Course Description

Recent announcements of various next-generation, low-level graphics APIs have generated much enthusiastic interest among developers, and early results show dramatic performance gains over prior APIs. This introductory course provides an overview of switching from current to next-gen APIs; discusses similarities between next-gen APIs; covers basic API details for DirectX12, Vulkan, etc.; explores specific case studies from developers working with these APIs; and includes a chance to ask questions of a panel of spec writers and game developers.

Intended Audience

Attendees interested in learning about new graphics APIs, including students, rendering engineers, and others interested in DirectX 12, Vulkan, etc.

Prerequisites

Knowledge of prior-generation graphics APIs.

Syllabus

9:00 am Course Introduction and Welcome

Chris Wyman (NVIDIA Research)

9:05 am Next-Generation Graphics APIs: Similarities and Differences

Tim Foley (NVIDIA Research)

9:35 am A Whirlwind Tour of Vulkan

Graham Sellers (AMD)

10:05 am Direct3D 12