SIGGRAPH 2013, taking place 21-25 July in Anaheim, California, seeks cutting-edge content for computer graphics and interactive techniques across several areas. The deadline for two of the most notable features of the conference, Computer Animation Festival and Real Time Live! is 5 March 2013 (22:00 UTC/GMT). Only finished works will be considered for inclusion, and all submissions must be uploaded at final resolution.
The SIGGRAPH Computer Animation Festival is the world's most innovative exploration of computer-generated animation and visual effects. The four-day, international event is a glimpse into the most talented technical and artistic minds of the industry. The Computer Animation Festival is recognized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences as a qualifying festival. Since 1999, several works originally presented in the Computer Animation Festival have been nominated for or have received a Best Animated Short Academy Award.
• Computer Animation Shorts
• Music Videos
• TV and Web Commercials
• Visualizations and Simulations
• Student Projects
• Animated Feature Films
• Visual Effects for Short Films and TV Programs
• Visual Effects for Live-Action Feature Films
• Real-Time Graphics
• Miscellaneous
Real-Time Live! is the premier showcase for the most innovative and interactive real-time graphics created in the last 12 months. Entries will be judged on creativity, innovation, performance, and most importantly, the ability to render in real time in front of a live audience as part of the Computer Animation Festival. The top selections will be played and demonstrated live on a PC or game console. As long as the submission is interactively controlled, rendered in real time, and repeatable for a live audience, it will be considered. Accepted work is demonstrated live on a PC or game console in front of an audience. The result is an entertaining, informative, and engaging experience.
Submission examples of real-time graphics and simulations, include:
• Military or industrial simulations
• Interactive animation and graphics
• Research projects
• Computer games
• Real-time art explorations
• Scientific visualizations: medical, astrophysics, astronomy
• Interactive data visualization and information graphics
Information must be submitted by the March 5 deadline. For more information on how to properly submit, visit the Computer Animation Festival or Real-Time Live! websites.
Artist Meats Meier recently completed this year's version of "Animation Mother",
Celebrating its 40th year, the world’s most innovative exploration of computer-generated animation and visual effects will be on display at SIGGRAPH 2013 in Anaheim, California this summer. The four-day, international event (21-25 July) spotlights the most prestigious innovators of technical and artistic short films. The festival showcases everything from student films to blockbuster visual effects and mainstream commercials.
Furthermore, the Computer Animation Festival is recognized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences as a qualifying festival. Since 1999, several works originally presented in the Computer Animation Festival have been nominated for or have received a Best Animated Short Academy Award.
“As a qualifying venue for the Academy Awards, our jury judges on various criteria including the quality of technical submissions, creativity, and the art of storytelling,” said Jason R.M. Smith, SIGGRAPH 2013 Computer Animation Festival Director from LucasArts. “And we encourage submissions from a wide variety of sources whether you are a global studio, a small start-up, or a student team, there is a place for you at SIGGRAPH.”
The festival accepts submissions in 10 distinct categories:
Computer Animation Shorts
Music Videos
TV and Web Commercials
Visualizations and Simulations
Student Projects
Animated Feature Films
Visual Effects for Short Films and TV Programs
Visual Effects for Live-Action Feature Films
Real-Time Graphics
Miscellaneous
Stereo 3D work will be considered and can be entered in any of the above categories. Shot breakdowns to fully illustrate the amount of CG work involved in photo-real submissions are encouraged.
All entries must be uploaded by 5 March 2013 (22:00 UTC/GMT). Only finished works will be considered for inclusion, and all submissions must be uploaded at final resolution.
SIGGRAPH Real-Time Live! is the premiere showcase for the latest trends and techniques for pushing the boundaries of interactive visuals. A series of 10 international jury-selected submissions will be presented in a fast-paced, 90-minute show of cutting-edge, aesthetically stimulating real-time work at SIGGRAPH 2012, 5-9 August at the Los Angeles Convention Center.
