Computer Graphics World

38 October 2008 Each year the SIGGRAPH Computer Animation Festival takes on a certain tone, or spirit, and this year's event was no different. Joyful. Funny. Sweet. Silly. Those are but a few of the adjectives that could be used to describe the 2008 juried content. Evolutionary is another word that could be used, which fi ts well with the festival's title, Evolve. "The animations improve all the time," says festi- val chair Jill Smolin. "And I just love the way the stories develop, the characters evolve, and our young animators seem to think the world's not that bad after all!" The selections, chosen from approximately 700 submis- sions worldwide, refl ect many styles and techniques, from paper cutout-like animation to well rendered pieces. "It's almost as if the technology has reached a point where artists are comfortable enough that they don't have to necessarily strut their technical prowess, but can concentrate on the very cool stories the technology lets them tell," explains Smolin. "Of course, because technol- ogy was such a signifi cant component of our festival, one can see the evolution, particularly in the scientifi c visualization pieces. The evolution in real-time rendering is truly astonishing." As Smolin points out, computer-generated animation has evolved exponentially since SIGGRAPH fi rst started screen- ing animation. "We've seen an industry explode with great stories, beautiful characters, and incredible technology combining to make us run to theaters as the next incred- ible piece hits the screen," she says. "Computer-generated animation takes us from way out in the heaves where we have yet to travel, to the inner body where cameras never will. Animation shows us science and fi ction; animation can depict anything we can imagine." And the festival celebrates all of this: the past, the present, and the future; animation and visual effects; independent projects; studio extravaganzas; teachers and students; for all of us who love the best in computer-generated anima- tion, and the incredible artists who bring it to us." Featured on these pages is a sampling of still images from some of the juried projects featured in the 2008 festival. —Karen Moltenbrey

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