High End MoCap

The Los Angeles Chapter of ACM SIGGRAPH and the Motion Capture Society will co-host a one night only event on the state of the art in Motion Capture technology.  Industry luminaries will provide a behind the scenes look at the creation of recent ground breaking and award winning work in film, commercials, games and music video. 

Presenters from Sony Pictures Imageworks, Digital Domain, Mova, PhaseSpace, Electronic Arts and GradientFX will provide a look into the workings of this evolving technology and the place it occupies in the entertainment industry.

Seating is limited. This event may sell out!

---

The event is SOLD OUT! (10/09/08)
Stand by List Only - eMail la-rsvp@siggraph.org
You may reserve for a "stand by" reservation but this does not guarantee entry. We will inform accepted stand by's by 5:00 p.m. Monday, October 13th.

---

DAY/DATE:
Tuesday, October 14th
 
TIME:
6:30 P.M. - 7:00 P.M. - Priority Admittance for Members only.
7:00 P.M. - 7:30 P.M. - Admittance for the public.
6:30 P.M. - 7:30 P.M. - Social Hours with Appetizers.
7:30 P.M. - 7:45 P.M. - Announcements and Speaker welcome.
7:45 P.M . - 10:00 P.M. - Presentations followed by brief Q & A.

This event is FREE to members of both LA ACM SIGGRAPH and the Motion Capture Society! Become a Member of LA ACM SIGGRAPH at the Door...

SPEAKERS:
Remington Scott—CG Supervisor, Special Projects
—Sony Pictures Imageworks
Tracy McSheery—CTO/VP
—PhaseSpace
Kee-Suk “Ken” Hahn--Digital Effects Supervisor
--Sony Pictures Imageworks
Greg LaSalle—Co-Founder/Motion Capture Supervisor
—Mova
Olcun Tan—Founder/Visual Effects Supervisor/Head of R&D
—GradientFX
David Pierce—Sr. Director, Motion Capture
—Electronic Arts
Nikos Kalaitzidis—CG Supervisor
—Digital Domain

---

LOCATION:
Ince Theater at Sony Pictures Imageworks.
9050 W. Washington Blvd.
Culver City, CA  90232

REGISTRATION:
All L.A. SIGGRAPH and Motion Capture Society members will be admitted free of charge. $ 20.00 for non-members.  New L.A. SIGGRAPH Members who sign up on-site, and pay the $40 annual membership fee (checks or cash only), do not have to pay the $20 registration fee.

PARKING: 
On-site at Sony Pictures Imageworks  -
EVERYONE MUST RSVP to park on-site!
To RSVP, NO LATER THAN 10 AM PDT, Tuesday, October 14th,
eMail “la-rsvp@siggraph.org”

---

The event is SOLD OUT! (10/09/08)
Stand by List Only - eMail la-rsvp@siggraph.org
You may reserve for a "stand by" reservation but this does not guarantee entry. We will inform accepted stand by's by 5:00 p.m. Monday, October 13th.

---

PRESENTATIONS & BIOS:

 Nikos Kalaitzidis
CG Supervisor--Digital Domain
http://www.d2.com/

PRESENTATION:  MotionCapture FX Animated Characters. Motion capture dancers used in a Bacardi commercial campaign that turn people into liquids.

BIO: Nikos Kalaitzidis, a native New Yorker, is a Visual Effects Supervisor at Digital Domain.  He joined the Venice-based company in 1995 and works on both feature films and commercials.  As a Digital Artist, Nikos
contributed his talents to feature films including Titanic, Supernova, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Flight of the Phoenix, Spider-Man 3, The Seeker: The Dark is Rising, and The Golden Compass, as well as many commercial campaigns. He recently held the role of Visual Effects Supervisor on a campaign for Bacardi featuring swirling dancers made of liquid.  Nikos is currently working as a CG Supervisor on G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, which hits theaters in 2009.


 David Pierce
Sr. Director, Motion Capture--Electronic Arts
www.ea.com

PRESENTATION: "EA has been using Motion Capture for over a decade to produce animation content in all genres of our games.  Our state-of-the-art studio in Vancouver, Canada is likely the highest-volume studio on the
planet.  This talk offers a brief insight into the history of Mocap at EA, the use of Mocap for EA's Games, and the makeup of our Vancouver studio."

