The 51st annual conference demonstrates
advancements in the computer graphics industry across all avenues
while sparking inspiration, starting conversations, and looking
toward the trends of tomorrow
DENVER, June 25,
2024 /PRNewswire/ -- While celebrating more than 50
years of being the world's leading education experience in the
computer graphics industry, SIGGRAPH 2024 understands the value of
sparking conversations about the content of the future. With this,
the conference, held from Sunday, 28 July to Thursday, 1 August, 2024, at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver, will feature several opportunities for
attendees to get a closer glimpse at the future of the industry's
trends. There will be Production Sessions dedicated to the
future of production, exploration of the new age of immersive
experiences in the VR Theater, and spotlights of the
ingenuity of diverse creators in the Electronic Theater.
The SIGGRAPH 2024 Production Sessions allow
attendees to go behind-the-scenes with an international community
of production leaders in films, games, VR/MR/XR, and more to
explore the challenges faced and opportunities in modern production
pipelines. Within these sessions, SIGGRAPH 2024 sought stories
highlighting a macro view of behind-the-scenes innovation,
creativity, inclusion, and collaboration demonstrated during recent
productions. Through 60-minute presentations, leaders from across
the industry will showcase their learnings and developments.
"We're seeing a wide variety of new tools being developed for
all sorts of different aspects of production, whether it's grooming
fur and hair or virtual production tools. It's across the board
different workflow improvements that we're seeing," Jonathan
Nitiparsong, SIGGRAPH 2024 Production Sessions Chair, noted.
"SIGGRAPH showcases some of the most cutting-edge tools and
interactive techniques that make things better, and Production
Sessions are often the first place where people are able to see
some of these new technologies and production skills in use," he
added.
Of the 30 submissions received, 10 were selected for this year's
Production Sessions including "Monkeys, Chimps & Gorillas: Wētā
FX's (r)Evolutionary Work with Primates"; "Oozing Hand Crafted 2D
Illustration Into a 3D Ninja Turtle
World"; "Visual Data Stories for Climate Action: The Making
of NASA's Earth Information Center Public Exhibits"; "Yin and Yang:
The Balance of Animation in Kung Fu
Panda 4"; and "Pushing the Limits: Crafting an Immersive
Mega-Canvas for Phish's Music Shows at Sphere".
In addition to this year's Production Sessions, SIGGRAPH 2024
will offer immersive VR Theater experiences. The VR Theater
is a world-class showcase of exemplary virtual reality storytelling
and a staple SIGGRAPH program since 2017. The main program will be
experienced in a high-end, seated, panoramic, multi-viewer
immersive space, running approximately one hour from start to
finish. New this year, participants will enter a mixed reality
SIGGRAPH-branded lobby before each experience. SIGGRAPH 2024 aims
to give attendees a fresh perspective on innovative, important, and
inspiring virtual reality stories through a curated selection of
short-form narratives. The experience will feature a diverse array
of stories, from a musical journey aboard a space-train to an
immersive empathy documentary about losing and regaining sight. It
will highlight various intriguing uses of the VR medium for
storytelling, including showcasing technical innovations.
"More than any other year, the pieces we're involving carry more
serious topics. I would say it's a reflection of the world, as
well. Art reflects the pulse of the world. For example, one of the
pieces we are showcasing is about femicide in Mexico, a problem they are using VR as a
medium to really put you in the seat of a woman in Mexico. When creators make a VR experience,
it's very important to ask yourself, 'Why am I making this into a
VR experience and not, let's say, in a flat medium?' So, I think
these pieces answer that question very clearly," SIGGRAPH 2024 VR
Theater Director Yangos Hadjiyannis said. "I'm glad to see the
medium's evolution in that way. In the early days, I thought,
creators would sometimes make experiences to test out the VR space.
Now, it's more like I'm doing this more purposefully considering
the best ways to tell a story spatially. We experience our world in
3D and that is starting to be reflected uniquely in this medium,
particularly with an emphasis on presence. I think that's what
really makes it unique," he added. The VR Theater will also
be announcing its Best in Show award for immersive experiences
during the conference.
This year's VR Theater will feature pieces including:
- "Spots of Light": A piece that puts you in the situation
of someone who has lost their sight, regained it, and then lost it
again. It's a personal journey of acceptance and hope.