“As the momentum behind real-time photorealism accelerates, Real-Time Live! 2012 presents multiple projects pushing human character performance alongside physically based lighting and shading techniques,” said Jason RM Smith, Real-Time Live! Director and Digital Production Supervisor at LucasArts. “The show retains a strong breadth of diversity with breakdowns of an audio-driven procedural graphics engine, an augmented reality gesture-based control solution, proprietary and commercial rendering engines, and a number of unreleased games titles.”
Pulling from a range of industries, this year’s selected submissions showcase the latest advances in real-time graphics; much of the content has never been displayed before and is exclusive to SIGGRAPH 2012.
SIGGRAPH 2012 Real-Time Live! Highlights:
Uncharted 3 Visual Effects Mohammed Ikram, Naughty Dog
For Uncharted 3, Naughty Dog tackled the challenge of rendering multiple environmental effects, such as fire, water, and sand in the game set pieces. The biggest challenge was delivering high-quality visual effects in real time while keeping the strict cinematographic and artistic style of the game.
Unreal Engine 4 Elemental Paul Oliver, Epic Games, Inc.
Developed by Epic Games, Elemental is the first real-time demonstration showcasing its next-generation Unreal Engine 4 technology. The demo presents rendering features utilizing DirectX 11 hardware. It takes per-pixel deferred shading to the next level: energy-conserving specular highlights from area lights and shadowed reflections from emissive materials creating area lights with shadowing, dynamic global illumination that affects both opaque and translucent materials, glossy surfaces that feature accurate reflections, subsurface scattering, and deferred decals. All lighting is complemented by the new GPU-accelerated particle simulation and the new post-processing pipeline.
Star Wars 1313 Lutz Latta and Roger Cordes, LucasArts
Star Wars 1313 delivers a cinematic experience by bringing traditional film techniques to real-time. Full-body performance-capture digitizes an actor’s appearance with complete body and facial realization; physically-based materials and lighting are calibrated to match the real world with indirect illumination and soft shadows. Visual effects model light emission, transmission, and scattering, allowing realistic fire, smoke, and particles to provide the gritty feel of the Coruscant underworld.
The compelling cinematic feel is completed with a number of post-process effects that simulate the behavior of real-world cameras. Star Wars 1313 is an integrated development that brings together great artists across the Lucasfilm organization, including LucasArts, Industrial Light & Magic, Lucasfilm Animation Ltd. and Skywalker Sound.
Following below is a brief conversation with Jason RM Smith, SIGGRAPH 2012 Real-Time Live! (RTL!) Chair and Digital Production Supervisor at LucasArts.
Real-Time Live! is the premiere showcase for the latest trends and techniques for pushing the boundaries of interactive visuals. As part of the Computer Animation Festival, an international jury selected submissions from a diverse array of industries to create a fast-paced show of cutting-edge, aesthetically stimulating real-time work.
Why is SIGGRAPH's Real-Time Live! (RTL!) program relevant?
Real-time graphics is a growth engine of almost all CG-based industries and many other industries that embrace computer graphics anywhere in their process. We see techniques running in real time now that were only recently being pioneered into a pre-rendered pipeline; the progress is staggering.
Ultimately real-time graphics allow creatives to be creative faster; improving iteration speeds by hundreds, thousands, sometimes tens-of-thousands of times, drastically driving up quality and reducing costs. Looking at where the show has come—in five short years, it’s clear the pace is picking up; it’s hard to imagine what RTL! will look like in a few years from now, let alone another five.
How has your role changed this year in comparison to last year?
Last year involved outreach across industries, establishing a sub-committee and building recognition around the show. This year has been more focused on evolving the show to be able to support the most cutting-edge work available. It’s more of a challenge from a logistical standpoint; we have presentations requiring prototype hardware and complex machine configurations in addition to bleeding edge software builds. More risk, but considerably more reward; there’s no doubt it’s what SIGGRAPH attendees expect and it makes for a much more exciting show.
Is there content that would appeal to both novice and expert?
