The CG revolution in your living room: what to expect from SIGGRAPH 2020

Kristy Pron, president of the SIGGRAPH 2020 conference, hopes that this year's virtual attendees will get everything they always get from the event, except they are physically located in a large urban conference room. Pron, who is a multimedia arts and pipeline developer for Walt Disney Imagineering, says that while it was a little difficult to have to shift gears and start planning a virtual event in light of the COVID-19 situation, he is confident that the experience, which will start on August 17th will be positive and enriching.

“We were lucky because we had a couple of months to make a decision and that's why we postponed the date from July to August, because we had so much content to deal with,” says Pron. “We talked to several other events that had gone virtual and learned from their experiences. Time zones, for example, are a huge problem to address as we are trying to find the best solution to allow everyone to experience the conference, regardless of where they live in the world. "

The organizers were able to revolve around the event's original theme, “Think Beyond”, and apply it to the new virtual, home-grown situation. “We wanted everyone to really think beyond the usual areas of animation and production and expand the focus on CG into the world of science, automotive, theme parks and education,” Pron explains. “But when we went virtual, the theme also lent itself to how we deliver content. In fact, I think attendees are able to get a lot more out of the experience this year, because you can see more stuff and if you miss any of the live sessions, you can watch them in replay. "

One of the areas that will benefit from the new format is the Technical Papers section of the conference. According to Pron, the papers will be released on demand during the first week of the event and during the second week, four authors will be available to participate in special question and answer sessions. The Computer Animation Festival will also have a wider reach than usual as a wider audience at home will be able to participate in the selection than the usual conference theater arena.

Pron and his team are also working hard to maintain the recruiting and mentoring aspects of the program. “We will engage students through a special virtual job fair in the exhibition area of ​​the website,” he notes. “I was a volunteer student too, so I recognize what a vital part of the experience is. We are working to connect volunteers with industry mentors and to encourage the community and networking aspects of SIGGRAPH online ”.

And what kind of tips does the conference chair have for home conference attendees? “I would say, try to keep the pace,” Pron observes. “During the first week, review the material and take the layout of the ground, as the show will be on the air for two weeks this year. Then, you can go back and take everything during the second week. Most of the content will be available 60 days after August 28, so there are plenty of opportunities to grasp the content and also to keep the conversation going for the rest of the year. I hope everyone gets the inspiration they usually get from SIGGRAPH. The event is about community, learning and the opportunity to experience new things. This is what I want everyone to have until next year when we can have SIGGRAPH in person again. "

A digital cornucopia

Munkhtsetseg Nandigjav, director of SIGGRAPH's Computer Animation Festival, answered some of our training questions this year:

How long have you been working on curating the festival this year?

From the beginning, I wanted this year's Electronic Theater program to be strongly driven by dramatic, entertaining, educational and inspirational stories. I was also hoping the selections would tell the truth in the way they engage and invite our diverse audience.

Between the beginning of January with the opening of registrations and mid-July with the finalization of the training after the jury, I spent many nights and weekends watching the content repeatedly. It was a process that took about seven months. This time frame was also partly due to the pandemic which made us change the timing of the conference.

What are some of the highlights of this year's program?

One of the highlights this year is that we are introducing the show virtually to a global audience, which we have never done before. While it was a little disappointing to cancel the show in person, I'm thrilled to see how we might be able to reach a larger audience than we thought possible. Continuing last year's efforts to focus on diversity, we have made significant progress in 2020. I'm proud that not only is the content on our program different, representing a number of different categories, but the characters presented and the stories told are also different. Also, when it came to reviewing the content, we had nine out of 20 total female reviewers, who offered different skills ahead of the jury, and a 50 percent female jury, each of which is incredibly accomplished, inspiring women.

In an effort to recognize the work of often underrepresented categories, we established a “Special Recognition” designation for which the jury selected the winner. The track chosen to be recognized with this designation in 2020 is “Stem Cells: The Heroes in the Treatment of Crohn's Perianal Fistula”, which falls into the category “Visualization (conceptual animation)”.

Since its earliest days, the SIGGRAPH Computer Animation Festival has been the venue for showcasing advances in computer graphics and the best computer-generated imagery from last year. Many famous and acclaimed shorts were also premiered at SIGGRAPH conferences. In keeping with this tradition, I am thrilled to present three world premieres in 2020: exasperate by Unity Technologies, Automa from Pixar Animation Studios e Visual ASMR by Onesal Studio.

