SIGGRAPH: NEW ORLEANS PLAYS HOST TO ANIMATION INDUSTRY
A graphics lab in the Algiers Technical Academy and the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts are bringing students to the conference and connecting them with mentors from the animation community. Support is being also given to Tipitina's Foundation, which provides musical instruments to New Orleans students and to the Louis Armstrong Summer Jazz Camp. Attendees can participate by signing up as mentors, or by downloading an album of music by local musicians assembled specially for SIGGRAPH 2009. Music can be listened to for free online, or purchased via a download for $9.99 with all proceeds going to the Louis Armstrong camp.
Ronen Barzel, who has done software development for the likes of Lucasfilm and SGI, is SIGGRAPH 2009's conference chair and notes that while traditional SIGGRAPH offerings highlighting the latest and best achievements of the past year are a big part of the show, a number of new initiatives are also being featured this year.
As part of the "network your senses" theme, Barzel says the show has a special focus on music and audio as it relates to computer graphics and interactive techniques. This includes courses, panels, talks, live performances and a special segment of the Computer Animation Festival on "visual music." Academy Award-winning sound designer Randy Thom will present a keynote on how sound can be integrated with visuals as a key component of the storytelling process.
The gaming and traditional SIGGRAPH communities are being brought together this year by merging with the ACM SIGGRAPH Sandbox Symposium. In addition to courses and panels, a keynote is being presented by Will Wright, creator of The Sims series and Spore.
The Computer Animation Festival continues its evolution with a special presentation of realtime work. And to stimulate research and give researchers an opportunity to show their stuff, this year's show
introduces what will be an annual research challenge competition.
The challenge is to choose an animal, and develop a system that will enable a person to experience the world as that animal does.
On the education front, 27 different quarter- or half-day courses are being offered, ranging from beginner topics, such as "Introduction to Computer Graphics," to specific intermediate or advanced topics such as "Realistic Human Body Movement for Emotional Expressiveness" or "Visual Algorithms in Post Production." Twenty panels are also being presented, looking at subjects such as "Will GPUs Change the Face of Rendering CGI for Motion Pictures?" and "Instigating Change: Models for Positive Games."
And on the employment front, a Job Fair allows attendees to meet with companies that are hiring. This includes an online component so that employers and employees can connect before and after the conference as well as meet in person during the show. Career-themed panels include "Getting a Job in Computer Graphics for Entertainment" and "Keeping a Job in Computer Graphics for Entertainment."
Next year, the show heads to Los Angeles.
IMAGE: SIGGRAPH conference chair
Ronen Barzel.