One of the strongest and most unique pieces of the show is the format – it really helps ensure every project is accessible. It’s informal; no slides – just the artists and engineers with their projects breaking down their approach and techniques used in creating the work. When the presenters get technical, there are relevant and interesting visuals on screen supporting the dialogue; in terms of content delivery, RTL! is as practical as it gets.
We have 10 pieces showing this year and have doubled the length of presenter time from four to eight minutes each. It will make a difference to the depth of each talk but still allows us to cover a good number of projects.
Here's the video of highlights from 2011:
Any trends in RTL! content this year?
Yes! The next generation of rendering engines, both commercial and proprietary, are really making a big play this year – we had so many strong game technology submissions that they could have filled their own show.
Then there are the projects built from the technology; we actually received more entries for unreleased games this year than released titles - another first. I think it goes to show we’re really at a transitional point in the games industry right now as the hardware and software progression enables a very noticeable jump in visual fidelity.
To complement the heavy games focus, we received a number of real-time movies alongside a wide range of unusual, thought-provoking and entertaining projects like Beauty: Real-Time Visuals and the augmented reality gesture-based project, Arcade.
Switching gears a little, did the selection of Jane McGonigal as keynote speaker surprise you?
Not at all! Jane’s knowledge, passion, and drive epitomize everything SIGGRAPH represents – she’s the perfect keynote. I’m planning on getting there early, because it’s going to fill up quick.
Do you share her philosophies about the potential for game development/gaming to solve real-world problems?
Absolutely; humans have been using games to solve problems for many years. It is well proven that learning through an enjoyable experience is significantly more productive, and we achieve more through competition than without it. There is definitely still work to be done, but Jane makes a very compelling case that it can be done— and it’s more a question of when. Original thinkers with contagious attitudes, like Jane, are catalysts to make things happen. The more people are aligned with this way of thinking, the sooner we’ll see previously unimaginable, world-changing results. I’m on board!
So, to round up… how does the SIGGRAPH RTL! program differ from things like GDC and E3? What more does it have to offer?
There’s a number of differences, the first being the diversity and breadth of content.
RTL! accepts submissions from any area of research or industry. This means we see incredible, 100-million dollar commercial projects and amazing independent, solo projects from completely different industries side-by-side on stage. The breadth and quantity of submissions ensures there are always world-exclusive showcases for interesting and groundbreaking projects.
The second reason speaks to SIGGRAPH’s roots around sharing knowledge.
RTL! allows the project creators to present their tricks, techniques, and solutions with peers from all areas of computer graphics, and probably even beyond CG. Last year we had a line of attendees speaking to the presenters after the show; there was a great buzz. SIGGRAPH has always felt like a community, and like many other programs, RTL! carries the same vibe with the underlying goal of sharing knowledge. It’s the cross-over with education, research, and many types of industries, both on-stage and with the attendees, that makes it unique.
Finally, what newsworthy / big announcements are you excited about with this year's content?
World exclusives! Never-before-seen footage and breakdowns from a number of huge titles and technology projects, including Square-Enix, LucasArts, Epic Games, and Unigine to name a few.
RTL! provides the first opportunity to peek behind the curtain on these new projects – it’s fantastic that these studios and individuals are being so open and forthcoming with new intellectual property, ideas, and techniques. It’s a genuine privilege and very exciting to have them on stage at SIGGRAPH 2012.
Following is the second entry of a three-part series focusing on gaming content that will be featured at SIGGRAPH 2011. This is a conversation between Jason RM Smith (pictured at the right) and ACM SIGGRAPH Chapter Reporter Mariebeth Aquino. After successfully leading the SIGGRAPH 2010 Real-Time Live! program, Jason RM Smith continues his legacy as Chair and Director for 2011 and 2012. In his life outside SIGGRAPH, he is Digital Production Supervisor at LucasArts San Francisco.