BIO: David Pierce is Sr. Director of the Motion Capture Studios at Electronic Arts.  He has been with EA for over 12 years.  His first role at EA was as development head for one of EA's key sports franchises, and
since has been steering the Motion Capture studios for the last 8 years. In that time he has worked on well over 100 game titles, while steering the technology, service, and business growth of EA's Mocap Studios.
David has almost 25 years in the high tech and entertainment industries, serving in many different technology and management positions.


 Olcun Tan
Founder/Visual Effects Supervisor/Head of R&D
GradientFX
http://www.gradientfx.com/

PRESENTATION: In the Music Video "save my soul", Gradient Effects used different Motion Capture Techniques to capture lead singers Cielos performance, in addition we utilized motion capture to drive a digital Heart ! We build inhouse tools which would analyze the geometry deformation driven by the mocap Data to drive secondary effects completely procedural.  Like dripping blood. We will discuss how we can utilize underlying mocap data to drive secondary effects.

BIO: Throughout his career Olcun has distinguished himself as an artist who develops software for customized visual effects. Before founding Gradient Effects, he worked at Moving Picture Company and held lead positions at MillFilm, Das Werk, and Dreamworks Animation. Among his credits are Flushed Away, Over the Hedge, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, The Patriot, Enemy at the Gates, The Thirteenth Floor, Blood and Chocolate, Southland Tales and Fireflies in the Garden.

“I enjoy developing new technology to integrate into our pipeline to solve VFX problems in more efficient ways.  For instance, we’ve used our lidar scanner on set and instantly put the data into our pipeline to begin VFX work before plates were even shot. This drift of effects and post-production into production gives directors and other keys all kinds of efficiencies formerly not possible.”


Greg LaSalle
Co-Founder/Motion Capture Supervisor—Mova
http://www.mova.com/

PRESENTATION: Contour Facial Capture: New Production Developments for Films and Games.
Since introducing the Contour Reality Capture system over two years ago, Mova has been developing post production techniques for applying high resolution face data to character models. Besides capturing the industry’s highest resolution volumetric face data, Mova has developed various retargeting techniques that are currently being used in major feature films and large scale video games by the industry's major publishers, as well as host of niche projects. This presentation will

BIO: Greg is co-founder of Mova and has served as its Motion Capture Supervisor since its inception. He is also co-inventor of the Contour Reality Capture system. He has served motion capture supervisor or consultant on all Mova motion capture shoots for clients including EA, Vivendi Games, Marvel, Rhythm & Hues, Digital Domain, HBO Productions and many others.

Greg is also an accomplished musician and composer. He has composed and produced music for companies including Sunburst Communications, Nickelodeon and Disney and most recently composed music for the temp score for a Universal Pictures feature.



 Tracy McSheer
CTO, VP--PhaseSpace
http://www.phasespace.com/

PRESENTATION: “The Making of Halo for TV" from Origami Digital

BIO: Tracy McSheery is an inventor, engineer and writer.  After serving as a Lieutenant in the US Navy, Mr. McSheery has started two successful companies.  He founded PhaseSpace in 1994 and has been very active in the development of advanced motion tracking and active marker motion capture systems. Over the years, PhaseSpace has successfully developed and deployed solutions for the US Navy, Air Force, NASA, Boeing, Disney and many other customers. Mr. McSheery has a BS in Mechanical Engineering from UC Berkeley and a MS in Applied Physics from UC Davis.  He currently serves as PhaseSpace's VP and CTO.



Kee-Suk “Ken” Hahn
Digital Effects Supervisor
--Sony Pictures Imageworks
http://www.imageworks.com/


PRESENTATION: In the feature film, Hancock, there was a need for creating a digital double of Will Smith and Charlize Theron. This talk will present the various techniques implemented for creating the digital likenesses of Will and Charlize by examining past techniques used at Imageworks. The pros and cons of each will be discussed which led to the particular implementations used on Hancock.

BIO:  Sony Pictures Imageworks’ Ken Hahn most recently served as digital effects supervisor on HANCOCK.  Hahn oversaw a crew of nearly one hundred artists who specialize in effects from digital doubles of Will Smith and Charlize Theron to virtual environments, large scale weather and mass destruction effects.

