TALK DESCRIPTIONS | SIGGRAPH 2008
CineMan: RenderMan for Cinema 4D
Kai Pedersen
Tech Support Manager, MAXON Computer Inc. | Germany
With CINEMA 4D Release 11, MAXON's Advanced Render Module now includes CineMan, a RenderMan-compliant RIB exporter with direct integration with Pixar's RenderMan. This presentation will be a brief introduction to CINEMA 4D, the workflow, and the exciting new integration of Pixar's RenderMan technology for users of CINEMA 4D.
Introduction To RenderMan For Maya 2.0
Piyush Patel
Founder, Digital-Tutors | USA
Come see an artist-friendly approach to learning the powerful features and capabilities of RenderMan for Maya, including practical production techniques. This presentation is perfect for artists new to RenderMan for Maya and is based off the award-winning training title from Digital-Tutors, Introduction to RenderMan for Maya 2.0.
Making of "Our Wonderful Nature"
Tomer Eshed
Animation Student, HFF Konrad Wolf | Germany
Dennis Rettkowski
VFX Supervisor| Germany
The animated short, Our Wonderful Nature, is more than a furry tale of love … it is also an outstanding technical achievement by a small team of two motivated individuals. During the "behind the scenes" presentation, learn some of the secrets of how Pixar's RenderMan was used with Shave and a Haircut to create highly realistic fur. Our Wonderful Nature is screening this year in the SIGGRAPH theater.
Making of "Sonic Unleashed"
Jun Saito
Director of R&D, SEGA | Japan
Sonic Unleashed, the new adventure from SEGA's world-famous Sonic the Hedgehog game series, features not only great real-time graphics but also beautiful pre-rendered cinematics created using Pixar's RenderMan. Senior Technical Director, Jun Saito, will show a special preview of these unreleased cinematics and will then present a case study showing how they used Pixar's RenderMan to solve the secrets to unleashing the most from Sonic the Hedgehog!
One Man Show With RenderMan
Bastiaan van Rooden
Animation Greenhorn, Vancouver Film School | Canada
A VFS Digital Character Animation student shows how he profited from Pixar's RenderMan's unique feature set to create a 3 minute short within only 7 weeks of production time all on his own, without any previous knowledge of the software. The presentation shows his first encounter with the render system and how deep the student could dig into advanced features of RenderMan in a speedy manner, keeping the deadline in mind.
"One Pair", Pokémon and Beyond - (English Version)
Bernard Edlington
Art/Technical Director, Nexus International LLC | Japan
Yosuke Katsura
Software Engineer, OLM Digital | Japan
Two of the technical people behind OLM's animated short, One Pair, will talk about some of the technical challenges faced during their projects. They will describe how they created some of the effects, such as feathers for One Pair and fields of flowers in the latest Pokémon movie using a custom procedural tool. They will also show a sneak preview of their next generation version of this tool, implemented using the new Python binding in RenderMan Pro Server 14.0. This presentation is for novice and experienced users who are interested in learning more about the potential of Pixar's RenderMan.
RenderMan 20 Years
Dylan Sisson
Technical Marketing Specialist, Pixar Animation Studios | USA
During this presentation, learn more about Pixar's key rendering technology, RenderMan, and how Pixar has developed RenderMan to render feature films. Additionally, you'll learn in what ways Pixar's technology can enhance your own 3D projects with a demonstration of Pixar's RenderMan for Maya. From feature-length films to small independent animations, you'll see how your own projects can immediately benefit from the power of RenderMan.
RenderMan Certified Courseware
Lee Danskin
Creative Technical Director, Escape Studios | England
Pixar's RenderMan Certified Courseware focuses on a wide range of real-world techniques required in production, and during this presentation Lee Danskin will show the depth of this unique learning tool. The courseware allows universities and studios to deploy high quality educational materials quickly and efficiently, while giving students the opportunity to learn all of the intricacies of RenderMan. Lee will demonstrate the next generation version of the courseware highlighting its new functionality and rich media content.
Shave and a Haircut with RenderMan
Joe Alter
Founder and Developer, Joe Alter, Inc. | USA
Shave and a Haircut is a powerful tool for the creation of natural hair and fur effects in Maya. Learn how this production proven pipeline used on major feature films, television, and commercial projects is accessible to even small studios. In this presentation, see how you can create hair to render directly with RenderMan Studio.
FOREIGN LANGUAGE DEMOS
한국말 - (Korean Language Demo)
Intro To RenderMan Products
Charles Chung
Assistant Manager of the Technical Sales Team, MGS | Korea
Charles Chung of MGS will explore the key reasons that have made Pixar’s RenderMan the industry standard for feature film rendering, and will also demonstrate some of these production features using RenderMan for Maya. This presentation is in Korean.
