News Feed

Welcome to Our New Site

plone — 2006-05-14T22:38:56Z

On behalf of the ACM SIGGRAPH Executive Committee and Systems Managers, we would like to welcome you to our new web site. Currently it is a mixture of new and legacy content. We will be continually adding new content and moving legacy content into the new format. If you find any errors please contact the Webmaster.

ACM SIGGRAPH Advisory Board - Call for Candidates

plone — 2006-05-14T22:38:56Z

The ACM SIGGRAPH Executive Committee (EC) is forming the ACM SIGGRAPH Advisory Board (ASAB). The purpose of the ASAB is to advise the EC on issues and to act as a resource to help us increase our communication with our members and community. We want a representative group that reflects our membership both in technical and creative aspects and geographical distribution. The ASAB will have no meetings and will be an electronic discussion group, primarily email. It will be a small group of about 15 people. If you are interested in being considered a candidate for the ASAB or want to recommend another candidate please contact me at owen (at) siggraph.org. Scott Owen

SIGGRAPH 2005 Special Sessions: From the Past to the Future of Digital Technologies

plone — 2006-05-14T22:38:56Z

"Special Sessions provide an incredible view of our exciting computer graphics industry," says Jill Smolin, SIGGRAPH 2005 Special Sessions & Panels Chair from The Gnomon Workshop. "We go to the stars with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, play around with games, and even go 3D with 'Polar Express' in an offsite IMAX presentation. We glimpse the past, present, and future of Disney Animation, walk the runway with extreme fashion, and hear from the visual effects and animation masters who created all episodes of the legendary 'Star Wars' epic."

Extreme Fashion: Designers, Artists, and Technologists Present a Glimpse Into the Place Where High Fashion Collides With High Technology

Incorporating computer graphics, science, and technology into the fashion industry has transformed computer-enhanced garments, textiles, and wearables from fantasy to reality. This session brings together high-end fashion designers, textile producers, a garment manufacturer, artists, and scientists for some fascinating information and a really cool show and tell.

Moderator
Margaret Orth, International Fashion Machines

Panelists
Elise Co, mintymonkey
Katherine Moriwaki, Trinity College Dublin
Thad E. Starner, Georgia Institute of Technology
Jenny Tillotson, Central Saint Martins College of Art & Design

From the Earth to Infinity: Scientists From Caltech's Jet Propulsion Laboratory Reveal Secrets of the Universe Through Remarkable Images of Mars, Saturn, Earth, and the Deepest Reaches of Space

Leading scientists at NASA/JPL give us a rare look at our universe: the latest images from Mars, explorations of Saturn and Titan, a trip back in time to shortly after the birth of the universe, and new perspectives of our own planet.

Moderator and Organizer
Daniel McCleese, Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Panelists
Ronald Blom, Eric De Jong, Torrence Johnson and Michael Werner, Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Jump! Shout! Dance! Sing! An Interactive Conversation About Games, Game Art, and Play That Goes Way Beyond the Joystick

Whether you dance in front of it, sing into it, or jump on it, there's a new dimension in the gaming world that goes way beyond 3D. With new controllers and a whole new generation of game boxes enabling ever more beautiful images, this session brings together art directors, game designers, and controller builders for an enlightening, entertaining, and possibly hilarious look into an alternate future of gaming.

Moderator
Alex Pham, Los Angeles Times

Panelists
Henry LaBounta, Electronic Arts Canada
Greg LoPiccolo, Harmonix Music Systems
Richard Marks, Sony Computer Entertainment America
Michael McHale, Konami Digital Entertainment
Fred Swan, Logitech, Inc.

The Legacy of Disney Animation: A Journey to the Past, Present and Future Through the Eyes of Disney Animators, Directors, Designers, and Storytellers

Join Walt Disney Feature Animation's top filmmakers for a look at the studio's 70-year legacy of storytelling, animation, and innovation. Featuring clips from the Disney vaults, along with footage from current and upcoming projects, the filmmakers demonstrate how color, animation, art direction, and storytelling influence contemporary animation techniques as the Disney legacy is passed on to a new generation of artists.

