 2020, sRGB and Adobe RGB color spaces. For seamless calibration, the monitors are compatible with most major calibrators and professional calibration software.

Leading PC manufacturer GIGABYTE officially launches today, on April 16, a new generation of laptops for its AERO series, a line of creator laptops that proudly received the 2020 Red Dot Design Award. The new generation laptops come with 10th Gen Intel Core H-series processors and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 20 SUPER graphics, complete with a free Adobe Creative Cloud 3-month subscription a giveaway that is worth US$238.47, offered by major GPU manufacturer NVIDIA. Today, on April 16, GIGABYTE officially launches a new generation of AERO series creator laptops fitted with 10th Gen Intel Core H-series processors: 15-inch AERO 15 OLED with 4K UHD display; 17-inch AERO 17 HDR; 15-inch AERO 15 with FHD 144Hz; and 17-inch AERO 17 with FHD 144Hz.

The world's first Microsoft Azure AI notebooks, GIGABYTE's AERO series laptops are equipped with artificial intelligence that detects the use of applications and collects configuration data of processors, graphics, and fans. Learning from the Azure cloud-based database, the AI automatically optimizes the laptop's configuration to offer a stable and comfortable work environment for creators, thus eliminating the need for manual configurations. With Intel Core i9-10980HK processors, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER graphics cards, and improved AI, the new laptops receive a significant boost in performance, executing 3D rendering on Cinema 4D 30% faster than the previous generation could.

BenQ today announced the latest addition to its monitor family design for professional use. The SW321C, as it is called, is a 32-inch monitor with an IPS panel of 4K (3840×2160p) resolution. The panel itself is a 60 Hz screen with 250 nits of brightness, 1000:1 contrast ratio, 5 ms GtG response time, and it offers 178-degree viewing angles, which is standard for IPS panels. When it comes to the color coverage and the ability to accurately represent them, the SW321C features 95% of the DCI-P3, 99% of the Adobe RGB, and 100% of the sRGB color gamut. It has a 16-bit 3D look-up table (LUT) and features calibration for DeltaE ≤ 2.

The monitor comes with HDR10 specification, however, due to the brightness of 250 nits, it is not capable of performing any serious HDR content editing. Another interesting note is that this monitor supports Hybrid Log-Gamma (HLG) standard, which is an uncommon one. For input, the monitor had support for one DisplayPort 1.4, two HDMI 2.0, and one USB-C port. There is a dual-port USB hub, which has an SD card reader right next to it, making this very useful feature for photographers. Exact pricing and availability of this monitor are unknown, however, it is supposed to hit the market soon.

EIZO Corporation (TSE: 6737) today announced the release of the ColorEdge CS2740, a 27-inch, 4K UHD (3840 x 2160) monitor for creative work, complete with USB Type-C connectivity. Whether it be photography, video editing, or design, this monitor provides everything to keep imagination flowing.

The ColorEdge CS series is a range of monitors that include many of the advanced features of EIZO's professional ColorEdge CG series, while also meeting the varying needs and budgets of hobbyists and prosumers. The ColorEdge CS2740 is the first in the CS series to implement 4K UHD resolution, which is four times the size of Full HD (1920 x 1080). The remarkable detail ensures that high resolution content is displayed crisply. The monitor also boasts a pixel density of 164 ppi for 4K image display that has never looked smoother. Alphanumeric characters and contours are distinguished with excellent sharpness, so users can check even the finest details without needing to zoom in.

With U.S. economic sanctions on Venezuela taking effect, Adobe discontinued its Creative Cloud (CC) subscription service in the country, stranding thousands of creators without their creative apps. Adobe switched to SaaS-only in several markets and the only legal way for creators to use popular Adobe apps such as Photoshop, Premier, Acrobat, Lightroom, and Illustrator, is through CC. Much like Steam, CC is a DRM platform that lets you subscribe to Adobe apps on monthly or annual payment plans, and provides you with the latest versions of the apps, with regular updates. You also get access to cloud-storage an asset library, and a social network of creators.

Adobe's exit from Venezuela isn't sudden, the company has given Venezuelan creators until October 28th to download any content stored on their accounts. From October 29th, Adobe's servers will longer respond to requests from Venezuela. This also means Creative Cloud apps will break. CC authenticates users by dialing home each time an app is launched. If a user is falling behind on subscription payments or if the app can't reach Adobe servers, they are usually given a 14-day grace period before the app stops working. Executive Order 13884 signed by President Trump strips Venezuela of all U.S. businesses, which would include payment processors such as Visa and MasterCard.

Taking the lead in producing laptops for creators, MSI continues to expand its dream-weaver series, now unveiling a complete product line designed specifically for creatives and content creators. MSI presents the world's very first laptops equipped with the latest best-in-class processors; its newest technological innovation will make a grand debut with Intel at the IFA exhibition from September 6th to 11th. The industry pioneering Prestige 14 & 15 feature the most powerful 10th Gen Intel Core i7 processor and True Pixel display. A must-have product paired with top-performing technology that will undoubtedly fulfill and enhance the life's work of creators.

