Trixels, a catchy name, and a word that is on the lips of many in the computer graphics and animation industry. But what are Trixels? What advantage do they offer to the future of digital design? For those answers we went straight to the source. Dave Feldman who works in the RTG division of Metacreations was kind enough to illuminate us. RTG stands for Real Time Geometry and handles research and development for the company. As you probably know, Metacreations is a real leader in creating innovative solutions to graphics challenges. They are the producers of Kai’s Power Tools, the Ray Dream suite of programs and Bryce 2 among other excellent programs.
When asked to explain what Trixels are, Feldman explains that they are analogous to pixels. What makes a Trixel different is the amount of data it contains. A Trixel contains the colour information for any given point along with that point’s position in three-dimensional space. In graphics terms, a Trixel contains both RGB and X, Y, Z data.
The next question was obvious. What uses does Metacreations foresee for this new technology? Feldman explained that the core demand for Trixel technology will be in the area of image compression and transfer. Elaborating further, Feldman explained that the beauty of Trixels is that they are fundamentally incremental and totally asynchronous.
Dave went on to elaborate on the superior compression provided by Trixels. Because Trixel data is incremental and asynchronous the more data that is transmitted, the better the image becomes. In other words you could send 50k of an image electronically. If the image quality was insufficient you could simply send another 25k of data. This is similar to the interlacing used on Internet graphics but vastly better. As more data continues to stream in, the more the picture improves. The same thing would not be possible with current compression methods such as JPEG, because once the graphic is compressed the quality and size is fixed. If more quality is required the graphic must be re-compressed.
As another example, Feldman pointed to video streaming . Because it is asynchronous, meaning not confined to a rigid structure, video compressed by Trixels would not have to be transmitted frame by frame in it’s entirety. Only the difference between each frame is broadcast. For instance, in a typical talking head video, if only the mouth and eyes are moving, only the data representing those areas will be transmitted. The advantage to this is obvious. Far less data has to be transferred, allowing superior video quality, faster playback and shorter transmission times.
Asked to sum up the beauty of Trixels in one sentence, Feldman answered that it is their ability to describe image detail efficiently. This results in a memory savings he explained, and more importantly, allows for incremental increases in image quality.
Finally Feldman was asked to comment on the future that Metacreations foresees for Trixels. He replied that they were already adapting it to use in packages such as Ray Dream Designer and other programs that they produce. He also admitted that they were discussing the possibility of licensing the technology to other companies in the industry but he declined to comment further on what that might involve.
It is obvious that Trixels hold a lot of promise for improving graphics technology. This is not surprising from a company like Metacreations. Innovation seems to be the norm for them. It seems safe to say that we will hear more about Trixels in the months to come as the RTG group continues to refine and expand their role.
The Real Time Geometry has a website which you can find at www.rtgeom.com and we will have further coverage of RTG's projects as we are informed.
Darris Dobbs operates HieroglyFX Design in Wichita KS and contributes to Visual Magic. He can be contacted by email at Hieroglyfx@aol.com.