Moderator and Organizer
Steve R. Goldberg, Walt Disney Feature Animation

Panelists
Eamonn Butler, Dan Cooper, Mark Dindal, Randy Fullmer, Ian Gooding, and Glen Keane, Walt Disney Feature Animation

"The Polar Express": Artists and Technicians Reveal How They Transformed a 3D Train Ride Into a 3D Stereoscopic Adventure

When "The Polar Express" left the station and exploded onto movie screens, first in 3D and then in stereoscopic 3D, we saw that the art of moviemaking had once again been forever transformed. In this Special Session at the IMAX Theater at the California Science Center, visual effects supervisors, artists, and technologists show how they transformed Robert Zemeckis' painterly film into an exciting IMAX escapade. This unique session features footage from "The Polar Express" and some very early glimpses at a Sony Pictures Imageworks project still in production, both in true 70mm stereoscopic IMAX.

Organizer
Sande Scoredos, Sony Pictures Imageworks

Moderator
Rob Engle, Sony Pictures Imageworks

Panelists
Rob Bredow, Sony Pictures Imageworks
Hugh Murray, IMAX Corporation

A Star Wars Retrospective From Industrial Light & Magic: Environments, Space Battles, and the Characters Who Fought Them From 1977 to 2005

In 1977, George Lucas' "Star Wars" opened our eyes and blasted our senses with brave new worlds, remarkable characters, and operatic battles. In the five films that followed, these images continued to make cinematic history, taking us to places we never thought possible and blazing the trail for the visual effects and animation industry. In this presentation, Dennis Muren, John Knoll, Roger Guyett, and Rob Coleman walk us through all six installments in the series, comparing the techniques that ILM employed over the years to bring these historical environments, characters, and space battles to the screen.

Organizer
Kate Shaw, Industrial Light & Magic

Moderator
Don Shay, Cinefex

Panelists
Rob Coleman, John Knoll, and Dennis Muren, Industrial Light & Magic

SIGGRAPH 2005 Special Sessions begin 1 August at 6 pm and close 4 August at 1:15 pm.

Complete details on SIGGRAPH 2005 Special Sessions

SIGGRAPH 2005 will bring nearly 30,000 computer graphics and interactive technology professionals from six continents to Los Angeles for the week-long conference, 31 July-4August. A comprehensive technical program and special events focusing on research, art, animation, games, interactivity, and the web are planned. SIGGRAPH 2005 includes a three-day exhibition of products and services for the computer graphics and interactive marketplace from 2-4 August 2005.

Ed Catmull wins the Ub Iwerks Award.

plone — 2006-05-14T22:38:56Z

To continue the tradition of honoring excellence in technical achievement, the recipient of the 2004 Ub Iwerks Award is Dr. Ed Catmull, co-founder and President of Pixar and member of the executive team of Pixar since the incorporation of the company. In 1979, Dr. Catmull brought his high-technology expertise to the film industry as vice president of the computer division of Lucasfilm, Ltd. During that time, Dr. Catmull managed four development efforts in the areas of computer graphics, video editing, video games and digital audio. He was also a key developer of RenderMan®, the program that creates realistic digital effects for computer graphics and animation.

Further details on Dr. Catmull, PIXAR, Ub Iwerks, and the Annie Awards

ACM SIGGRAPH 2005 Ballot Results

plone — 2006-05-14T22:38:56Z

Each year the Nominating Committee, led by the Past President of ACM SIGGRAPH, looks for nominees for the following year's Executive Committee positions. The committee will be nominating for three positions this year: Treasurer, Director for Education, and Director at Large. More information about the duties of each position can be found in our bylaws. The Nominating Committee for 2005-2006 will be chaired by the Past President, Alain Chesnais. Anyone interested in a leadership position in ACM SIGGRAPH is encouraged to contact him to express your interest or to suggest good candidates.

