Looking back at SIGGRAPH 2023!
Earlier this month, our DNEG & DNEG Animation teams came together in Los Angeles, California for SIGGRAPH 2023, the world’s largest conference for Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques, hosted by ACM SIGGRAPH. In case you missed it, here’s a run-down of how the whirlwind week unfolded!
W
e kicked off this year’s festival sharing an in-depth look at some of our latest tech innovations!
Ted Waine (Expert Software Developer), Al Crate (Senior Software Developer) and Chas Jarrett (Creative Director) presented on our DNEG-developed playback and review application, xSTUDIO. Then, Clement Jovet (Senior Software Developer) & Samuel Melamed (Software Development Manager) shared more about Jigsaw and how we use it to organize, process and distribute a wide range of asset data throughout our global pipeline!
Then, to finish off the day, Ted Waine also presented new insights on xSTUDIO at ASWF’s Open Source Days. You can watch the presentation here!
On our second day of SIGGRAPH, our DNEG Animation team took the stage for our first Nimona talk of the conference! Ted Ty (Global Head of Character Animation & Animation Director, Nimona) and Zhujun Bamboo Wang (FX Lead TD) discussed the process behind creating and stylizing the film’s large monster in the third act.
Then, Ted Waine (Expert Software Developer) took part in two talks for SIGGRAPH’s Birds of a Feather series, joining a panel at ASWF’s Open Source Review Initiative before delving deeper into the development & practical application of xSTUDIO, including a progress update, demos and roadmap discussion.
To finish off the day, we hosted a social mixer alongside NVIDIA and Dell, enjoying great food and amazing company at the lovely Indigo Hotel 18 Social lounge!
SIGGRAPH Day Three kicked off in full force, with our Talent Acquisition Team Gwennaelle Degrigny (Head of Talent Acquisition, North America), Ruchi Sharma (Co – Head of Talent Acquisition, India), Marissa Ng (Lead Talent Acquisition Partner) and Kateryna Voronina (Talent Acquisition Partner) meeting with many of you at our booth! They were excited to share more about life at DNEG and our upcoming projects – alongside a very special guest.
Meanwhile, DNEG Animation’s Anthony Kemp (Digital Producer) explored how the team used Unity’s SyncSketch, a global collaboration platform, to streamline our review workflows while animating Nimona.
And, DNEG’s Luis Placid (Head of Realtime Technologies, Research) and ReDefine’s Adrien Saint Girons (Head of Advanced Development Group) sat down with postPerspective to discuss the future of AI and virtual production in the visual effects industry. Watch their interviews here and here, respectively!
A WORD ABOUT SIGGRAPH 2023 | Luis Placid
“There’s been a lot of advancements and a lot of different trends showing up on the shop floor. One of the things I’m super glad to see and talk about is the new advances in virtual production. There are many new tools that are making us really excited about what the future holds […], tools we can integrate into our own DNEG Virtual Production processes to make that filmmaker experience faster, more reliable, and closer to the final pixel look of what the filmmaker is pursuing.”
A WORD ABOUT SIGGRAPH 2023 | Martine Bertrand
“SIGGRAPH 2023 saw many discussions revolving around Artificial Intelligence especially so-called Generative approaches. It was a perfect opportunity to discuss the impact of such technologies on our industry with colleagues and participants alike. We all left Los Angeles with a lot to ponder and new ideas to explore.”
On our fourth and final day of presentations at this year’s conference, Melaina Mace (CG Supervisor) kicked things off at the SideFX Houdini Hive Theatre with a fascinating look at the creative and technical process behind creating the post-apocalyptic world of The Last of Us to a full house! You can watch it here.
Then, some-fin fishy happened at our Nimona Production Session…
Our DNEG Animation crew Ted Ty (Global Head of Character Animation & Animation Director, Nimona), Anthony Kemp (Digital Producer), Zhujun Bamboo Wang (Lead FX TD), Johan Dekker (Motion Graphics Supervisor) and Avril Hug (Lead Surfacing Artist) were joined by a very special guest when they took to the stage to shine a light on the making of Netfllix’s incredible animated feature! The exciting session was followed with a meet and greet.
As a reminder, our Nimona Production Session is actively online for SIGGRAPH’s Virtual and Full Conference attendees to access and enjoy through 9 September, 2023!
A WORD ABOUT SIGGRAPH 2023 | Anthony Kemp
“We had an absolute blast at SIGGRAPH this year. It was an honor to engage with so many peers, professionals, and fans of Nimona. We were met with resounding awe and support. The Team did a phenomenal job making sure our talks were exciting, informative, memorable, and surprising – keeping in line with true Nimona-spirit!“
Finally, DNEG Animation’s Markus Kurtz (VP of Animation Technology) headed to Pixar RenderMan Art & Science Fair to share insights into the lighting of Nimona.
A WORD ABOUT SIGGRAPH 2023 | Markus Kurtz
“SIGGRAPH 2023 was again a fantastic opportunity to meet with colleges and peers across the industry. Every year it is truly inspiring to exchange exciting innovations, celebrate groundbreaking achievements and share valuable lessons in research and production.”
Thanks, SIGGRAPH team!
We had an amazing time at SIGGRAPH 2023, and we’d like to extend our warm appreciation to all the event organizers and our crew who helped make the conference an inspiring success. See you next year!