With Siggraph approaching, we asked Conference Chair Joe Marks to guide us through the highlights for this week’s fxpodcast. For our online story, we also asked Paul Debevec to give us his personal ‘Picks of the Papers”, plus we highlight some of the fun and not so fun surprises in store in San Diego with the Viking Animation Lords.
Siggraph 2007
There is a lot taking place at the 34th International Conference and Exhibition on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques, 5-9 August 2007 in San Diego, California, USA. In this week’s podcast we speak with Joe Mark, Conference Chair from Walt Disney Animation to get a personal guide to this years event, how to plan for your week, what to see and what’s new. From the Sunday night’s Paper’s Fast Forward to the Electronic theatre, Joe Marks steps through planning your time at Siggraph. And for those readers who aren’t going, fxguidetv will be streaming daily netcasts from Siggraph everyday of the show!
The Papers
The highlight of any Siggraph is the Papers. Marc Levoy (the 2007 Papers Chair) and his jury did a fantastic job at not only reviewing and selecting all of this year’s papers but also seeking out the very best computer graphics research from around the world. For an overview of the papers, check out this
Most of the papers are available on the web for this years conference – if you want to get a head start at This web site but we thought we’d get some expert advice from a friend to point us in the right direction.
Paul’s Pick of the Papers
All the papers are great, the standard is exceptionally high but we asked Paul Debevec for a personal opinion on some of the papers he is personally really looking forward to seeing: In no particular order, here are Paul’s top five personal picks to watch out for in this year’s Conference: (in fact there are so many good papers – Paul picked 6)
Here are some of my favorite papers picks
1) Scene Completion Using Millions of Photographs
A method for filling holes in images using semantically and structurally similar scenes from a large internet photo library.
James Hays
Alexei A. Efros
Carnegie Mellon University
2) Image Deblurring With Blurred/Noisy Image Pairs
A novel method to deblur an image, with the help of another noisy image of the same scene. The paper also proposes new methods of de-ringing the deconvoluted image.
Lu Yuan
The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
Jian Sun
Microsoft Research Asia
Long Quan
The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
Heung-Yeung Shum
Microsoft Research Asia
3) The Lightspeed Automatic Interactive Lighting Preview System
A system for automatic interactive preview of RenderMan scenes during lighting design. Lightspeed automatically creates previews from unmodified input, supports final-quality motion-blur/transparency, and guarantees interactivity performance through progressive refinement.
Jonathan Ragan-Kelley
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Charlie Kilpatrick
Brian Smith
Industrial Light & Magic
Doug Epps
Tippett Studio
Paul Green
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory
Christophe Hery
Industrial Light & Magic
Frédo Durand
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory
4) Frequency Domain Normal Map Filtering
A method of filtering normal maps that convolves the BRDF with the normal distribution function (NDF). The NDF can be represented in spherical harmonics or by using a new spherical vMF representation.
Charles Han
Bo Sun
Ravi Ramamoorthi
Eitan Grinspun
Columbia University
5) Dappled Photography: Mask-Enhanced Cameras for Heterodyned Light Fields and Coded Aperture Refocusing
This method exploits Fourier-domain remapping of 4D ray-space to capture 4D light fields on a 2D sensor in a conventional camera using a transmissive mask. No lens array is used.
Ashok Veeraraghavan
Ramesh Raskar
Amit Agrawal
Ankit Mohan
Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories (MERL)
Jack Tumblin
Northwestern University
6)Image and Depth From a Conventional Camera With a Coded Aperture
A simple modification to a conventional camera that allows for simultaneous recovery of both high-resolution image information and depth information from a single image.
Anat Levin
Rob Fergus
Frédo Durand
William T. Freeman
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory
Computer Animation Festival
There was a record number of submissions for this year’s Computer Animation Festival
The Computer Animation Festival jury selected from a record 905 submissions for exemplary use of computer-generated imagery and animation, and compelling storytelling. With show categories ranging from animation to research, this year’s submissions originate from countries across the globe including France, Germany, Japan, Poland, South Korea, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and New Zealand. Also, for the first time in the history of SIGGRAPH, two of the award-winning films are student entries. A total of 134 submissions were accepted.
“I’m thrilled with the jury’s selections. With the record number of submissions, our material truly represents the best of the best in all of the show categories,” stated Paul Debevec, SIGGRAPH 2007 Computer Animation Festival Chair from the University of Southern California’s Institute for Creative Technologies. “This year’s show weaves together amazing visuals from numerous disciplines into a single mind-altering experience.”
2007 is a notable year for studio-produced shorts with Pixar’s “Lifted,” Blue Sky’s “No Time for Nuts,” and Blur Studio’s “A Gentlemen’s Duel” lending heavy-hitting strength to the Electronic Theater show.