We appreciate the interest of everyone who voted in this election and remind all members of ACM SIGGRAPH that your votes set the direction of the organization. I would also like to thank the Nominating Committee, David Arnold and Marcello Zuffo, for their time and effort spent interviewing candidates for these positions.

Official Ballot Counts from ACM Headquarters

Below are the totals as reported by Monique Chang of ACM Headquarters.

Report by Judy Brown, Past President and Chair of the Nominating Committee.

President
Barbara Helfer	240
Alan Chalmers	262
G. Scott Owen	305
Unexercised Vote	0
Multiple Mark	0

Total	807

Vice President
Vali Lalioti	237
Alyn Rockwood	410
Werner Hansmann	152
Unexercised Vote	8
Multiple Mark	0

Total	807

Election Summary
Total Returns by Internet	805
Total Returns by Mail	2
Total Returns	807
Total Mailed	6,934

Computer Animation Festival Trailer now available

plone — 2006-05-14T22:38:56Z

Click here to view the SIGGRAPH 2005 Computer Animation Festival Trailer.

SIGGRAPH 2005 Student Reports

plone — 2006-07-21T01:52:25Z

Our student reporters have put together a slate of interviews with SIGGRAPH luminaries, and SIGGRAPH Student Reports will bring you updates throughout the conference.

VAST 2005 Papers Deadline

plone — 2006-05-14T22:38:57Z

Additional symposium information can be found at:

http://vcg.isti.cnr.it/vast05/

The symposium will take place in Pisa, Italy, during
November 8-11, 2005.

Important Dates are:

- Abstract submission - July 8th
- Paper submission (full/short) - July 15th
- Review assignments sent to reviewers - July 22th
- Reviews deadline - Sept. 1st
- Notification of refereeing results - Sept.
16th
- Camera ready papers to printer - Oct. 3rd
- Conference - Nov. 8th

Vast2005 continues the discussions of previous VAST
and Eurographics on Graphics and Cultural Heritage
(CH) Symposia. The 2005 VAST Symposium will
focus on interdisciplinary and multi-disciplinary
research concerning both innovative CH informatics and
use of technology for the representation and
communication of CH knowledge. The scope includes
every phase of CH informatics: initial data capture,
information processing, dissemination of results to
the scientific community and the general public, and
the wider legal and ethical responsibilities of
Cultural Informatics.

Research subjects parallel the interests of the EPOCH
EU Network (http://www.epoch-net.org/), including
culturally significant artifacts and sites as well as
the activities of museums, libraries, archives, and
organizations involved with their care.

Those researchers who wish to participate in the
VAST2005 Symposium are invited to submit papers on
original work addressing the following subjects or related themes:

* Multimedia Data Acquisition, Management and
Archiving
* 3D Data Capture and Processing
* CAD-based Digital Reconstructions
* Visualization (desktop, VR, AR)
* Computer Animation for CH Applications
* Non-Photorealistic Rendering of CH Data
* Novel Internet-based CH Applications
* Usability, Effectiveness and Interface Design for
CH Applications
* Innovative Graphics Applications and Techniques
* Interactive Environments and Applications
* Virtual Museum Applications
* Story-telling and Design of Heritage Communications
* Archaeological Analysis and Interpretive Design
* Tools for Education and Training in CH
* Standards and Documentation
* The Economics of Cultural Informatics and Tourism
* Professional and Ethical Guidelines

We are soliciting three types of contributions:

- Full research papers presenting new innovative
results. These papers will be published by
Eurographics in a high-quality proceedings volume.

- Project papers focusing on the description of
project organization, use of technology, and lessons
learned -- not innovative technical content. These papers will have a full-length oral presentation
and will be included in a "Projects & Short Papers"
proceedings volume.

- Short papers presenting preliminary ideas and
works-in-progress. These papers will have a short oral
presentation and be available as posters in conference
breaks. They will be published in the "Projects &
Short Papers" proceedings volume.

