Inter-disciplinary educational and technology event that showcases the latest in computer graphics and interactive techniques has announced the full lineup for their Computer Animation Festival Electronic and Virtual Reality (VR) Theaters.
The SIGGRAPH Computer Animation Festival is known for continuously pushing the boundaries of computer-generated storytelling in film, videogames, visual effects, and more. Thanks to the improvements in immersive technology both VR and augmented reality (AR) have a place at the festival, showcasing what the technology is capable of achieving. For SIGGRAPH 2018, the theme of the conference is “Generations”, and keep to that the Electronic Theater’s lineup is poised to epitomize a next-generation showcase of 25 short films and
presentations, culled from over 400 submissions.
With an international showcase, the Electronic Theater will feature works from Ecuador, Spain, France, Canada, the United Kingdom, Poland, New Zealand, Sweden, and the United States; five student projects; and, two major studio shorts – Pixar Animation Studios’ “Bao,” written and directed by the studio’s first-ever female director of a short film, Chinese-Canadian-American artist Domee Shi, and DreamWorks Animation’s “Bilby.” The Electronic Theater is set to run for three evenings from 13th August through to 15th August, as is a ticketed event.
“We will be presenting a high caliber of work this year from a very competitive, international field of submissions. Our jury commented several times that there were tough decisions to be made over pieces that might have been a ‘slam dunk’ in previous years,” said SIGGRAPH 2018 Computer Animation Festival Director Larry Bafia. “Each year, the Computer Animation Festival provides a spectrum of computer graphics that is unique from any other festival. The work shown ranges from hyper-real to stylized, from student grad projects to small studio work, from large studio shorts to visual effects house showcases. Our 2018 festival will, once again, present a great variety of styles of visual storytelling — sure to make for an entertaining and compelling show.”
It was also revealed last month that Disney Animation Studios with be debuting a VR short at SIGGRAPH 2018 in the form of Cycles. The short is said to be one of the highlights of the programmer, being an experiment film that centers around the meaning of ‘home’ and what it means to create one and the life that is lived within its walls.
SIGGRAPH 2018 is set to start on the 12th August and run until 16th August at the Vancouver Convention Centre, hosting a range of different programs within the conference and exhibition space. Further information and tickets can be found on the official SIGGRAPH website. For more news and coverage in the future, keep reading VRFocus.