Computer Graphics World

AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2010

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Editor’sNote SIGGRAPH Sideshow T his year, the annual SIGGRAPH conference was not so much about super-new technology, but rather, better ways of using it. In a word, “efficiency.” To this end, many new products were unveiled, many high- lighted in this issue and on our Web site. Some we even singled out for a Best-of-Show designation on page 3. The conference, however, is far more than just new products. It is about art, technology, applications, education, and research. It is about sharing concepts and ideas to push the industry further. It’s also about building relationships and having fun. To this end, I want- ed to take this opportunity to mention some things that I thought were of particular interest. Let’s start with education. CGW kicked off the show with its third annual SIGGRAPH student volunteer ad- dress, as top industry experts (Avatar’s Rob Powers, Zoic’s Les Ekker, Microsoft Game Studio’s Paul Amer, and DreamWorks’ Craig Ring) spoke to the students about the recent trends in the industry and offered advice for breaking into the job market. The day before the exhibition floor opened, Don Marinelli gave one of the most interesting and engaging keynotes I have witnessed in quite some time. Executive producer of Carnegie Mellon’s Entertainment Technology Center (ETC), Marinelli relayed how this successful initiative, which dared to unite two seemingly opposite disciplines—fine arts and computer science—came to be. Think of it like the relationship of the characters Day and Night, in the Pixar animated short film “Day&Night”: Each initially wary and untrusting of the other (see “You Are the One,” pg. 34). That is, until they got to know and understand each other. Once they learned to appreciate and embrace their differences, they found they had something novel to offer. Now, substitute in place of the characters Day and Night, ETC co-founders Marinelli and the late Randy Pausch (of “The Last Lecture”). Throughout the keynote, Marinelli made reference to tornados: It is in the title of his book, and it is the basis for his many analogies, one of which is that every now and then the world needs a tornado to shake things up and tear down the old, outdated concepts so that new ones can grow. Not only were the “tornado” references appropriate for his presentation, but also for Marinelli himself, who is a true force of nature. Not only did his talk meet with the appreciation of students, but also with industry veterans, who could not help but be inspired by his enthusiasm and vision. On the show floor, Nvidia made quite an impression with its all-digital booth—a first for SIGGRAPH. There were no printed signs, just amazing displays with amazing content (thanks also to Barco screens and HP and Dell machines). Not only did the area look sleek, but it really helped illustrate the complexity facing today’s digital content creators across various industries. The booth featured Nvidia’s new Quadro line, based on the Fermi architecture, and the company touted this as “the perfect platform for computational visualiza- tion”—the combination of advanced visualization with computational simula- tion. There were demonstrations by Bunkspeed, RTT, and others, but the one that stole the show was by Jim Henson’s Creature Shop. The puppeteer dem- onstrated how the Quadros enable the digital characters to come alive in real time—and now, thanks to the new Quadros, in stereo 3D. Plus, the guy was hi- larious! His quick wit drew laughs and smiles from all those who ventured by. Not to be outdone, AMD also vied for attention with its huge video wall, with its 40 displays and more than 92 megapixels of resolution—all powered by just 10 ATI FirePro V8800 cards. continued on page 3 2 August/September 2010 The Magazine for Digital Content Professionals EDITORIAL KAREN MOLTENBREY Chief Editor karen@cgw.com • (603) 432-7568 36 East Nashua Road Windham, NH 03087 CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Courtney Howard, Jenny Donelan, Audrey Doyle, George Maestri, Kathleen Maher, Martin McEachern, Barbara Robertson WILLIAM R. RITTWAGE Publisher, President and CEO, COP Communications SALES LISA BLACK Associate Publisher National Sales • Education • Recruitment lisab@cgw.com • (818) 660-6323 fax: (214) 260-1127 KELLY RYAN Classifieds and Reprints • Marketing kryan@copcomm.com (818) 291-1155 Editorial Office / LA Sales Office: 620 West Elk Avenue, Glendale, CA 91204 (800) 280-6446 PRODUCTION KEITH KNOPF Production Director Knopf Bay Productions keith@copcomm.com • (818) 291-1158 MICHAEL VIGGIANO Art Director mviggiano@copcomm.com CHRIS SALCIDO Account Representative csalcido@copprints.com • (818) 291-1144 Computer Graphics World Magazine is published by Computer Graphics World, a COP Communications company. Computer Graphics World does not verify any claims or other information appearing in any of the advertisements contained in the publication, and cannot take any responsibility for any losses or other damages incurred by readers in reliance on such content. 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