All types of submissions will be reviewed and feedback
given to the authors.

In addition, space will be available for "Live
Showcases". If you have a syste you wish included in
the showcase area, please contact the organizers.

International Program Committee Co-chairs are:

Mark Mudge, Cultural Heritage Imaging, San Francisco,
CA, USA

Nick Ryan, Computer Science Dept., Univ. of Kent,
Canterbury, UK

Roberto Scopigno, CNR-ISTI, Pisa, Italy

The IPC Member list is available on the VAST2005
website, http://vcg.isti.cnr.it/vast05/committee.php

The Conference Organizing Chair is Fabio Ganovelli,
CNR-ISTI.

The Venue is ISTI (Institute for Information Science
and Technology), an Institute of the Italian C.N.R.
(National Research Council) located at v. Moruzzi 1,
56126 Pisa, Italy.

Submissions of full, short and project papers should
be made via the VAST2005 website,
http://vcg.isti.cnr.it/vast05/submissions.php

EG proceedings style guides are available on the site.
To avoid difficulties during the production cycle,
authors are strongly recommended to use them when
preparing their submissions.

Looking forward to seeing you in Pisa!

George Lucas to be Keynote Speaker at SIGGRAPH 2005 Conference

plone — 2006-05-14T22:38:57Z

"Lucas' remarkable storytelling and cinematic technical achievements have awed and inspired the computer graphics community for more than 30 years," said James L. Mohler, SIGGRAPH 2005 Conference Chair from Purdue University. "Drawing from his three decades of experience making movies, Lucas' insights promise to intrigue and engage conference attendees across all industries and interests."

Lucas is the creator of the phenomenally successful Star Wars saga and Indiana Jones series, and the themes of his films underscore his own firm belief that the individual has boundless potential, and can overcome any limitations. While these themes are strong in his early films, THX 1138 (1971) and American Graffiti (1973), it was Lucas' third film, 1977's "Star Wars" that changed everything. An epic tale of good versus evil told across a fantastic landscape of exotic planets and bizarre creatures, Star Wars became an international phenomenon. Refusing to accept the limitations of filmmaking at the time, Lucas created his own visual effects company, Industrial Light & Magic, to deliver the more than 300 shots required to make his vision a reality.

Lucas has been the storywriter and executive producer of a series of box-office hits beginning in the 1980s, starting with the continuation of the Star Wars saga. In 1981, he created the classic adventurer Indiana Jones, and co-wrote and executive-produced the successful series that won eight Academy Awards. Later, a television series, The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, won 12 Emmy Awards.

In addition to his motion-picture and television work, Lucas has worked with Disney to create such theme park attractions as Star Tours and The Indiana Jones Adventure. He has also produced such acclaimed motion pictures as Tucker: The Man and His Dream, Willow, and Mishima. In 1999, Lucas wrote and directed Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace, the top box office hit of that year. Three years later, Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones, was the first major live-action movie to be shot entirely digitally. Lucas is currently in post production on the third and final prequel, Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith, which will be released worldwide on 19 May.

Lucas is also chairman of Lucasfilm Ltd., a fully integrated entertainment company that, in addition to its motion-picture production activities, includes Industrial Light & Magic, LucasArts, Lucas Licensing and Skywalker Sound.

Lucas has also taken a leadership role in applying his technical and storytelling expertise to the classroom, engaging students through interactive multimedia environments. He is Chairman of the Board of the George Lucas Educational Foundation, and serves on the board of the Film Foundation and the USC School of Cinema-Television Advisory Board.

In 1992, the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences honored George Lucas with the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award, which is presented to "creative producers whose bodies of work reflect a consistently high quality of motion picture production."

For further information:
Sheila Hoffmeyer or Brian Ban
+1.312.673.4787
+1.312.245.1083 fax
media@siggraph.org

SIGGRAPH 2005 Proceedings Available

plone — 2006-05-14T22:38:57Z

You'll find the full proceedings for SIGGRAPH 2005 here.