日本語 - (Japanese Language Demo)
"One Pair", Pokémon and Beyond
Bernard Edlington
Art/Technical Director, Nexus International LLC | Japan
Yosuke Katsura
Software Engineer, OLM Digital | Japan
Two of the technical people behind OLM's animated short, One Pair, will talk about some of the technical challenges faced during their projects. They will describe how they created some of the effects, such as feathers for One Pair and fields of flowers in the latest Pokémon movie using a custom procedural tool. They will also show a sneak preview of their next generation version of this tool, implemented using the new Python binding in RenderMan Pro Server 14.0. This presentation is for novice and experienced users who are interested in learning more about the potential of Pixar's RenderMan.
SPEAKER BIOS | SIGGRAPH 2008
Joe Alter - Joe began his career in 3D animation at Robert Abel/Assoc in the mid 1980's. After Abel's Alter worked at a variety of studios including ILM, Dreamworks, and Boss Film on projects such as The Mask, Cliffhanger, Godzilla, and The Day After Tomorrow. He is the creator of XSI's hair module, 3DSMax's Hair and Fur, and "Shave and a Haircut" for Maya.
Charles Chung – Responsible for technical support and sales for RenderMan in Korea. As assistant manager of technical sales, Charles uses his expertise in both Korean and English to provide the RenderMan community of Korea the highest level of support.
Lee Danskin - Lee Danskin has been in the VFX industry for the past 18 years. He started at Alias Research, and after a lot of traveling the world, training, and supporting Maya customer sites, the creative draw became too much and he went to work on Lost in Space with the The Film Factory at VTR, spending two years working on a range of commercials and film projects. Lee then co-founded Smoke and Mirrors 3D, where he worked on numerous high-profile advertising campaigns and the James Bond title sequence for The World Is Not Enough. After four years, Lee moved to MPC as deputy head of 3D. In 2006 he joined Escape studios. And in 2007, Lee was honored by Autodesk with the title of Maya Master.
Bernard Edlington - Bernard started 20 years ago animating CG for children on his own, and since then serving both technical and artistic lead roles in projects including feature film in Japan, the US and elsewhere. At Nexus International LLC he supplies companies with creative-tech strategies and solutions.
Tomer Eshed - Born 1977 in Israel. Graduated the Jerusalem School of Arts at 1995. Has his background in illustration and comics art. Worked on concept development of different film projects and now studies animation in Potsdam/Germany since 2004.
Yosuke Katsura - Yosuke Katsura has worked for OLM Digital since 2006 as a software engineer, supporting artists technically and developing in-house tools. His name was credited in the past Pokemon movies and in the "One Pair" short to be screened at the SIGGRAPH'08 Computer Animation Festival.
Piyush Patel – Patel founded Digital-Tutors, a leading innovator of educational solutions in 2002 with a simple vision in mind, to help new and experienced artists become more productive by learning new software and production techniques. Over the years, Patel has taught professionals from studios such as Electronic Arts, companies such as Motorola, and academic institutions such as University of Michigan. Today, Digital-Tutors is aiding millions of artists in the creation of next generation feature films, commercials, video games, visual effects, and emerging media.
Kai Pedersen – Kai has worked as a Technical Director in commercials and film at a Vancouver studio, LucentDreams Animation. He was an R&D TD for One Night With the King, a production that served as the development test bed for CineMan. Recently Kai joined MAXON Computer Inc. as the Tech Support Manager to aid in high-end studio level technical support and training.
Dennis Rettkowski - Born 1979 in Germany. He is currently living and working in Berlin as vfx supervisor and technical director for feature films and animated shorts as well as teaching computer graphics in film schools and universities.
Bastaain van Rooden - Bastiaan graduated from the Berne University of Arts in 1999 (Switzerland). With his own company 'nothing from outer space' he has since then been active in many disciplines including illustrations, web/ game/ logo design and commercials. Needing a break from commercial work, the Digital Character Animation course at Vancouver Film School served as his sabbatical, that turned out successfully by winning the VFS Festival Scholarship for his movie "Border" and being invited to the Pixar RenderMan booth at the Siggraph for a presentation of his student work.
Jun Saito - Jun works at Sega Visual Entertainment, a CG animation studio in Sega, as a Director of R&D. There Jun is responsible for overseeing everything related to computer technology, ranging from the web-based information system to the RenderMan pipeline. Jun previously worked at Square USA and took a part in the development of the massively parallel photon map renderer "Kilauea."
Dylan Sisson – Since his arrival at Pixar in 1999, Dylan has been engaged in the development of the RenderMan Products. He is also the creator of RenderMan's infamous walking teapot. Prior to Pixar, Dylan began his career writing and illustrating comic books. From there it was a short step into 2D animation, which led into working in all aspects of 3D production for games and commercials. An active artist, Dylan's digital artwork and animated shorts have been shown at industry events such as SIGGRAPH. |
