Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1144183
20 SIGGRAPH 2019 Production Sessions Creating the Immersive World of BioWare's 'Anthem' Wednesday, 31 July, 10:45 am – 12:15 pm, West Hall B The savage world of "Anthem" is volatile, lush, expansive, and full of unexpected charac- ters. Bringing these aspects to life in a real-time (30 fps), interactive environment present- ed a wealth of challenging problems for BioWare's technical artists and rendering engi- neers. These developers work with content creators to bridge art and technology through creative problem solving in areas such as performance/runtime, shaders, and artist tools. This retrospective panel will highlight some of the team's work alongside reflections on innovation, distributed collaboration/coordination, and the successes and challenges of creating a new IP for the world to enjoy. Panelists: 'Space Explorers: Life in Orbit' – Filming VR In Microgravity Wednesday, 31 July, 2:00 pm – 3:30 pm, West Hall B In December 2018, TIME and Felix & Paul Studios launched virtual reality cameras — built to operate in microgravity — to the International Space Station. Since then, filming has documented astronauts from several countries in their daring missions more than 250 miles above Earth, capturing life in space as viewers have never truly seen before, and culminating in the first-ever spacewalk in cinematic virtual reality. Join Felix & Paul Studios, along with collaborators from NASA and the ISS National Lab, as they share insights from one of the most ambitious VR projects ever undertaken. In this session, we will discuss the background of how this partnership came to be, before diving into the technical challenges of capturing cinematic virtual reality on the ISS: How do you direct a scene in such a tight and constrained place, especially from Earth? How can you transfer terabytes of data from the cameras to Mission Control? And finally, what does it take to build and operate cameras that can capture a spacewalk? The team will explore the variety of challenges inherent in such a groundbreaking project, from building a camera that can capture an EVA (extra-vehicular activity) in the extreme environment of space, to tracking and crafting months of astronaut footage into a cohesive episodic narrative. The team will also share never-before-seen, early footage from the project. Panelists: Sebastian Sylwan, Felix & Paul Studios Michael Interbartolo, NASA Laura Gouillon, Felix & Paul Studios Gracie Arenas Strittmatter, BioWare, Electronic Arts Jeff Vanelle, BioWare, Electronic Arts Ben Cloward, BioWare, Electronic Arts Eve Colvin, BioWare, Electronic Arts Derrin Stewart, BioWare, Electronic Arts