You must be a member of ACM SIGGRAPH to get the full PDF files, or else be a member of ACM and have a subscription to the ACM Digital Library.

Full-Conference DVD-ROM Update

plone — 2006-05-14T22:38:57Z

Papers presented at the ACM SIGGRAPH 2005 conference are also available in the ACM Digital Library to ACM SIGGRAPH members (and to ACM members who subscribe to the Digital Library).

For further information, please contact Stephen Spencer, ACM SIGGRAPH Director for Publications.

Thank you for your patience.

ACM SIGGRAPH Wiki is live

plone — 2006-05-14T22:38:57Z

Create an account today, and you get your own user page to tell everyone what you're up to. Leave messages for people on the Discussion tab of their user page.

Write about your favourite Emerging Technology exhibit, a mindblowing paper, or what's exciting on the show floor this year.

If it's at SIGGRAPH, it's on the wiki.

Click here to access the wiki now.

ACM SIGGRAPH call for potential EC candidates --deadline July 30, 2005

plone — 2006-05-14T22:38:57Z

If you are interested in applying for one of these positions, or you would like to recommend a great candidate, please send an email to ec-nominations -at- siggraph.org detailing full contact information and addressing the following questions:

1) What position (Treasurer, Director for Education, or Director at Large) would you like to be considered for (or are you recommending someone for)?

2) What professional, personal, and volunteer skills or experience do you or your nominee bring that make you feel that you/they are a good candidate for this position?

3) Are you/they currently an ACM SIGGRAPH member? If so, how long have you/they been a member? What do you, or your candidate, feel are some of the most valuable assets of ACM SIGGRAPH Membership?

4) What do you feel would be the greatest opportunities to add value that you/they would likely address in your/their new position should you/they be elected?

5) Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques is a rapidly evolving field. ACM SIGGRAPH must constantly re-evaluate how it functions as an organization in order to address these changes. What long term opportunities do you or your candidate see for the organization and how would you/they address those opportunities?

6) Please share the volunteer positions that you/they have held within ACM, ACM SIGGRAPH, its annual conference, or any other related activities. Please cite the volunteers that you/they reported to for the volunteer positions held over the past five years, as a reference. If you can provide current contact information for these references, that would be greatly appreciated.

More information about the duties of each position can be found in Article 5 of our bylaws at the following URL:

http://www.siggraph.org/gen-info/bylaws.html#article_5

You are also encouraged to contact any EC member, especially the nominating committee chair, and any in a position you are interested in, for further details on any role. The EC member contact list can be found online at:
http://www.siggraph.org/contact

Each year the Nominating Committee, led by the Past President of ACM SIGGRAPH, looks for nominees to consider for the following year's Executive Committee positions. The Nominating Committee for 2005-2006 is chaired by the Past President, Alain Chesnais, and is composed of Eugene Fiume, Scott Lang and Bonnie Mitchell.

This year we are changing the process by explicitly soliciting input from our membership to enhance participation in the nominations process. We encourage you to take part in this process so that you continue to have a voice in choosing those that lead the ACM SIGGRAPH organization. Please feel free to forward this e-mail to other ACM SIGGRAPH members.

Please respond to ec-nominations -at- siggraph.org by July 30, if possible, as this would allow us to interview potential candidates at our annual conference.

Alain Chesnais, ACM SIGGRAPH past president

George Lucas, Computer Graphics Technology Draw More Than 29,000 to Los Angeles

plone — 2006-05-14T22:38:57Z

(Los Angeles) - SIGGRAPH 2005, the 32nd conference on computer graphics and interactive techniques, attracted 29,122 artists, research scientists, developers, and academics from 81 countries to Los Angeles this week. More than 250 companies exhibited, including 65 for the first time, covering more than 70,000 net square feet of space.

