Monday, July 16, 2018

News from SIGGRAPH 2018 Computer Animation Festival

SIGGRAPH 2018 COMPUTER ANIMATION FESTIVAL TO PRESENT
‘NEXT GENERATION’ OF STORYTELLING

Electronic Theater Announces Lineup of 25 Short Films and Presentations, Award Winners; VR Theater to Present 14 Projects, Including First Student Work


CHICAGO, July 12, 2018 —SIGGRAPH 2018, the world’s leading annual interdisciplinary educational event showcasing the latest in computer graphics and interactive techniques, announces the full lineup for its Computer Animation Festival Electronic and VR Theaters. The 45th SIGGRAPH conference will take place 12–16 August at the Vancouver Convention Centre.

The SIGGRAPH Computer Animation Festival is known for continuously pushing the boundaries of computer-generated storytelling in film, games, visual effects, and more. In-line with the 2018 conference theme of “Generations,” this year’s Electronic Theater lineup is poised to epitomize a next-generation showcase of 25 short films and presentations, culled from over 400 submissions. Truly an international show, the Electronic Theater will feature works from Ecuador, Spain, France, Canada, the United Kingdom, Poland, New Zealand, Sweden, and the United States; five student projects; and, two major studio shorts — Pixar Animation Studios’ “Bao,” written and directed by the studio’s first-ever female director of a short film, Chinese-Canadian-American artist Domee Shi, and DreamWorks Animation’s “Bilby.” The Electronic Theater is a ticketed event that will be presented three evenings in a row, 13-15 August.

“We will be presenting a high caliber of work this year from a very competitive, international field of submissions. Our jury commented several times that there were tough decisions to be made over pieces that might have been a ‘slam dunk’ in previous years,” said SIGGRAPH 2018 Computer Animation Festival Director Larry Bafia. “Each year, the Computer Animation Festival provides a spectrum of computer graphics that is unique from any other festival. The work shown ranges from hyper-real to stylized, from student grad projects to small studio work, from large studio shorts to visual effects house showcases. Our 2018 festival will, once again, present a great variety of styles of visual storytelling — sure to make for an entertaining and compelling show.” 

The jury-selected SIGGRAPH 2018 Computer Animation Festival Electronic Theater award winners are:

** BEST IN SHOW
Hybrids
Florian Brauch, Kim Tailhades, Matthieu Pujol, Yohan Thireau, Romain Thirion
MoPA
(France)


** BEST STUDENT PROJECT
Overrun
Pierre Ropars, Antonin Derory, Diane Thirault, Jérémie Cottard, Matthieu Druaud, Adrien Zumbihl
Supinfocom Rubika
(France)

** JURY’S CHOICE
Bilby
Liron Topaz, Pierre Perifel, JP Sans
DreamWorks Animation
(United States)

“The experience of watching this year’s submissions with such a diverse group of cross-industry professionals was an absolute pleasure; and quite a learning experience for this old, stop-frame luddite. Of particular interest was the amazing depth and quality of work we saw from educational institutions across the globe. The technical challenges, as well as the provocative themes, that this year’s crop of students confronted inspires a renewed enthusiasm for the future of the animation medium,” notes Paul Harrod, SIGGRAPH 2018 Computer Animation Festival juror and production designer whose recent credits include the Wes Anderson animated film “Isle of Dogs,” of the work.

The Electronic Theater began as an annual showcase of advances in computer graphics and has since has come to celebrate the rise of computer graphics as a medium for storytelling, not just in animation, but also in visual effects for film and games. The festival, since 1999, is recognized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences as a qualifying festival and several works originally presented at the SIGGRAPH conference have been nominated for, or have received, a “Best Animated Short” Academy Award. View the full lineup of 2018 selections.

Though newer than the Electronic Theater, the 2018 Computer Animation Festival VR Theater promises to pack just as much punch. In its second year, the VR Theater will present daily ticketed screenings — expanded from 25 to 32 seats each — along with individual kiosk programming, culled from more than 30 global submissions. The 14 total selections hail from 12 countries and include two, longer format VR stories: “Space Explorers” from Felix & Paul Studios and “Arden’s Wake: Expanded” from Penrose Studios. Also featured within the VR Theater will be the live-action, science-fiction project “Trinity” from UNLTD-INC and the student-produced “Blue Bird” from Savannah College of Art and Design. The VR Theater kiosks, will be located throughout the conference’s Immersive Pavilion, and will showcase content with a runtime of five minutes or less, including Facebook’s “Beyond the Fence” and Google Spotlight Stories’ “Back to the Moon.” View the full lineup of 2018 selections.

To register for the conference, visit s2018.SIGGRAPH.org. The Electronic Theater is included at the Business Symposium, Full Conference Platinum, and Full Conference registration levels, or tickets can be purchased separately. VR Theater screenings are open to Full Conference Platinum and Full Conference registration levels only, and kiosks are accessible with Exhibits Plus registration or above.

