Movie magic secrets revealed at SIGGRAPH Asia 2010

Seoul - Representatives from global production houses and special effects studios will gather in Seoul to reveal the technology behind movie making and the gaming world at the 3rd ACM SIGGRAPH Conference and Exhibition on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques in Asia.

SIGGRAPH Asia 2010 will take place at the COEX Convention and Exhibition Center in Seoul, Korea from 15-18 December 2010. Attendees of SIGGRAPH Asia 2010 can access an assortment of workshops, seminars and interactive sessions that will go behind the scenes of recent blockbusters and provide an insight into the future of animation and special effects in movies.

Among the focus of the conference this year is stereoscopy, which has been the buzzword in blockbuster movies over the year while manufacturers compete to deliver advanced systems for viewing 3D at home.

Samuel Gateau, NVIDIA Content and Technology Member, will discuss the requirements of stereoscopy in animation and real-time applications in a session entitled Stereoscopy from XY to Z.

Gateau will explore artistic concepts to provide a solid understanding of stereoscopy and how to make it work effectively for viewers. He will also present a comprehensive overview of the rendering techniques involved.

Lee Seunghun, Lead Creative Technical Director of Industrial Light & Magic provide an insight on how to plan and prepare a simulation setup from complex and heavy geometry in a session called Geometry Simulation for Feature Films.

Lee will also explain how to employ fracture techniques to break the geometry and use the fragment-clustering system to control rigid simulation, giving a detailed account of the destruction simulation that was developed for Indiana Jones 4 and Transformer 2.

Kim Ki Bum, Digital Artist with Industrial Light & Magic, reveals how he created the virtual set for the movie Iron Man 2 using real photos from the actual set and how these models were used in lighting sequences. In the session titled Photomodel and Sequence Light Set-Up on Iron Man 2, Kim will use actual shots from the movie to illustrate these two processes and show how they can be updated and shared for other shots to save time and effort.

Also at SIGGRAPH Asia 2010, Brian Green, Pixar Animation Studios Character Supervisor, will explain new and improved technologies such as ambient occlusion, subsurface scattering, efficient Indirect Illumination, and subdivision surfaces to update the Toy Story characters, their worlds, and human co- stars.

In the session called Toy Story 3 Double Feature: Characters and Lighting, Green also explains that while the new and improved technologies add welcome richness and depth, the creators took great pains to ensure the characters remained familiar and recognizable to audiences who saw them 11 years ago in Toy Story 2.

SIGGRAPH Asia 2010 also features a trade exhibition of products and services from the computer graphics and interactive marketplace that will be held from 16-18 December 2010. Sponsored by ACM, SIGGRAPH Asia 2010 is expected to see over 8,000 computer graphics and interactive technology professionals and enthusiasts from Asia and beyond. For more information, visit www.siggraph.org/asia2010.