Background details: This year's content features a substantial amount of game development content: game papers, courses, talks (technical, studio, and exhibitor talks), workshops on game development, and technical papers. In addition, game content can be found in the Computer Animation Festival where Real-Time Live! showcases the latest trends and techniques in games. And for those wanting a hands-on experience, the Sandbox provides the ideal environment to test drive the latest in interactive entertainment. A Conversation with Jason RM Smith, SIGGRAPH 2011 & 2012 Real-Time Live! Director and Chair What are your responsibilities as Director and Chair of Real-Time Live!? It’s actually a combination of things which makes the role so interesting.
Firstly, I’m accountable for ensuring Real-Time Live! and the Sandbox are each a success in their own right at SIGGRAPH 2011. Fortunately I get to work alongside a bunch of super smart people who know how to organize an amazing conference, which makes my job much easier.
Secondly, I get to move the two events further forward in terms of placement and understanding as part of SIGGRAPH; they are still both relatively new compared to many other areas of the show so a goal for 2011 was to ground them in their own right, building on the great work established by Evan Hirsch in previous years.
The last major goal was to look to broaden the content (and hopefully the interest) in RTL! Computer Graphics has such a great community it was relatively easy to establish a subcommittee who provided outreach across a wide range of industries and groups that are pushing the boundaries of real-time graphics.
The sub-committee was almost too successful – we ended up with so many strong submissions that deserve to be on stage it was a real challenge to keep the show within its allocated time-slot. What is the Sandbox? What was the vision behind it and what role does it play at SIGGRAPH?
The vision behind the Sandbox is very straightforward. Real-Time Live! is all about the live presentations from the artists and engineers responsible for the work, and the Sandbox was setup to allow SIGGRAPH attendees to try these projects hands-on, for themselves. (I’m also using it to squeeze in additional content just because there were so many great submissions; be sure to check out the handful of projects in the Sandbox you won’t find anywhere else at the show). It’s also a really nice change of pace; after a few hours of lectures it’s fun to exercise the physical reflexes a little. Whether you want to race cars or interact with virtual Jellyfish, the Sandbox has something for everyone. With the rapid evolution and advancements in technologies such as real time rendering, are games using top-notch technologies as impressive to gamers as they are to game developers? Are users more aware or appreciative of what goes on behind the scenes to create their games of choice? You know, I’m constantly amazed by the number of gamers and communities who are extremely real-time tech savvy just through their interest in the medium. They represent a minority group of players but their depth of knowledge is just incredible. Looking at the gaming audience in general, I think it’s much more a question of how the technology contributes. If developers’ use breakthroughs to drive a more holistic, compelling experience overall, there is no doubt the work involved is appreciated, even where the exact areas of improvement aren’t obvious to most people playing the game. Ideally, we want to focus 100 percent of the player’s attention to the situation we’re presenting on screen. In many ways, if the technology behind the scenes is obvious or demands attention as an element, then we have failed at delivering the most immersive experience possible. In-game cinematics temporarily take gamers out of the active play role and place them in a more passive role. With large game development studios placing high importance on the quality of these cinematics, do you foresee a shift towards maintaining player involvement by making these segments more seemingly active? Yes; there’s no doubt that developers are becoming more comfortable delivering meaningful action and narrative to garner an emotional response from the player using real-time sequences. As this becomes standard, our understanding of cinematics will be challenged as the boundaries between interactive and non-interactive disappear.
As an industry, we’re just beginning to understand how to balance multiple levels of interactivity to deliver a rewarding experience that sits comfortably between storytelling and retaining an immersive experience. The trend has started; it’s interesting to see where it will lead over the next couple of years. Which is the stronger driving force: - Video game hardware technology or video game software technology? - The artist's craft to create video game content or the programmer's knowledge of the latest render technology? None of them; or all of them. It’s a trap!
What makes a creative industry successful can be broken down or split up into many component pieces, but ultimately the one thing that drives all of those areas is innovation. It’s not always about doing something new, using the same pieces in a new way can be just as progressive, but it’s the underlying creativity that makes the difference, whether affecting one or all of the areas above.
