For those not able to attend this year’s big computer graphics confab, Autodesk is offering Virtual SIGGRAPH on its online community site, the Area, at http://area.autodesk.com/siggraph. A live stream of Autodesk’s user group meeting will run on Aug. 11 from 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. (PT). Visitors will also be able to access live product demonstrations and customer presentations being shown at the Autodesk booth during show hours from Tuesday, Aug. 12 through Thursday, Aug 14. After SIGGRAPH, recordings of the events will also be posted on the site.
In addition to public-facing materials, journalists will have access to a press room on Virtual SIGGRAPH. The press section of the site will include a recording of the Autodesk press conference on Wednesday, Aug. 13, an electronic press kit, images and other support materials.
Taking place at the Los Angeles Convention Center and Nokia Theater, SIGGRAPH will offer screening of top-notch CG animation, as well as vfx-related panels and hands-on exhibits. Under the supervision of entertainment director Jill Smolin, the event’s popular Computer Animation Festival has expanded into a full-scale film festival that will incorporate curated and competition screenings, discussion panels and an awards program. Other highlights include a Stan Winston tribute, evening events hosted by Pixar, Lucasfilm and Sony Pictures Imageworks, and a special, two-day program focused on 3-D stereoscopy, put together by Sony Imageworks’ senior stereographer and digital effects supervisor Rob Engle (Beowulf, Monster House, Open Season). For more info about this year’s lineup of events, visit www.siggraph.org/s2008.
