high performance computing on graphics processing units: hgpu.org

Real time rendering of animated crowds has many practical multimedia applications. The Graphics Processor Unit (GPU) is being increasingly employed to accelerate associated rendering and deformation calculations. This paper explores skeletal deformation calculations on the GPU for crowds of articulated figures. It compares a few strategies for efficient reuse of such calculations on clones. We further propose ideas that will reduce chances of detecting such duplication. The system has been implemented for modern PCs with Graphics Accelerator cards that support GPU Shader Model 3.0, and come with accelerated bi-directional PCI express bus communication. We have achieved a realistic crowd population of 1000 animated humans at interactive rates.