Canadian animation, F/X and broadcast design shops are attending SIGGRAPH 2001 in search of more mature versions of software packages already in-house, while software developers are working to address perceived problems through upgrades. Perhaps most important for Canadians are the many networking opportunities of the people kind.

ACM SIGGRAPH is anticipating a total attendance of 40,000 computer graphics professionals from 75 countries when it holds its annual computer graphics conference August 12-17 at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

The conference will consist of an exhibition, courses, seminars, labs, panels and papers. Like the lineup of activities, Canadian attendees are taking varied approaches to their preparations.

Robert Dyotte, press officer for Montreal-headquartered systems and software developer Discreet, explains his company’s big plans for SIGGRAPH: ‘We’re going to introduce an updated version of 3d Studio Max. While naked, 3ds max may, in the opinion of some critics, leave something to be desired, if you plug in Reactor and Character Studio [3ds max extensions] you’ve really got the complete suite.’

Discreet also plans to launch updates of several products, and it has a key, surprise announcement in store for anyone who ventures into what they term the ‘Chill Room’ at their booth.

‘That’s a sort of table-tent with all kinds of Discreet decor – blue lighting, and all that. There will be some unusual refreshments,’ he reports.

Besides trying to create a fun atmosphere, Dyotte says Discreet will use SIGGRAPH to ‘try to make headway with the film and video production houses, to convince them that while the game developers might have been the first to hit on the advantages of 3ds max, it’s just as useful to [the film and TV community].’

At Toronto-based 3D animation and F/X software developer Alias| Wavefront, industry marketing manager Karen Eisen explains A|W will also have a large presence at the conference. ‘We’re going to preview some never-before-seen Maya technology,’ she teases.

Although Eisen can’t reveal A|W’s special SIGGRAPH surprise, she does announce that Maya 4 will be showcased along with Maya for Mac OS X, which will be shipping right after the conference. Eisen says, ‘The lineups were 10 feet deep,’ when Maya for the Mac was previewed at Macworld in July. ‘Our software rocks on [Macs],’ she says. As well, in both its own booth and the Macromedia Pavilion, A|W will release version 1.1 of its Shockwave Exporter in public beta.

A|W will also hold a number of AWGUA [Alias|Wavefront Global Users Association] seminars and AWGUA@NIGHT, a new networking bonanza created over industry displeasure at a previously scheduled day event that was going to include an admission fee.

John Gajdecki, speaking from the Vancouver office of F/X studio GVFX, has some clear ideas of what he would like to see from software developers at SIGGRAPH 2001. ‘We’re hoping to see more mature versions of the stuff we saw at NAB,’ he begins. ‘Specifically, we’re looking at Cyborg, [a 2D compositing environment from company 5D]. 5D became famous for making plug-ins for Inferno and Flame. Now it’s making its own compositor.’

Gajdecki is also interested in what’s cooking at the Discreet Chill Room. ‘We want to see if Discreet is telling anyone about its next generation stuff. We have quite an investment in Discreet and we want to see whether our investment will be protected or destroyed,’ he says.

Although he thinks SIGGRAPH is great for networking, Gajdecki says it doesn’t stack up to NAB. ‘NAB attracts more of the producers,’ he says. ‘SIGGRAPH still has this geeky thing going, which they’re really doing their best to encourage. You don’t find as many of the deal-makers there.’

Representatives from both production house Bardel Animation in Vancouver and post studio Crush in Toronto agree that SIGGRAPH doesn’t have as much appeal for 2D shops. ‘There’s so much other 2D stuff out there that you start making your priorities,’ explains Cindy Filipenko, head of development for Bardel. However, with a new 3D division at the company, Filipenko expects to attend the conference in 2002. ‘I’d like to go just for pure tech geek interest. But it’s mostly for the 3D kids in town,’ she says.

Contrary to this perception, Karina Bessoudo, spokesperson for Montreal-based 2D animation software developer Toon Boom, says many of Toon Boom’s clients will be at SIGGRAPH, where it plans to show version 5.3 of USAnimation, its high-end 2D animation software package. The new version is bolstered by several special edition plug-ins, some developed with Toon Boom partner Electric Rain. A Maya plug-in was developed in-house at the Boom.

‘It takes 3D animation created with Maya software and creates USAnimation files. It’s the same process for Electric Rain’s plug-ins [for other software packages],’ Bessoudo says.

Toon Boom will also showcase Toon Boom Studio, unveiled previously at Macworld. Toon Boom Studio ‘is more for the lower end of the market,’ Bessoudo explains. ‘It’s 2D animation software for the web only. It outputs to Flash format.’

The Toon Boom booth will be outfitted with a theatre for ongoing presentations. Says Bessoudo: ‘We have customers coming and participating in the presentations, along with our own team showing the features of USAnimation and Toon Boom Studio.’

Toon Boom will also make a presentation at the exhibitor forum on August 15. It will show ‘a complete production workflow, from scanning to rendering’ on USAnimation 5.3. ‘It’s like a tutorial session,’ Bessoudo says.

Gerry Legros, VP and head of production at Toronto F/X and animation house Calibre, will not be looking for new gear at SIGGRAPH 2001. Instead, Calibre wants ‘to augment our existing systems and software,’ Legros says. ‘We’ve got a bit of a plan. Our plan is to absorb as much as we can.’

Calibre has, among others, 3D animator Graham Cunningham attending for technical research.

For his part, Legros is heading to Los Angeles to ‘make sure we’re making contact with our contacts down there – people as well as software.’

-www.siggraph.org