As creative devices and software continue to improve, heavy computing ability has become a crucial function for creators. MSI, always striving to create breakthrough technologies and achieve innovative excellence, has introduced the pioneering Prestige and Modern series. Outfitted with the latest processor, the Prestige series are the world's first laptops powered by a 10th Gen Intel 6-core CPU and deliver at least 50% faster performance for a more fluid creative workflow, especially during multi-threaded processing.

In an almost absolutely non-shocking move, Adobe has declared their Shockwave software plugin for accelerating web content to be going the way of the dodo when it comes to official support. The move follows the internet's advancement, where HTML5 and WebGL have superseded the usage of the proprietary Shockwave solution. A more open approach means there are a whole lot more players working on and paying attention to others' mistakes, and means there are a much higher number of developers working with the tools at any one timer than Adobe ever could dedicate engineers to.

Following its statement on Shockwave being dead, Adobe pulled the downloads from their website, meaning that no additional versions or downloads of the software are coming from the company itself. Enterprise customers won't be left hanging, with a grace period of support from Adobe with new security updates for the remainder of their contracts. Current Shockwave-based content's future is unclear, but some content is bound to become inaccessible to most users.

ASUS today released its premium 27-inch monitor, the ProArt PA27UCX. The monitor is designed to look great on corner-office desks, and packs a serious feature-set. To begin with, you get 4K UHD (3840 x 2160 pixels) resolution, with DisplayHDR 1000 compliance, true 10-bpc color (1.07 billion colors), with DCI-P3, Rec. 709, Rec. 2020 and Adobe RGB wide color gamut, and color accuracy pre-calibration. The IPS panel is illuminated by micro LEDs featuring 576 zones dynamic dimming backlight control. HDR-10 and HLG are also supported. As part of the monitor's design, it only has a single USB-C connector with DisplayPort 1.4 and 60W power draw. A hub adapts standard DisplayPort and an included power-brick.

Apple today updated its iMac line with up to 8-core Intel 9th-generation processors for the first time and powerful Vega graphics options, delivering dramatic increases in both compute and graphics performance. From consumers to pros alike, users will notice their iMac is faster for everyday tasks all the way up to the most demanding pro workloads. This boost in performance, combined with its gorgeous Retina display, sleek all-in-one design, quiet operation, fast storage and memory, modern connectivity and macOS Mojave, makes iMac the world's best desktop.

"Customers are going to love the huge boost in iMac performance. With up to 8-core processors and powerful Vega graphics, the iMac lineup is stronger than ever," said Tom Boger, Apple's senior director of Mac Product Marketing. "With its stunning Retina display, amazing design, twice the performance, and macOS Mojave that our customers love, iMac is by far the best desktop in the world."

The Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits IIS announces its first JPEG XS codec implementation for video production at the NAB Show in Las Vegas from April 9-12 2018. The coding specialists of Fraunhofer IIS will demonstrate the JPEG XS codec as an input format for post-production in a software plug-in for Adobe Premiere Pro CC with real-time playback capability of 4k60p UHD video.

With ever-increasing amounts of data from higher resolution and dynamic range in videos, long-distance transmission from coax cables in studios will soon become outdated. At the same time, production companies and studios are trying to substitute specialized cables and switches for video transmission by commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) components with the introduction of simple and cost-effective IP transmission over standard Ethernet infrastructures.

As we reported in March, the first 4K monitors with 144 Hz refresh-rate began showing up in stores. This summer, PC gamers and enthusiasts up for a monitor upgrade, are in for a treat. An increasing number of companies are preparing to launch monitors with not just 4K Ultra HD resolution (3840 x 2160 pixels), but also staggering 144 Hz refresh-rates, and support for adaptive sync technologies, such as AMD FreeSync and NVIDIA G-Sync. To push 4K at 144 Hz, you'll need your graphics card to feature DisplayPort 1.4 (or above) connectivity, as DisplayPort 1.2, or even the newer HDMI 2.0, lack the required bandwidth.

Among the first blazing fast 4K UHD + 144 Hz monitors, are the 2018 Acer Predator X27 (UM.HX0EE.009) first unveiled in 2017, and soon to be joined by the ASUS ROG Swift PG27UQ. Both monitors feature 4K Ultra HD resolution, 144 Hz refresh-rate, IPS quantum-dot panels, and support for the new NVIDIA G-SYNC HDR standard. The monitors take input from DisplayPort 1.4 and HDMI 2.0, although you will need DisplayPort 1.4 to get 4K @ 144 Hz to work correctly. The IPS quantum-dot panels feature DCI-P3 color-standards, 99% Adobe RGB coverage, and 10 bpc (1.07 billion-color) palette, in addition to 384 LED elements backlighting the panel. The ROG Swift PG27UQ starts at 2,445€ and the Predator X27 at 18,475 DKK Sounds good? Get ready to foot upwards of USD $3,000 for either of them, to go with your $3,000 TITAN V, for a 3,000-inch e-p.