About ACM, ACM SIGGRAPH and SIGGRAPH 2018
ACM, the Association for Computing Machinery, is the world's largest educational and scientific computing society, uniting educators, researchers, and professionals to inspire dialogue, share resources, and address the field's challenges. ACM SIGGRAPH is a special interest group within ACM that serves as an interdisciplinary community for members in research, technology, and applications in computer graphics and interactive techniques. SIGGRAPH is the world’s leading annual interdisciplinary educational experience showcasing the latest in computer graphics and interactive techniques. SIGGRAPH 2018, marking the 45th annual conference hosted by ACM SIGGRAPH, will take place from 12–16 August at the Vancouver Convention Centre in Vancouver, B.C.

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Wreck-It Ralph 2 - Ralph Breaks The Internet Movie Standee

Sunday, July 8, 2018

News from SIGGRAPH 2018 VR, AR and MIXED Reality Program

SIGGRAPH 2018 TO DEBUT IMMERSIVE PAVILION WITH VRCADE AND VILLAGE:
Pavilion To Host Virtual, Augmented and Mixed Reality Projects -
Walt Disney Animation Studios’ First VR Short, “Cycles,” to Make World Debut

Chicago, IL, June 27, 2018 - SIGGRAPH 2018, the world’s leading annual interdisciplinary educational event showcasing the latest in computer graphics and interactive techniques, has announced information about this year’s Virtual, Augmented and Mixed Reality program. The 45th SIGGRAPH conference will take place 12–16 August at the Vancouver Convention Centre. To register for the conference, visit s2018.SIGGRAPH.org.

As virtual reality (VR) expands into the consumer market, and augmented reality (AR) and mixed reality (MR) get ready for prime time, SIGGRAPH 2018 stands as a prime place for these emerging media and experiences to offer a glimpse into the future from innovators around the globe. Cementing its status at the cutting-edge, SIGGRAPH 2018 will feature a brand-new space: the Immersive Pavilion. The Pavilion is devoted exclusively to these three mediums and will contain: the Vrcade, a space for VR, AR, and MR games or experiences; the well-known Village, for showcasing large-scale projects; and the VR Theater, a storytelling extravaganza that is part of the Computer Animation Festival.

“We are so excited about the new Immersive Pavilion it will instantly become the place for our attendees to experience, play, and learn about the latest technological advances across all areas of these rapidly emerging media platforms,” said SIGGRAPH 2018 Virtual, Augmented and Mixed Reality Chair Pol Jeremias. “This year’s VR and mixed reality offerings will include innovative experiments, research, games, music videos, and more that are focused on the exploding and immersive interactive experience.”

Highlights of the 2018 Virtual, Augmented and Mixed Reality program include:

Cycles (Village)
Jeff Gipson, Walt Disney Animation Studios
Walt Disney Animation Studios’ first VR short film, “Cycles,” centers around the true meaning of creating a home and the life it holds inside its walls. The short makes its world debut at SIGGRAPH 2018.

Welcome to Light Fields (Village)
Ryan S. Overbeck, Daniel Erickson, and Daniel Evangelakos, Google Inc.
“Light Fields” lets us experience the freedom of motion, realistic reflections, and translucence like never before in VR. Explore the Gamble House, Mosaic Tile House, and Space Shuttle Discovery. These navigable light field stills showcase the emerging technology Google is using to power its next generation of VR content.

Wolves in the Walls: Chapter 1 (Vrcade)
Peter Billington and Jessica Shamash, Fable Studio
Hailing from a new studio that recently join content creation for virtual reality cinema, not everything is at it seems when 8-year old Lucy's imagination proves to be a reality. “Wolves in the Walls” is an immersive fable that asks; what would it be like to interact, have a relationship, and go on a quest with a character inside a virtual reality movie?

Multiplayer Augmented Reality: the Future is Social, presented by Niantic (Village)
Si ying Diana Hu and Niniane Wang, Niantic, Inc.
As the creators of Pokémon Go, Niantic takes AR to the next level by enabling multiple mobile devices to experience the same AR objects in real-time! Watch people play pong against each other, where the ball and paddles exist in AR for all users. Shared AR experiences is essential for keeping AR mainstream in the future.

Crow: The Legend (Vrcade)
Larry Cutler, Eric Darnell, Nathaniel Dirksen, Michael Hutchinson, and Scott Peterson, Baobab Studios
“Crow: The Legend” is a re-telling of a Native American folk tale about a bird with the most dazzling plumage and mellifluous voice, who, after the planet turns dark and cold, must journey far from home to bring light and warmth back to the world.
For highlights from the VR Theater, check out this blog post. Access to Virtual, Augmented and Mixed Reality programming is open to Exhibits Plus registration and above. The SIGGRAPH 2018 Immersive Pavilion is sponsored by NVIDIA.*
*No members of the NVIDIA team were involved in jury selection.

About ACM, ACM SIGGRAPH and SIGGRAPH 2018:
ACM, the Association for Computing Machinery, is the world's largest educational and scientific computing society, uniting educators, researchers, and professionals to inspire dialogue, share resources, and address the field's challenges. ACM SIGGRAPH is a special interest group within ACM that serves as an interdisciplinary community for members in research, technology, and applications in computer graphics and interactive techniques. SIGGRAPH is the world’s leading annual interdisciplinary educational experience showcasing the latest in computer graphics and interactive techniques. SIGGRAPH 2018, marking the 45th annual conference hosted by ACM SIGGRAPH, will take place from 12–16 August at the Vancouver Convention Centre in Vancouver, B.C.
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