Chicago,
Ill. – SIGGRAPH 2009 will present a line-up of speakers and sessions
that will discuss trends and future directions for Stereoscopic 3D both
for the Hollywood movie industry, as well as for the general public
home theater experience.
"Stereoscopic visuals are a hot topic right now. The Computer Animation Festival programming aims to give the attendees, whether they have a technical or a general entertainment interest in 3D, a full view of what is happening with the genre, both artistically and technically as it evolves," says Carlye Archibeque, SIGGRAPH 2009 Computer Animation Festival executive producer. "Stereoscopic filmmaking is a technology that is going to go from the cinema experience to the home theater environment faster than we expected, and this content will provide the information needed to understand what’s coming in the very near future."
Following are highlights of this content:
3D to the Home: What Can Possibly Go Wrong?
Peter Ludé, Senior Vice President, Engineering, Sony Electronics
There are over two million 3D-ready televisions already in US households, but the industry remains divided about delivering stereoscopic content to the home. How much programming will be available, how will it be delivered, and by when? Will consumers need to wear those funny glasses? Will the world adopt 3D standards, or will competing formats emerge? Will the images on the small screen look as good as in the cinema? Peter Ludé will review these thorny topics and address the technical, business, and creative decisions that will be required over the next few years in the transition to 3DTV.
Visual Storytelling in Three Dimensions
Bob Whitehill, Stereoscopic Supervisor, Pixar Animation Studios
In combination with other visual techniques such as color and composition, stereography (if used wisely) can enhance mood, evoke emotion, and draw an audience further into a film's story. Using examples from UP, Toy Story, and Toy Story 2, Bob Whitehill discusses the use of 3D as a visual storytelling device in Pixar's films.
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs: Making Mouthwatering 3D
The Sony Pictures Imageworks production team discusses and demonstrates the creative and technological elements that helped them achieve the most delicious event since macaroni met cheese. This behind-the-scenes look at the making of an epic food-filled film featuring food clouds and spaghetti twisters reviews the early design decisions that drove the look of the film, the global illumination renderer used to bring the movie to life, and more. Plus, there will be a special first-time screening of major portions of the film during conference week. Additional 3D programming will focus on Production Sessions that take the festival attendees behind the scenes into the production pipeline of a variety of this year’s 3D films, including: Coraline, Monsters vs Aliens, G-Force, and key 3D sequences from the upcoming September release, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. Additional programming will focus on the developments in stereoscopic gaming, scientific and biomedical research, and the evolution of 3D standards for film, broadcast, and the home.