Siggraph Turns 35

Special Film Events
Siggraph Turns 35
By Cynthia Kirkeby
Mar 31, 2008, 07:13 PST

This year SIGGRAPH turns 35 and computer animations and graphics have entered a new era. To kick off events, Ed Catmull, PhD, President of Walt Disney and Pixar Animation Studios will be the first featured speaker of the event. Having played a major role throughout the past 30 years in the invention of computer graphics projects, such as RenderMan, rendering software system, which has been used to create blockbuster animated hits such as Toy Story and Finding Nemo, as well as 44 of the last 47 Visual Effects nominations to the Academy Awards®, he is constantly pushing the envelope in the animation field.

Switch by Jim Levasseur, Tomas Jech and W. Jacob Gardner

The Computer Animation Festival is always one of the highlights of the show and for the first time, the public will be allow to attend the shows. Full Conference Access attendees can come and go throughout the week. Basic Conference Access attendees can add Computer Animation Festival Access to their registration for only $50 per day, or $200 for the full five-day Festival. SIGGRAPH is also opening the Festival to the public by offering a Festival-only registration package, introducing a whole new audience to this exciting medium.

Be sure to check out our information on Fjorg if you are an animator trying to break into the field, or secure your hold on it. This year they've opened the competition to single animators as well as teams, and they may double the teams allowed if they get enough student submissions versus professional entries.