DesignWorks, Nvidia’s newly announced suite of software tools, technologies, and libraries for designers enables “photoreal rendering for unparalleled accuracy, easy transfer of materials and digital models between applications, and the ability to incorporate virtual reality into design software,” the company said in a press announcement. Alongside the launch of DesignWorks, Nvidia also announced two new professional GPUs: the Quadro M5000 and Quadro M4000, based on Nvidia’s Maxwell GPU architecture.

Elements of DesignWorks were shown last year for use by visual effects studios enabling closer collaboration between artists and near real-time rendering. This was especially useful in lighting applications.

The DesignWorks suite, which was demonstrated extensively at a SIGGRAPH media event, makes many of the tools and techniques that have been used extensively in cinematic productions available to industrial designers, architects and product designers. A demonstration by the architectural firm Gensler displayed much crossover between the environmental design of a building and the development of a movie or game world.

DesignWorks’ other tools for product design enable the seamless transfer of design data. Practical applications for entertainment translate into prototyping, manufacturing, propmaking, and set construction as well as transfer of design elements between visual effects and game developers.

DesignWorks also includes a suite of VR tools for design and display. A highlight is VR for Cinema, which Nvidia is showcasing in conjunction with WETA Digital. In their announcement they said, “’Thief in the Shadows,’ created by Weta Digital and Epic Games, is a fully immersive experience, set in the ‘Lord of the Rings’ universe, that lets viewers take on the role of a hobbit prowling for treasure in a dragon’s lair.”