Autodesk's SIGGRAPH 2009 Events — Live in New Orleans and on the AREA

SAN RAFAEL, Calif — At SIGGRAPH 2009 in New Orleans, Autodesk will showcase its latest Digital Entertainment Creation solutions and demonstrate how studios can make the creative process a more interactive, collaborative and efficient experience. The company will host a number of live events including Tech Talks and presentations on new and upcoming projects, such as “9” and “Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning.” Autodesk will also offer Virtual SIGGRAPH — an online event that includes free MasterClasses, live video streaming from the Autodesk booth (#2201) and other exclusive web content.

Autodesk would like to thank its strategic partners, Hewlett Packard and Intel, as well as its technology partners, Nvidia, Fusion I/O and Wacom for their support.

Autodesk in New Orleans

Computer Animation Festival, Urban Planning Talks

When: Tuesday, August 4, 8:30 a.m.–5:30 p.m. CDT

Where: Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, rooms 271–273

What: Chaired by Autodesk’s Doug Eberhart, the Urban Planning Talks will feature four presentations from influential urban planning professionals, including Paul Patnode from the Environmental Simulation Center, Kevin Gilson from Parsons Brinckerhoff, Gay Knipper from the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development, and Susan Piedmont-Palladino from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. For more information, visit www.siggraph.org/s2009/computer_animation_festival/caf_talks.

“Fun with Maya” Tech Talk

When: Wednesday, August 5, 1 p.m. –2:30 p.m. CDT

Where: Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, Hall F

What:Explore some of the more surprising behaviors of Autodesk Maya software dynamics with one of its creators, Academy Award®-winning* scientist, Duncan Brinsmead. Brinsmead will reveal inside tricks on using nParticles, nCloth and Paint Effects. Examples include crashing satellites, midway rides, plasma balls, pouring liquids, lava lamps, Martian moons, flying hordes of arrows, dynamic snakes and slimy worms. As a bonus, he will also teach a technique for creating reflection-based fractals in the mental ray renderer. This talk will have useful content for advanced Maya users, but it is also suitable for anyone with an interest in computer graphics.

Project Showcase

When: August 4–6 during SIGGRAPH show hours

Where: Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, Autodesk booth #2201

What: Representatives from Sony Pictures Imageworks, Starz Animation, Psyop/Mass Market and Mythic Entertainment, an EA Studio, will offer daily presentations at the Autodesk booth. The talks will highlight how Autodesk’s Digital Entertainment Creation solutions have to been used to create recently released and upcoming entertainment projects: “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs,” “9,” “Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning” and various commercials, such as Absolut “Dissection,” Sprint “Speedway” and the Computer Animation Festival opening animation.” One-time bonus tracks on “G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra” and “The Spine” will also be offered by representatives from Frantic Films and Chris Landreth, respectively. For more information, visit www.autodesk.com/siggraph2009.

Sponsorships and Local Outreach

Autodesk is supporting several SIGGRAPH events, including FJORG!, GameJam!, The Studio activities and the SIGGRAPH Student Volunteer session. Autodesk’s Jennifer Goldfinch will participate in a panel discussion at the Student Volunteer session — along with representatives from Microsoft, Digital Domain, EA and ILM — offering students job-finding tips and industry insight. The session will be streamed live on www.cgw.com.

As part of the SIGGRAPH Outreach Program, Autodesk has donated licenses of the Autodesk Animation Academy suite to help build a computer graphics lab for the students of Algiers Technical Academy. Autodesk representatives will be in attendance to launch the lab on Monday, August 3 at 9 a.m. Autodesk employees will be also joining the TurboSquid team as volunteers for Habitat for Humanity.

Autodesk Professional Excellence Program (APEX): Instructor Training and Certification Workshop

When:July 31–August 2, 2009

Where:IP Nola Building, 643 Magazine St., New Orleans, LA

What:Autodesk will offer a three-day workshop to train and certify candidates seeking Autodesk Certified Evaluator (ACE) and Autodesk Certified Instructor (ACI) status for Autodesk Maya, Autodesk 3ds Max and Autodesk Softimage software. For more information and to apply, visit www.autodeskinc.coursehost.com.

Autodesk on the AREA: area.autodesk.com/siggraph2009

MasterClasses

When: Available on-demand August 3–9, 2009

Where: area.autodesk.com/siggraph2009

What: Free Autodesk MasterClasses will be offered exclusively online. In these sessions, industry experts will offer tips and tricks for Autodesk Digital Entertainment Creation software.

Product Demonstrations, Client Presentations and the “Fun with Maya” Tech Talk

The product demonstrations and client presentations offered at Autodesk’s SIGGRAPH booth will be streamed live to the Virtual SIGGRAPH event site. Visitors can view the content live or watch scheduled reruns. Duncan Brinsmead’s “Fun with Maya” Tech Talk will also be recorded and posted on the Virtual SIGGRAPH site.

*In February 2008, Duncan Brinsmead, Jos Stam, Julia Pakalns and Martin Werner received a Technical Achievement Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for the design and implementation of the Autodesk Maya software Fluid Effects system.