Last but not least, we will be offering a virtual direction panel after the first streaming on Monday 24th August. The panel will take place on Thursday, August 27 at Pacific Noon and will be available to Ultimate Pass holders. Get ready to hear five directors discuss the making of their incredible work.

Hai dei preferiti personali?

Sono orgoglioso di tutti i pezzi che saranno presentati nella mostra quest’anno e penso che ognuno sia fantastico a modo suo. Ogni selezione aggiunge significato alla storia più grande del teatro elettronico, e molti di loro mi hanno ispirato e connesso a un livello più profondo e personale, tra cui:

A: Gerard da DreamWorks Animation – Questo cortometraggio rappresenta una bella storia su come un semplice atto di gentilezza possa avere un impatto così grande nelle vite degli altri e in se stessi. Soprattutto in questo periodo, penso che una storia come questa porti speranza mostrando meravigliosamente la bontà dell’umanità.

Ciclo continuo da Pixar Animation Studios – Ciclo continuo racconta la sua storia con coraggio e positività, riconoscendo cosa vuol dire essere e conoscere una persona con autismo e suggerendo una prospettiva da cui tutti potremmo imparare qualcosa. È un pezzo estremamente educativo che penso aiuterà a apportare cambiamenti positivi nelle conversazioni in tutta la nostra società.

Mondi oltre la Terra dal Museo Americano di Storia Naturale – Questa visualizzazione scientifica basata sui dati è assolutamente sorprendente con scene mozzafiato! Racconta una bellissima storia sulla natura dinamica dei mondi intorno al sistema solare. Trovo eccitante vedere come le informazioni più complesse possono essere comunicate attraverso immagini così di alta qualità.

Esasperare da Unity Technologies – Una delle selezioni in anteprima mondiale, questo cortometraggio è stato reso in tempo reale ed è uno dei pezzi su cui continuo a piangere … anche dopo averlo visto più volte. La lotta della ragazza con la salute e ogni sforzo e riluttanza di suo padre a rinunciare per salvare sua figlia era una storia della mia prima infanzia. Per non parlare del fatto che anche mio padre è un ingegnere. È incredibile vedere questa bellissima storia uscire l’anno in cui dirigo lo spettacolo. Esasperare è anche una forte rappresentazione di quanto velocemente stiamo avanzando con la tecnologia in tempo reale e le possibilità di utilizzo del tempo reale nel cinema.

How long will the short films and panels remain on the website for the virtual audience?

The show will premiere on the evening of Monday 24th August and will remain available throughout the week around the world. However, ticket holders will need to unlock tickets by Friday evening (August 28), by 20:59 Pacific to be exact. Once a ticket is unlocked, each ticket holder will have 48 hours of access to the show reel. Our streaming partner, Eventive, will allow our audience to view the show on their smart TVs and virtually any other device.

What's your take on the CG animation scene in 2020? Have you noticed any significant trends?

Year after year, we have stronger photorealistic CG animation, both in feature films and in game footage. In particular, I've noticed a trend that a significant amount of work has been done on digital human faces, such as age manipulation, in movies released in the last year. In addition to the digital humans, I am impressed with the quality of the scenes from the students. In particular, a hyper-realistic world in The beauty, our jury's prize winner, was exceptionally well done. The level of the production process these students are working through to create films is truly impressive, not to mention their unique approach to storytelling.

What are some of this year's great VR offerings and how are they different from previous years?

Our SIGGRAPH 2020 VR Theater Director Monica Cappiello has prepared 10 powerful pieces as part of this year's lineup. Something unique about the 2020 VR Theater selections is that many of the pieces are emotional, inspiring, and have strong cultural contexts for their stories. In addition to some amazing virtual reality documentaries, there are some truly exceptional approaches to history, including Battlescar - Punk was invented by girls from Atlas V e Piuma by Keisuke Itoh. One piece I'm particularly excited about is 1st step: from the Earth to the Moon, which follows the story of the Apollo mission. In this VR documentary, viewers can see and experience space through the eyes of astronauts. In line with this content, we also have Apollo 13 view of the moon in 4K as part of the Electronic Theater lineup.

Any advice for animators who would like to see their shorts presented next year?

A solid story is still the key to any strong work, followed by a successful execution of the idea. I hope this year's show inspires storytellers and young up-and-coming animators from around the world on the impact creators can have through the stories we tell. As the world evolves, the festival will continue to enjoy mindful stories, inclusive stories, stories that engage their audience, and hopefully stories that touch hearts and lives and ultimately inspire positive action in others.

You can find out more about this year's virtual event at s2020.SIGGRAPH.org.