News

In search of a list of after-hours events at SIGGRAPH 2014? Look no further. SIGGRAPH.org has compiled a calendar of public parties and events happening during SIGGRAPH 2014 in Vancouver. To import the party listings to your Google calendar, click the +Google button on the lower right of the calendar, or add events individually by clicking on the event names. If you're hosting a public party or event at SIGGRAPH 2014 and would like it to appear on this calendar, please let us know by contacting the ACM SIGGRAPH Content Manager. 

Disclaimer: Please note that many of these events are not directly affiliated with ACM SIGGRAPH, though they are put on for the benefit of SIGGRAPH attendees. ACM SIGGRAPH is providing this information as a courtesy to conference attendees, and does not necessarily recommend or endorse any of the events or the sponsoring companies or organizations.

Check out the calendar of SIGGRAPH 2014 parties and events

A feature-rich mobile app for SIGGRAPH 2014 is now available for download. The app, which works with iPhone, iPad and Android devices, can be used to create conference schedules and network with other SIGGRAPH attendees and exhibitors. Conference attendees without smartphones and those who prefer to manage their schedules and contacts by desktop can access the web version of the SIGGRAPH 2014 app. 

The unique social networking aspect of the SIGGRAPH 2014 mobile app allows users to view a comprehensive list of conference attendees and build a contact list of exhibitors, friends and colleagues who will be at the conference. The app's messaging feature also enables users to contact other attendees and exhibitors via private message. In addition to networking and establishing daily conference calendars, the application can also be used to request and schedule one-on-one meetings with exhibitors and attendees.

Registered conference attendees should have received instructions on how to download the app and update their SIGGRAPH 2014 profiles, but the application is also available directly from the iTunes store and Google Play. 

Download the SIGGRAPH 2014 app for the iPhone or iPad

Download the SIGGRAPH 2014 app for Android devices

Walk up to any computer graphics professional at SIGGRAPH and ask about the first time they attended the conference. Odds are good that their earliest experience was as a student volunteer.

Student volunteers are critical to success of the SIGGRAPH and SIGGRAPH Asia conferences. In exchange for guiding attendees, manning booths and performing myriad other tasks, student volunteers are exposed to a wealth of knowledge, insight and hands-on experience not available anywhere else. ​Many computer graphics professionals took the first, uncertain steps in their careers while working as SIGGRAPH student volunteers — a startling number of them going on to rise to the top of their respective industries, becoming prominent researchers, teachers, visual effects artists, animators and innovators.

ACM SIGGRAPH Student Services is seeking industry professionals willing to volunteer a tiny slice of their time at SIGGRAPH 2014 to give feedback on student volunteer reels. Each student will be matched to a professional for review of their current reel and portfolio in a 15-20 minute session. Professionals in all disciplines are invited to volunteer. Cookies and coffee may or may not be available, but the true reward is the satisafction of helping young computer graphics students find their footing before launching themselves into the job market. 

Available reel review time slots:

Sunday, 10 August 3:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.

Monday, 11 August 1:30 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.

Tuesday, 12 August 9:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.

If interested in volunteering, please fill out the Reel Review Volunteer Form.

About S3 (ACM SIGGRAPH Student Services):

S3 is the parent organization of the SIGGRAPH Student Volunteers Program. S3 helps to facilitate mentorship and career advice opportunities for students both online throughout the year and at the annual SIGGRAPH conference. 

ACM SIGGRAPH Mentor Program Disclaimer

The SIGGRAPH Pioneers Group is proud to present one of the strongest innovators in today's dynamic film industry. Chris Edwards, CEO of THE THIRD FLOOR, Inc., will demonstrate how more than a decade of computer-aided visualization has enabled filmmakers to tell stories they simply couldn’t tell before. Case in point, Alfonso Cuarón’s "Gravity," in which every composition and camera move was designed virtually, before the actors stepped foot on stage.

This revolutionary process of planning and shooting live-action actors in a mostly virtual world is becoming known as “virtual production.” Please join us for this preview into the future of the art and science of motion pictures. The 2014 SIGGRAPH Pioneers' Reception will take place on Tuesday, August 12, from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. in the West Building of the Vancouver Convention Centre (Rooms 302 and 303). Light appetizers will be served, and drinks will be available — along with lovely views of the harbor.

The reception is exclusive to active members of the ACM SIGGRAPH Computer Graphics Pioneers Group.

Any person with 20 years of experience in some aspect of computer graphics and/or interactive techniques is eligible to become a member. The cost for a non-ACM SIGGRAPH member to become an ACM SIGGRAPH CG Pioneer is $47, which includes ACM SIGGRAPH membership. New members can join online. The cost to upgrade an existing ACM SIGGRAPH membership to Pioneer level is $5, and can be done by calling ACM Help at 1-800-342-6626 or by emailing acmhelp@acm.org.

About Chris Edwards:

After five years as a layout artist and character animator at Walt Disney Feature Animation, Chris joined a team of digital artists at Lucasfilm tasked with previsualizing "Star Wars: Episode III" from the third floor of George Lucas' Skywalker Ranch mansion. In October 2004, Chris spearheaded the creation of THE THIRD FLOOR, Inc. in Los Angeles, which has become the world's most prolific previs company.

As CEO and Creative Director, Chris has helped design over 200 feature films, commercials and video game cinematics combined. Theatrical credits include "Avatar," "Alice in Wonderland," "War Horse," "Iron Man 2," "Thor" and "The Avengers." Chris Edwards has also established branches of THE THIRD FLOOR in London and Montreal, and he is one of the founders of the Previsualization Society, which is actively involved in the Virtual Production Committee; a joint effort by a number of professional film societies to study and educate the industry about the latest trends in virtual production.

Register for SIGGRAPH 2014

Reserve your hotel for SIGGRAPH 2014

The Visual Effects Society has just announced its involvement in a groundbreaking project: the creation of a reference platform for VFX software development. Called, quite simply, the 'VFX Reference Platform,' its purpose is to minimize incompatibilities between different VFX software packages and encourage further adoption of Linux by VFX software vendors.

Some background on the project from the VFX Reference Platform website:

"VFX and animation studios typically integrate off the shelf digital content creation (DCC) tools, such as Maya or Houdini, with in-house software and other 3rd party packages to create a connected end-to-end pipeline for their artists. Since the late 90's an increasing number of studios have started running a flavour of Linux as their primary OS for artist workstations for reasons of reliability, flexibility, cost, performance and as a natural progression from SGI's IRIX.

Due to the flexibility of the Linux platform, there are a number of different distributions on varying release schedules and this combines with software vendors all having their own schedules to create a situation where DCC software packages are often released with different and incompatible dependencies. This complexity results in VFX studios requiring specialist expertise to integrate a pipeline around these dependencies or often even deciding against supporting Linux altogether."

The VFX Reference Platform is a first-of-its-kind collaboration between numerous VFX software solutions providers and the VES. According to Chris Vienneau of Autodesk, the collaboration represents a big step forward. "For the past year, the VES has been collaborating with Autodesk and other software vendors to create a reference Linux platform to address the endemic hassle of ‘version-itis.’ We’re thrilled the VES is taking the lead to rally both the visual effects community and vendors on the Linux platform to organize this working group and benefit all of our customers,” he said.

The first version of the platform, Calendar Year 2014 (CY2014) has been published and is available online.  Next year's version, CY2015, is available in draft form; feeback is invited from developers and studios. The final version of CY2015 will be published in August and announced at SIGGRAPH 2014 in Vancouver, Canada.