NVIDIA Principles of Shading Demo (2000) – Cubemaps & Normal Maps in Action

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Published on September 5, 2025 9:30:37 AM ● Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eV3DUl3DT-k

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Step back to the year 2000 with NVIDIA’s Principles of Shading demo, originally released for the GeForce 2/3. This retro showcase let you experiment with different textures on NVIDIA’s classic 3D logo, demonstrating how varying shading techniques could completely change the look and realism of a model.

In this video, I dive into the file structure and see how the demo works under the hood, all while enjoying some classic early-2000s demo vibes — complete with retro music, cubemaps, and normal maps from the early-era of graphics. A true time capsule of GPU history at the turn of the millennium.

🖥 ️ Links & extras below 👇

Some links from the research in this video:

📖 Info on the GeForce 2 series:
🔗 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GeForce_2_series.
🔗 https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/tom,184-2.html.
🔗 https://www.techpowerup.com/gpu-specs/geforce2-mx.c792.

📖 Info on OpenGL 1.2:
🔗 https://www.khronos.org/opengl/wiki/History_of_OpenGL#OpenGL_1.2_(1998.)

📖 Info on DX7:
🔗 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Direct3D#Direct3D_7.0.

📖 Installing software with old 16-bit installers:
🔗 https://reactos.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=22.
🔗 https://community.pcgamingwiki.com/files/file/111-installshield-3-32-bit-generic-installer/.
🔗 https://community.pcgamingwiki.com/files/file/364-installshield-5-32-bit-generic-installer/#goog_rewarded.

❓ What’s the difference between Bump, Normal, Parallax maps? (AskAGameDev):
🔗https://askagamedev.tumblr.com/post/95739492476/could-you-explain-the-difference-between-bump..

Check out the NVIDIA Lightning Demo:
   • NVIDIA Lightning Demo (2000) – Real-Time P...  

NVIDIA demos here:
🔗https://www.nvidia.com/en-gb/geforce/community/demos/..

Deeper info on DX8 Shader programming and Matrix Palette Skining:
🔗https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/archive/msdn-magazine/2001/june/directx-8-0-enhancing-real-time-character-animation-with-matrix-palette-skinning-and-vertex-shaders..
🔗https://www.ece.uvic.ca/~bctill/papers/mocap/Davies_2004.pdf..
🔗https://registry.khronos.org/OpenGL/extensions/ARB/ARB_vertex_program.txt..
🔗https://registry.khronos.org/OpenGL/extensions/NV/NV_vertex_program.txt..
🔗https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ARB_assembly_language..
🔗https://developer.download.nvidia.com/cg/arbvp1.html..

📖 History of DirectX:
🔗https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DirectXtX

📖 History of NVIDIA:
🔗https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/about-nvidia/corporate-timeline/..

📖 More advanced grass rendering:
🔗https://developer.nvidia.com/gpugems/gpugems/part-i-natural-effects/chapter-7-rendering-countless-blades-waving-grass..

📖 NVIDIA Turf Effects (Gameworks DX11):
🔗https://developer.nvidia.com/turfeffectsts

❓ What is bump mapping?
https://www.reallusion.com/iclone/Help/iClone3STD/15_Multiple_Channel_Texture_Mapping/Types_of_maps.htm...
https://studylib.net/doc/5718914/emboss-bump-mapping...
https://help.autodesk.com/view/ARNOL/ENU/?guid=arnold_user_guide_ac_legacy_standard_ac_bump_mapping_html...
❓ What is Flat shadihttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shading#Flat_shadingg...
❓ What is Gouraud shadhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gouraud_shadingud...
❓ What is Phong shahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phong_shadingg_s...
❓ What other types of shading are https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_common_shading_algorithmst_of...

#NVIDIA #PrinciplesOfShading #GeForce3 #TechDemo #RetroGaming #GraphicsHistory #PCGamingHistory #RetroPCGraphics #Cubemaps #NormalMaps #2000sGaming