- "Astra": This mixed reality experience turns your living
room into a life-size spaceship that takes you to explore and
understand the composition of different materials on different
planets.
- "Draw for Change": A powerful experience about femicide
in Mexico, walking in the shoes of
a woman in Mexico who is resisting
and raising awareness on the problem through beautiful mural
work.
- "Traversing the mist": A poetic journey of discovery of
a gay man that takes you with them to the bathhouse, as you
discover a deep sense of loneliness and reflection.
- "Emperor": A spectacular piece about the condition of
Aphasia, told in a bigger-than-life way, with intuitive
interactions that move the medium forward.
The SIGGRAPH 2024 experience also features an Electronic
Theater, which qualifies for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts
and Sciences and is widely recognized for its groundbreaking
contributions from artists, researchers, and innovators around the
world. The Electronic Theater once began as an annual showcase of
computer graphics advancements. Today, it celebrates computer
graphics as a cornerstone of the mainstream mediums of animation,
visual effects, gaming, scientific/data visualization, and
storytelling.
"Given how much buzz is going around with generative AI, it's
more enhanced. I think when the audience sees the show, they will
hopefully appreciate the aesthetic value in choices made to use
those tools beyond what is traditionally known as the process of
putting text-prompted imagery into a project," John Kalaigian, SIGGRAPH 2024 Electronic Theater
Director, said. "Sometimes, the results could be jarring and very
obvious. So I think the most important thing is the caliber of
which SIGGRAPH holds the content that it presents is increasingly
getting higher."
Participants were invited to submit their best work for a chance
to be featured in this prestigious showcase. An internationally
recognized jury reviewed the work and awarded prizes for Best in
Show, Best Student Project, and Jury's Choice, whereas the Audience
Choice prize is awarded after the premieres. Previous Best in Show
winners have been nominated for and have received the Academy Award
for Best Animated Short Film.
SIGGRAPH 2024 Electronic Theater awards were presented
to:
- Best in Show: "The Art of Weightlessness"
Moshe Mahler with Carnegie
Mellon University
An animated short
film documentary that chronicles the evolution of Artist and
Performer, Bill Shannon. Born with a
degenerative hip condition, Bill developed new ways to express
himself through dance and skateboarding on crutches.
- Best Student Project: "After Grandpa"
Juliette
Michel, Swann
Valenza, Florian
Gomes Freitas,
Axel Sence, and Victoria Leviaux
with Ecole MoPA
Haunted
by the terrifying ghost of his Grandpa, Loup, a
little boy obsessed with insects, will have to overcome his fear to
discover why it came back.
- Jury's Choice: "Patterns"
Alex
Glawion
Struck by a barrage of intrusive encounters
on his weekly commute, a perceptive traveler struggles to uphold
the positive mindset that wards against the
ever-lurking grayness.
"We are on the heels of a monumental year in 2023, celebrating
the 50th conference. I think there's still a little sense of
celebration in the air but definitely a homecoming of sorts
returning back to Colorado not too
far from the first conference site in Boulder. The Computer
Animation Festival is excited to bring back additional screening
opportunities, which we're calling the Animation Theater Daytime
Selects. These will be two independent show reels that will also
accompany the main Electronic Theater show," Kalaigian added.
Learn more about how SIGGRAPH 2024 is an important element in
identifying the trends of tomorrow and what participants can expect
here. The ACM SIGGRAPH Blog, including an interview with
Paul Story, Phillip Leonhardt, Erik
Winquist, Aidan Martin, and
Kevin Smith to discuss their
SIGGRAPH 2024 Production Session "Monkeys, Chimps & Gorillas:
Wētā FX's (r)Evolutionary Work With Primates," highlights
additional details of the Production Sessions, VR Theater, and
Electronic Theater programs.
About ACM, ACM SIGGRAPH, and SIGGRAPH 2024
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. The SIGGRAPH conference is the world's leading annual
interdisciplinary educational experience showcasing the latest in
computer graphics and interactive techniques. SIGGRAPH 2024,
the 51st annual conference hosted by ACM SIGGRAPH, will take place
live 28 July–1 August at the Colorado Convention Center, along with a
Virtual Access option.
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