"SIGGRAPH 2005 has exceeded all our expectations both in terms of attendance and the pervasive spirit of collaboration that was rampant in every venue of the conference," commented James L. Mohler, SIGGRAPH 2005 Conference Chair from Purdue University. "The level of attendance and exhibitor representation is a clear indicator of the strength of SIGGRAPH and the importance of computer graphics and IT in today's society."

George Lucas Reveals Motivation and Future Plans

Breaking new ground this year, the SIGGRAPH 2005 keynote event featured George Lucas in an interview format. In the revealing dialogue, Lucas, who is lauded as the father of digital cinema and internationally known for visionary cinematic feats such as "Star Wars" and "Indiana Jones," explained, "I am a storyteller at heart."

Looking to the future, Lucas expressed his belief that advancements in artificial intelligence will vastly change technology and particularly the game industry. "I want to get to the point where you can talk to a game and the game will talk back." Lucas discussed his plans for Lucasfilm to head more into the television arena, and commented that unlike industry visionary Walt Disney, he does not plan to expand his Industrial Light & Magic effects shop into a film studio.

"This is the first group I could come to that didn't ask me what digital arts are." commented Lucas on his 1984 visit to SIGGRAPH. Explaining to the audience that he is not a computer person, Lucas stressed that his quest for innovation was a quest for immaculate reality, "How do we make this real? How do we get immaculate reality?" Looking to the thousands of SIGGRAPH faces before him, Lucas smiled and stated, "I don't care how you do it, I am just glad you are doing it."

Following the keynote, Lucas spent several hours touring the SIGGRAPH 2005 Emerging Technologies and Art Gallery venues.

SIGGRAPH 2005 Computer Animation Festival Awards

The Computer Animation Festival jury gave "9" by Shane Acker (United States) "Best of Show" honors. Jury Honors were also given to "Fallen Art" by Tomek Baginski of Platige Image (Poland) and "La Migration Bigoudenn" by Eric Castaing, Alexandre Heboyan, and Fafah Togora of Gobelins, l'ecole de l'image (France).

ACM SIGGRAPH Announces Award Winners

ACM SIGGRAPH presented three awards at the conference to recognize individuals who made a significant contribution to the computer graphics community.

Tomoyuki Nishita of the University of Tokoyo received the prestigious Steven Anson Coons Award for Outstanding Creative Contributions to Computer Graphics for his inspirational work on rendering of natural phenomena. Jos Stam, a senior research scientist at Alias, received the Computer Graphics Achievement Award for his pioneering work on subdivision surfaces and on fast algorithms for the simulation of natural phenomena, especially fire, fluids, and gases. Ronald Fedkiw of Stanford University received the Significant New Researcher Award for his contributions to the field of computational fluid dynamics.

Emerging Technologies Award Partnership with Laval Virtual France

Further emphasizing the collaboration that is the essence of SIGGRAPH, through an award partnership between Laval Virtual France and SIGGRAPH, the 2005 Emerging Technologies installation, "Touch Light: An Imaging Screen and Display for Gesture-Based Interaction," was selected by Laval Virtual France for presentation at their conference 26-30 April. The technology, developed by Andy Wilson of Microsoft Research is a unique transparent display using computer vision technology enabling new applications in gesture-based user interface, video conferencing, augmented reality, and ubiquitous computing. Two members of the SIGGRAPH 2006 conference planning committee will travel to Laval, France next April to select a winning installation to be invited to display at SIGGRAPH 2006 in Boston.

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ACM SIGGRAPH, the leading professional society for computer graphics and interactive techniques, sponsors SIGGRAPH 2005.

Conference Presentations DVD-ROM set available

plone — 2006-05-14T22:38:57Z

Recorded sessions include: Keynote, Papers, Courses, Panels, Special Sessions, Sketches, Web Program and Awards Ceremony. Features include: slide index, faster search engine, speaker contact information, photos and bios as well as links to online research and more.

Please note that this product is not included in Full Conference registration.

Click here for more Information about DVD-ROM set.