Last year the only thing I knew about Siggraph, the annual computer graphics (CG) conference was that it was the place where Pixar premiered most of their short film works. Then in the spring, I received a gracious offer from Renderosity.com to report on the 2008 conference which was taking place in my home town of Los Angeles, California. Of course, I jumped at the offer and spent an entire week last August trying to keep my jaw off the floor. “Ah, THIS is what Siggraph is about”, I thought to myself when it was over. It was like a circus, trade show, movie festival and lecture tour all rolled in to one. I would run from one panel to the next and then on to something else like a madman. Then I’d end the day blogging about it for Renderosity.com and fall into bed exhausted. Nemerc (Sergio) our other front page reporter/reviewer warned me, but I wouldn’t listen. I wanted to do everything and see everything. I’m a Siggraph addict now.
Which means I’ll be heading out to New Orleans for the 74th Special Interest Group on GRAPHics and Interactive Techniques (Siggraph) conference being held August 3-7, 2009, at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center near the Riverwalk section of New Orleans. This is the 3rd time Siggraph has held their annual convention in New Orleans (the others were 1996 and 2000). Apparently, right after awful disaster of hurricane Katrina, Siggraph ACM was one of the first organizations to approach the city aboutsetting up CG conference in 2009. Further, Siggraph is reaching out to the local New Orleans community by establishing a graphics lab in a local high-school, pairing mentors and young people interested in CG and providing free admission to the convention, along with several other smart programs. Congratulations to ACM Siggraph (the organization that organizes and runs the conference) for having such a big heart. Perhaps future CG artists will find their inspiration at Siggraph 09 or in one of the out-reach programs mentioned
Every year the Siggraph conference has a theme. This years theme is “Networking Your Senses”, a concept that is basically about the convergence of computer graphics and interactive digital techniques which Ronen Barzel, this year’s conference chair, calls “forms of digitally mediated communication”. The approach to the theme is primarily through an emphasis on music and sound. The music part will sure fit in well with New Orleans and it’s grand history of American musical styles like jazz and blues. Siggraph has teamed up with the New Interfaces in Musical Expression (NIME) symposium to present a variety of content in the sound and music track. There will be daily performances and panels, along with a special session of the Animation Festival called “Visual Music” and the Studio section of the conference will have technology, software and expert help in the current and new technologies of sound and music. Since I edit sound for animation, both areas are of particular interest and I plan on spending a lot of time exploring this area. I’ll certainly be there when Randy Thom gives his keynote speech “Designing a Movie for Sound”.
Other new areas of emphasis at this years conference include Siggraph’s first ever inclusion of “realtime rendering” as a track. This essential means that the games industry is now a full participant at the conference. Will Wright will be giving a keynote address as a games specialist (I guess conceiving and designing SimCity, The Sims and Spore qualifies him). From a machinima perspective, I think it’s going to take some time before there is general acceptance of machinima as a viable artform, especially at Siggraph, which has an academic slant to it already. One of my goals is to be a ambassador for machinima to people I meet at Siggraph. Wish me luck.
The animation festival will be featuring films created in a real-time render environment and the Sandbox Symposium, a separate section of the conference which was devoted to video games, is now part of the full conference. The conference will also feature a first-time “Game Jam” where participants will compete to create a unique video game in only 24 hours. Of course, there are numerous panels, courses and papers on real-time rendering as well. One particular panel I plan on attending is “Building a Story in Games; No Cut Scenes Required” with Danny Bilson from THQ, Inc. and Bob Nicoll from Electronic Arts.
One of my favorite parts of last years conference was the Art Gallery. It was an oasis of calm and quiet in the middle of the Broadway lights/sounds of the exhibitors hall. This year the theme is BioLogic art which is the intersection of nature and technology. Experiencing a beautiful installation and then being able to chat with the shy inventor standing next to the artwork is a wonderful experience. Perhaps it iseven central to the Siggraph conference experience.
3D technology was certainly a strong part of last years conference and it’s no different this year. Especially if you consider that the tech for 3D gaming is right around the corner. Watching Unreal 3 in 3D last year was an amazing experience. Plus, Coraline in 3D was the best theater experience I’ve ever had with 3D. And wouldn’t you know it, there will be a Coraline panel this year (I’ll be front row center). And along with papers, courses and panels on 3D, there will be two special guest speakers; Bill Whitehill, from Pixar, will give a talk on “Visual Storytelling in 3 Dimensions” and Peter Lude, a senior vice-president at Sony Electonics will discuss “3D to the Home: What Can Possibly Go Wrong?”. Mark my words, 3D is the next revolution in computer graphics.
This year I hope to spend more time at the animation festival and talking with exhibitors in the exhibition hall. I spent too much time last year in classes and panels where the topics were over my head. I guess I thought it was a bit like college. And you can follow this track, say, if you are a graduate student in CG. But the secret to Siggraph is that the conference is what you make it to be. It is planned with such care and thought, you can follow a dozen different tracks and each one will provide an entirely different experience. And if you don’t believe me, check out this advance program for Siggraph 2009 and I think you’ll see what I mean. Personally, I’m planning on meeting people, experience art, talk a lot about animation (especially machinima which I’ll be promoting to everyone I meet) and learn about new and updated software that interests me (not to mention
some nice dinners in the Quarter).
One fellow I hope to hook up with for an informal interview is Florian Witzel, a German motion-graphics/3D designer and filmmaker based in New York and working for the incredible effects/design company Psyop. He’ll be presenting at the Autodesk booth. His personal projects (especially “Fall of Antioch” which is available at his personal website) are phenomenal. I hope he has the time to chat.
And, of course, I’ll be text and photo blogging here at Renderosity.com on each day of the conference. I hope to share my discoveries with you and perhaps give you a glimpse of the magic that Siggraph 2009 will offer. But not before I have my first beignet and chicory flavored coffee at Cafe du Mond. My sincere thanks to Renderosity.com for giving me the opportunity of attending the conference in New Orleans this year. I look forward to seeing Jason and Jenifer and the gang at the Renderosity booth Pictures of Jason and his special “raffle techniques” will be posted.
Blog Update: I’ve finally bit the bullet and joined Twitter, so I’ll be, ahem, twittering daily (doesn’t that sound obscene?) while attending Siggraph. Also, looks like Wolf & Dulci will be broadcasting live from the conference. Very much looking forward to meeting them. John Martin and Charles Chen (CEO) from Reallusion will be on hand and I hope to spend a good chunk of time chatting with them about iClone and Crazy Talk. Will also be meeting up with Paulo de Almada, created of the Vicon Motion Capture film award for his wonderful “Twisted Murder”.
I’ll be bringing my new Canon HV-20 HD camera along with me, so I should have some decent footage to share when I get back.
I can’t wait!
Note: this post was originally published at renderosity.com in an shorter, edited form. Re-posted with permission.