Prior to HANCOCK, Hahn served as digital effects supervisor on SPIDER-MAN™ 3,  digital effects supervisor on GHOST RIDER, senior CG supervisor on Academy Award® winning SPIDER-MAN™ 2, and on the Academy Award® nominated SPIDER-MAN™.  Hahn also led an effects crew to create an anatomically accurate digital version of Kevin Bacon for the Academy Award® nominated HOLLOW MAN. Hahn joined Sony Pictures Imageworks in 1996 as a sequence supervisor on CONTACT and went on to work on such projects as GODZILLA, Academy Award® nominated STARSHIP TROOPERS and the Academy Award® nominated STUART LITTLE.

Prior to joining Imageworks, Hahn spent three years at Walt Disney Feature Animation as a technical director. He began his career as a software engineer at AT&T.



 Remington Scott
CG Supervisor, Special Projects
--Sony Pictures Imageworks
http://www.imageworks.com/

PRESENTATION:  The creation of realistic digital humans rely on recording and translating an actors performance faithfully. However, one of the most notable areas of life, human eyes, has been the most difficult to record... Until now. Did you know that your eyeballs are like small batteries, they emit a DC current which can be recorded and translated onto a computer generated character, achieving lifelike realism in the windows to the soul. Join us on the humorous and enlightening adventures
of a small Sony Imageworks R&D team that developed production methodologies, manufactured hardware, authored worldwide patents and used the technologies in major feature film productions such as Spider-Man 3, Beowulf and Watchmen.

BIO:  Remington Scott, special project CG supervisor for Sony Pictures Imageworks, is a supervising team member in the development of proprietary performance capture and digital human acquisition for Warner Bros. mystery adventure film WATCHMEN.

Since joining Imageworks in 2003, Scott has served as a special project CG supervisor and animator on I AM LEGEND, BEOWULF, SPIDER-MAN™ 3, the Academy Award® winning SPIDER-MAN(tm) 2, Academy nominated SUPERMAN RETURNS. Previous works also include the Academy Award® winning THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE TWO TOWERS and FINAL FANTASY: THE SPIRITS WITHIN.

In addition to Imageworks, Scott has helped manage the development of computer graphics for visual effects studios Weta Digital and Square Pictures. Scott is also a founding member and on the Board of Directors of The Motion Capture Society.

 

---

About us:

L.A. ACM SIGGRAPH is a Professional Chapter of the Association for Computing Machinery's Special Interest Group in Computer Graphics, serving the Los Angeles area. Our goal is to bring members in depth coverage of the latest developments and achievements in the field of computer graphics including Animation, Visual Effects, Motion Capture, Multi-Media, Internet and Web Design, Virtual Reality, and others.

 

About the Motion Capture Society:

The Motion Capture Society was founded in 2007 by Demian Gordon. It supports its members by holding regular meetings and provides access to educational materials, software, motion capture data and an online discussion forum.  The mission of MCS is to identify emerging professionals and assist them at critical junctures in their educational and professional development and raise the appreciation for, and support of the motion capture industry. Comprised of outstanding and dedicated talent, We improve the welfare of our members by providing professional enrichment and education, fostering community,and promoting industry recognition. We strive to enrich and educate our own members and members of the motion capture community at large through a multitude of domestic and international events, screenings and programs. http://www.motioncapturesociety.com

---

SPECIAL THANKS this month goes to:
Carlye Archibeque, Demian Gordon, John Root, Diana Lee, Diane Piepol, Howard Neely, Joan Collins Carey, Mar Sorell, Sheri Ki Sun Burnham, our Speakers and the LA ACM SIGGRAPH Executive Council and all the Volunteers.

This event is FREE to LA ACM SIGGRAPH members and $20 for non members. New members who sign up at a meeting and pay the $40 annual membership fee (checks or cash only) do not have to pay the $20.

---

2008 - 2009 CALENDAR of EVENTS

UPCOMING MEETINGS

LA ACM SIGGRAPH Presents DIGITALEYES 2008
at the Barnsdall Art Park
NOVEMBER 6, 2008 - January 18, 2009
Reception
NOVEMBER 9, 2008, Sunday 6 - 9 pm,
with Performance by MLuM, 8 - 8:30 pm
DIGITALEYES 2008: New Esthetic Dimensions in Computer Visualization Technology.
Exhibition includes works from the ACMSIGGRAPH Traveling Art Show, a selection of ACM SIGGRAPH Video Reviews & SIGGRAPH 2007 Computer Animation Festival with additional works by internationally recognized artists.
Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, Barnsdall Art Park.

