We have a significant presence at SIGGRAPH this year, with over 40 researchers, engineers, and artists attending. We’re excited to share our work on Avengers: Infinity War and Rampage, and our latest innovations in research and technology that have supported our work.
As always, we will be on the lookout for new talent. Visit us at the job fair, booth 27, to discuss career opportunities with our crew.
The following is a snapshot of our key activities, and you can follow us on Twitter for daily updates and reminders.
For more details about the conference, visit the SIGGRAPH website.
Design and Implementation of Modern Production Renderers
Per Christensen, Brent Burley, Luca Fascione, Christopher Kulla, Marcos Fajardo
Sunday, 12 August, 3:45pm–5:15pm, West Building, Ballroom C
This panel is a discussion among developers of five of the most significant production renderers for film, who will delve into technical detail about the design goals and implementations of their renderers and compare their respective designs.
Birds of a Feather: OpenVDB
Ken Museth
Monday 13th August, 3:30pm–5:30pm, East Building, Room 12
This BOF will discuss various topics on the open source project OpenVDB, including a new governance, novel collaborations and contributions, ideas and plans for future development, and Q&A.
Rampage: A Product of Evolution
Erik Winquist
Tuesday 14th August, 3:45pm–4:25pm, East Building, Ballroom A
Over the span of more than 20 years, Weta Digital has brought numerous memorable digital characters to the screen. For Rampage, we leveraged those two decades of experience and improved upon existing internal methods to bring to life contemporary versions of monsters inspired by the 1986 Midway arcade game.
Path Tracing in Production
Johannes Hanika, Luca Fascione
Wednesday 15th August, 2:00pm–5:15pm, West Building, Room 301–305
This course offers a brief introduction to Monte Carlo path tracing for photo-realistic image synthesis followed by a practical perspective on existing algorithms and their performance as well as essential tricks used in the challenging daily work of rendering professionals. The speakers cover diverse backgrounds such as animation and VFX.
The Making of Marvel Studios’ ‘Avengers: Infinity War’
Dan DeLeeuw, Jen Underdahl, Swen Gillberg, Kelly Port, Russell Earl, Matt Aitken
Thursday 16th August, 3:45pm–5:15pm, West Building, Ballroom AB
Four years after the events of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, the Avengers have been torn apart following the events of Captain America: Civil War. When Thanos arrives on Earth to collect the Infinity Stones for a gauntlet that will allow him to bend reality to his will, the Avengers must join forces with the Guardians of the Galaxy to stop him. Marvel Studios, ILM, Weta Digital, and Digital Domain take SIGGRAPH audiences through their VFX journey as they created some of the movie’s most heart-stopping moments.
'Rampage': A Pipelined Approach to Managing Large-Scale Character-Driven Effects
Johnathan M. Nixon
Thursday 16th August, 04:25pm–04:45pm, West Building, Room 211–214
The simulation team from the motion picture Rampage discuss their pipeline-centric approach for processing, simulating, and delivering large-scale, creature-driven destruction and volumetric FX.
Computer Animation Festival, Electronic Theater
Avengers: Infinity War
West Building, Ballroom AB
Monday 13th August, 6:00pm–8:00pm; Tuesday 14th August, 9:00pm–11:00pm; Wednesday 15th August, 8:00pm–10:00pm
Recognized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences since 1999, the Electronic Theater serves as a showcase for many eventual Academy Award nominees (and winners) in the “Best Animated Short” category. Join us in the room where it happens for an unforgettable look at the best computer graphics storytelling of the past year.
You will also find us presenting in association with some of our partners.
Foundry All Stars–Avengers: Infinity War
Matt Aitken
Sunday 12th August, 5:00pm–7:00pm, The Historic Vogue Theatre, 918 Granville Street
Foundry Educators Summit
Jonathan Swartz
Monday 13th August, 12:00pm–2:00pm, West Building, Room 115
Foundry Look Development and Lighting Meetup
Jonathan Swartz
Monday 13th August, 4:00pm–6:00pm, West Building, Room 115
Side FX Talk–Avengers: Infinity War–Titan FX
Matt Aitken
Tuesday 14th August, 10:00am–10:30am
Autodesk Vision Series Talk
Matt Aitken
Wednesday 15th August, 12:30pm–1:30pm, Room 224
NVIDIA Presents: GPU Ray Tracing for Film and Design
Brian Sharpe
Tuesday 14th August, 4:10pm–4:35pm, Room 220–222