Animation Educators at SIGGRAPH

SIGGRAPH is the world’s largest, most influential annual event in computer graphics and interactive techniques: Five days of research results, demos, educational sessions, art, screenings, and hands-on interactivity featuring the community’s latest technical achievements, and three days of commercial exhibits displaying the industry’s current hardware, software, and services.

The Animation Educators will be there and will be hosting a discussion on Virtual Reality (VR).

Birds of a Feather Discussion: How is Virtual Reality Changing the Way We Teach?
July 25, 2016 from 1:00 – 2:00 PM at the SIGGRAPH 2016
International Conference and Exhibition
Room 201 D – Anaheim Convention Center
800 West Katella Avenue, Anaheim, CA 92802

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Virtual Reality has a valid application to the gaming and theme park industries, but how will it be used in the area of entertainment filmmaking? Other areas for its use will also be explored, such as Archaeology (e.g. recreating an Egyptian tomb),
Architectural/Urban design, Therapy (e.g. helping a patient overcome phobias), as well as VR as a Fine Art medium.

Guest speakers will include:

Shannon-TindleShannon Tindle, Director, Producer, Story Artist & Designer
Emmy® award-winning artist and 4 time Annie Award nominee, Shannon Tindle began working in the lm industry in 2000 after attending the California Institute of the Arts. Tindle has served as a designer, story artist and director for both television and feature lms, collaborating with Dreamworks, Disney, Cartoon Network, and Universal Studios on a wide range of projects including Foster’s Home For Imaginary Friends, The Croods and Coraline. Most recently, Tindle’s interactive short film, On Ice was the first VR lm ever nominated for an Annie award. He is currently developing several TV and feature projects for Disney and Sony Pictures Animation, and his original story Kubo and the Two Strings will be released by Laika Entertainment on August 19, 2016.

calebCaleb Owens, Assistant Professor of Art, Mike Curb College of Arts, Media and Communication, California State University Northridge
Caleb is an Assistant Professor of Art at California State University Northridge with an emphasis in Game Development, Virtual Reality and Visual Eects. Professor Owens is currently pursuing research in VR with a specific focus on cognitive learning and neurophysiology. An industry veteran with a professional career that spans 25 years, Caleb has worked as a visual eects artist, game artist, animator and educator. Throughout his career he has lectured, taught and presented at professional conferences, seminars, distinguished universities and studios. Owens is published in several books, magazines, and online media. He has held senior positions at Digital Domain, Disney’s Dream Quest Images, Sony ImageWorks, Electronic Arts, Square Enix, and other visual effects and game studios. His many published credits range from games such as James Bond and Final Fantasy to more than forty films including The Academy Award Winning lm Twelve Years a Slave and hundreds of commercial credits. In 1993 Owens completed his BFA at Florida Atlantic University, one of the rst Computer Animation Art programs in the country, and later studied in the MFA program. While working professionally, Caleb was an important adviser that helped shape FAU’s MFA in Computer Art program.

Eloi-ChampagneEloi Champagne, Technical Director, National Film Board of Canada Animation Studio, English Program
Before he became Technical Director at the NFB Animation Studio, Eloi spent nearly two decades helping advertising agencies and corporations go beyond their creative limits. Drawing on his VFX expertise and creative problem-solving skills, Eloi has worked on many award-winning productions, including a number of stereoscopic films. Currently, he is working on a variety of linear and interactive productions using 3D printers, projections, different types of sensors, game engines and head-mounted displays for Virtual Reality/Augmented Reality projects and experiments.

For more information, download the printable discussion program sheet here.