DECEMBER 9, 2008, Tuesday
Bolt
Walt Disney Animation Studios presents the making of Bolt.

JANUARY 13, 2009, Tuesday
LA ACM SIGGRAPH and the Visual Effects Society (VES) present a joint event bringing our members in-depth coverage on a topic of professional interest that features the latest developments and achievements in computer graphics and visual effects.

FEBRUARY 10, 2009, Tuesday
Interactive Virtual Humans: The R&D
Join University of Southern California Institute for Creative Technologies' insiders Patrick Kenny, Diane Piepol and colleagues as they brief on the challenges of R&D as well as the prototyping of interactive characters for spoken word interaction in real world use.

MARCH 10, 2009, Tuesday
Building the Perfect Pipeline
What are the important factors in building a working CG pipeline for animation, visual effects, or commercials? Come learn how to create or improve your digital pipeline from the 'Pipe Masters'. Moderator, Fran Zandonella.

APRIL 14, 2009, Tuesday
Web Environments Now
LA ACM SIGGRAPH goes virtual. A panel discussion focusing on the graphics and interactive techniques employed in current popular web-based virtual world games and social networking sites. Moderator, Leonard Daly.

MAY 12, 2009, Tuesday
The Hottest, The Latest: A Special CG Effects Presentation
Join us for a CG effects presentation from a leading Los Angeles based studio.

JUNE 9, 2009, Tuesday
We close the season with a focus on creativity, capital C. The LA ACM SIGGRAPH Executive Council is considering a Bring Your Own Video juried festival of independent CG works or a possible Electronic Fashion Show. Details forthcoming.-

---------------------
The 2008 - 2009 Executive Council is proud to announce our newly elected members:

Diane Piepol, Chair
Joan Collins Carey, Vice Chair
Mar Sorell, Secretary
Howard E. Neely, III, Treasurer
Don Jordan, Membership Chair
Electronic Services Committee Chair: Leonard Daly
SIGArt Co-Chairs: Jen Grey & Sheriann Ki Sun Burnham
Executive Advisor/Past Chair: Claudia Sumner
Education Outreach Chair: Kathleen Milnes
Catering Services Director: Diana Lee

Mission Statement

L.A. ACM SIGGRAPH is a Professional Chapter of the Association for Computing Machinery's Special Interest Group in Computer Graphics, serving the Los Angeles area. Our goal is to bring members in depth coverage of the latest developments and achievements in the field of computer graphics including Animation, Visual Effects, Motion Capture, Multi-Media, Internet and Web Design, Virtual Reality, and others.

Our newly elected
2007-2008 Executive Council:

Chair:
Diane Piepol
Vice-Chair:
Joan Collins Carey
Secretary:
Mar Sorell
Treasurer:
Howard Neely, III
Membership Chair:
Don Jordan
Volunteer Chairs:
Christobal Cheng

Catering Services Director:
Diana Lee
SIGART:
Sheriann Ki Sun Burnham, &
Jen Grey
SIGTECH:
Leonard Daly
Electronic Services Committee: Howard E. Neely, III, Chair John Sterni, Alan Botvinick, & Steve Boelhouwer,
Donor Committee: Howard E. Neely, III, Sharon Eisenberg, Diana Lee
Nomination Committee: Sharon Eisenberg, Pam Thompson, and Leonard Daly.
CG Community Outreach & Education Committee: Kathleen Milnes, Diana Lee.
Active PAST CHAIRS: Joan Collins Carey, Sharon Eisenberg, Claudia Sumner, Diane Piepol, Alan Botvinick.
Graphic Designer: Sheriann Ki Sun Burnham
Webmaster: John Sterni

ADVISORY COMMITTEE
Steve Boelhouwer , Carlos Cabral, Norma Foster, Diane Holland, Paul Holman, Avneet Kaur, Elizabeth Keith, Don Levy, Candice Miller, Andy Milne, Michael Wahrman, Diane Wright.