“The Electronic Theater also presents a watershed year for fluid simulation in feature films. Scanline’s ‘300’s Liquid Battlefield,’ Sony Pictures Animation’s ‘Surf’s Up,’ and Digital Domain and Industrial Light and Magic’s ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ all feature uniquely executed but beautifully believable digital oceans and waves,” added Debevec.
SIGGRAPH 2007 Computer Animation Festival highlights include:
Ark (Best of Show)
Grzegorz Jonkajtys and Marcin Kobylecki, www.thearkfilm.com, Poland
An unknown virus has destroyed almost the entire human population. Oblivious to the true nature of the disease, the only remaining survivors escape to the sea. In great ships, they set off in search of uninhabited land untouched by the deadly virus. So begins the exodus, led by one man …
Dreammaker (Jury Honors)
Leszek Plichta, Institute of Animation, Visual Effects, and Digital Post Production, Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg, Germany
In the past, this talented dreammaker created the most beautiful dreams for people. Now, he lives in solitude focused on only one purpose – the creation of a special dream – his dream …
En Tus Brazos (Award of Excellence)
François-Xavier Goby, Edouard Jouret, Matthieu Landour, Supinfocom Valenciennes, France
A remarkable tale of the greatest tango dancer of the 1920’s who finds himself confined to a wheelchair after an unfortunate accident. Thanks to his loving wife, he recovers the use of his legs just in time for the most magical dance of his life.
Lifted
Gary Rydstrom, Director, Pixar Animation Studios, California, USA
A bumbling young alien student from a distant world tests the patience of an increasingly weary instructor as he attempts a first-time abduction of an innocently slumbering farmer in “Lifted,” the comical latest short film from Pixar Animation Studios.
A Gentlemen’s Duel
Francisco Ruiz & Sean McNally, Directors, Blur Studio, California, USA
In “A Gentlemen’s Duel,” a new short film presented by Oscar-nominated Blur Studio, this time-honored tradition is re-imagined with a fantastic blend of boisterous characters and over-the-top comedic action. A seemingly innocent tea party takes a turn for the dramatic when two imperious aristocrats suddenly find themselves competing for the affections of the same fair lady.
Travelers: Snowball
Dan Lemmon, Weta Digital Ltd, New Zealand
“Travelers: Snowball” begins with a man walking down a steep street in San Francisco. He crashes through a yard sale, before tumbling head-over-heels down the hill. As the man continues to roll he creates a “snowball effect,” accumulating objects from the street to create an enormous ball of urban debris.
A VFX Journey Through Pan’s Labyrinth with CafeFX
CafeFX, California, USA
When the harsh world of the Spanish Civil War becomes too horrific to bear in director Guillermo del Toro’s visually rich and complex “Pan’s Labyrinth,” young Ofelia escapes inward, finding in her imagination the power to heal her real-world wounds. Challenged to create the mythical creatures and landscapes of Ofelia’s fantasy, CafeFX embarked on an artistic and technical journey spanning four months of location shooting and five months of post production.
New This Year
IP Marketplace
This is a new service for a nominal fee, inventors and owners of patents, software libraries, circuit cores, etc. can list them for sale or license. Potential buyers can peruse the listings and then contact sellers in person at the conference to discuss purchase or licensing. The details of each deal will be decided solely by the buyer and seller.
FJORG!:
FJORG! is a contest of skill, creativity, and endurance. Teams of iron animators will be challenged for 32 hours straight to create an animated sequence of at least 15 seconds in length.
“Every year SIGGRAPH brings the brightest minds together from throughout the world,” says Patricia Beckmann-Wells, FJORG! Chair. “FJORG! is a unique opportunity to watch talented people put together incredible work in a limited timeframe under significant pressure. This is expected to be the most challenging animation contest in the world.”
In the first international FJORG! – an iron-animator event – competing three-person teams of CG animators have 32 hours to create a 15-second or longer animation based on a theme presented at the event, using the tools and assets provided by FJORG! Their goal is to resist the distractions and meet the deadline for creating the best character-driven animation the world has ever seen. In return for their efforts, these teams of artists will earn the attention of recruiters and talent from the top studios in computer graphics, feature films, animation, and game production
Provided Software
Autodesk Maya and 3ds Max
Softimage
Adobe Photoshop, Flash, and After Effects
TMZ
Modo
Judges
Simon Allen: Animator
Pixar Animation Studios
Scott Benza, Animation Director, “Transformers”
Industrial Light & Magic
Spencer Cook Animation Director, “Spider-Man 3”
Sony Pictures Imageworks Raman Hui
Co-Director, “Shrek the Third”
DreamWorks Animation SKG
Gregorz Jonkajtys, Directing Artist
Marcin Kobylecki, Executive Producer
“The Ark” (SIGGRAPH 2007 Computer Animation Festival Best of Show)
David Smith
DreamWorks Animation SKG
FJORG! Teams
Commandos : Joseph Daniels, David Suroviec, Crystal Dynamics, Jedidiah Mitchell, PSYOP
Hellanimation: Gil Gavish, Amit Chachek, Tomer Tvizer
The Pillage People: Jeff Gill, Will White, Robin Holstein :Savannah College of Art and Design
Animação Barros Melo : Leonardo Domingues da Silva, Antonio Farias Neto, Pedro Augusto
Seed: Jacob Patrick, Wade Hampton, Hock Wong
Impulse: Joe Garhan, Ryan Drag, Denny Jovic , Illinois Institute of Art – Schaumburg
The Henchmen: Ryan Chen, Arjun Rihan, John Helton, University of Southern California
The Grumpy Dumplin: Harry Porudominsky, Snoot Entertainment, Dane Stogner, Snoot Entertainment, Mike Safianoff, Tippett Studio
Team Mocap : Jim Levasseur, Tomas Jech, W. Jacob Gardner: Bowling Green State University
Arconyx Kenny Roy, Jake Bergman, Dan Barker: Arconyx Animation Studios
Ricochet: Minoru Okamoto, Yoko Otani, Daisuke Miyagawa: Polygon Pictures
Picture This Juan Pablo Sans Matthew Doble Julio Galan : Miami International University of Art and Design
Trible-Beat: William Moran , Blake Penido, Nick Bane: Woodbury University
TEKKAI Keiko Arase, Yusuke Miyazawa, Masataka Ajima
Prosthetic Foreheads: Kristin Callahan, 3D Energy, Erick Rohn, Rochester Institute of Technology, Ferris Webby, Rochester Institute of Technology
* fxguidetv will be there to record the … ahhh… effort 😉
Job Fair
Employers and creative professionals will once again be able to connect before, during, and after the conference! Based on the overwhelmingly positive feedback received from last year’s attendees, all of the same features and benefits will be provided again, PLUS a few new enhancements!
Siggraph is one of the best places in the world to go for a job in computer graphics, companies spend vast amounts to recruit at the show, if your thinking of changing jobs, Siggraph is a once a year chance to talk to the recruiters and drop off your reel.
Tuesday, 7 August 10 am – 4 pm
Wednesday, 8 August 10 am – 4 pm
Thursday, 9 August 10 am – 4 pm
Participating Companies
* SPECIAL OFFER For members of fxphd there is a free service to review and help prepare your showreel for Siggraph. Members can get expert advise on how to better present their reel – before Siggraph.
Featured Speakers
Each year there are featured speakers and two are of particular interest to fxguide
Glenn Entis, SVP, Chief Visual and Technical Officer, Electronic Arts
Recent Accomplishments and Upcoming Challenges for Interactive Graphics in Videogames
Glenn Entis is responsible for setting EA’s overall graphics and technical strategy, and for leading the community of over 3,000 talented artists and engineers at EA’s studios worldwide. He is also a member of the WW Studios executive team that oversees all aspects of the development of EA games. Before EA, Entis was a co-founder of PDI (now PDI/DreamWorks) and CEO of DreamWorks Interactive. In addition to his professional achievements, Entis serves on the Board of Governors for the Emily Carr College of Art and on the Advisory Board for the Masters of Digital Media, a new graduate program at Great Northern Way in Vancouver.
Monday, 6 August
Room 6 AB & CF
1:30 – 3 pm
Scott McCloud, Author and Graphic Novelist
Comics: A Medium in Transition
American comics are changing fast. Bolstered by the literary ambitions of the “graphic novel” movement, a flood of international influences and the growing importance of new technologies, the comics landscape shifts regularly in surprising and increasingly unpredictable directions. Author and comics artist Scott McCloud puts all these trends into perspective in a fast-moving visual presentation.
Scott McCloud has been writing and drawing comics since 1984. His book Understanding Comics was a New York Times Notable book for 1994 and is available in 16 languages. “Sin City” and “300” creator Frank Miller called him “just about the smartest guy in comics.” His new book, Making Comics, explores the art and craft of telling stories visually.
Tuesday, 7 August
Room 6 AB
1:45 – 3:30 pm
Attendee Registration Deadline Approaching
Early-Bird Registration Ends 29 June – Attendees can save up to $275
Registering for SIGGRAPH 2007 is easy.
Early-bird registration ends 29 June.
Registration is simple and only takes a few minutes.
Go to Siggraph registration