MONSTER HOUSE and OPEN SEASON Presentations Highlight Company's Diversity
and Quality of Work
Sony SXRD 4K Projector Featured in Imageworks Booth #1506
Master Artist Karl Gnass Featured in Imageworks Booth for 9th Consecutive
Year of Popular Drawing Classes
CULVER CITY, Calif., July 28 /PRNewswire/ -- Academy Award(R) winning
digital production studio Sony Pictures Imageworks is set to showcase its
innovative and diverse range of CG work and digital effects at SIGGRAPH
2006, the 33rd annual international conference on computer graphics and
interactive techniques.
"This has been a very productive year for Imageworks in terms of our
four active production pipelines: live action visual effects, performance
capture, all CG animation and 3D stereoscopic work," said Tim Sarnoff,
president of Sony Pictures Imageworks. "We're proud to share examples of
each pipeline with SUPERMAN RETURNS, MONSTER HOUSE and Sony Pictures
Animation's first CG-feature, OPEN SEASON."
Imageworks is a participant in every aspect of the conference including
the prestigious Electronic Theater program, panels, courses and special
sessions.
On the Show Floor
Imageworks will be presenting materials this year in booth #1506 on the
Sony SRX-R105 SXRD 4K projector. As one of four models in the SXRD 4K
projector line-up, the SRX-R105 provides an image resolution of over 8.8
million pixels at a brightness of 5,000 lumens, with stunning contrast and
accurate color reproduction. These products provide high-quality,
high-resolution projection in applications from visualization and
simulation to digital cinema.
In its ninth consecutive year, Imageworks will present the popular life
drawing class "Master Life Drawing and the Art of the Dynamic Pose" with
Master Instructor Karl Gnass, author of "Spirit of the Pose: Sketchbook 1"
in the Imageworks booth #1506. Gnass has been teaching drawing for over 35
years and has worked with Imageworks for the past 10 years instructing
artists at the facility each week in his life drawing class.
"Master Instructor Karl Gnass has been teaching life drawing classes at
Imageworks every week since 1996," said Sande Scoredos, executive director
of training and artist development. "His life drawing classes not only
improve aesthetics and animation skills but also increase powers of
observation, communication, and visualization. These studio art classes are
considered a staple of the Imageworks Training & Artist Development core
curriculum and are available to everyone at Imageworks."
Electronic Theater
This year, Imageworks has been honored with two selections for
screening in the jury-selected Electronic Theater: "MONSTER HOUSE: There
Goes the Neighborhood" by visual effects supervisor Jay Redd and "OPEN
SEASON: Separating the Trees from the Forest" by visual effects supervisor
Doug Ikeler.
Monster House is currently in theaters; OPEN SEASON debuts nationwide
September 29.
Courses
Imageworks will be offering two courses:
"The Art of OPEN SEASON"
Sunday, July 30
8:30am - 12:15pm (Hall C)
Presented by visual effects supervisor Doug Ikeler, animation
supervisor Sean Mullen, and CG supervisors Max Bruce and Darren Lurie, this
session will offer a detailed behind-the-scenes view of how a team of
digital artists and technicians worked closely with a team of talented
traditional storytellers and artists to create the first feature animated
film from Sony Pictures Animation. The course will demonstrate how the most
advanced technology and tools were developed from concept to screen.
"Performance-Driven Facial Animation"
Wednesday, August 2
8:30am - 5:30pm (Room 205)
Parag Havaldar, software architect, will cover the tracking,
cross-mapping, and model derivation technologies used on MONSTER HOUSE.
Current and forthcoming motion-capture techniques and application case
studies from recent and current projects will be presented.
Panels
Imageworks executives will be participating in the following panels:
"Is a Career in Computer Graphics Possible?"
Part 1: Skills & Training
Tuesday, August 1
10:30am - 12:15pm (Room 210)
The first part of this course will be presented by Ken Muryama,
director of Digital Production for Imageworks, and will cover skills and
training on topics such as the need to stay current with technology, what
new employees are expected to know, if training departments in the industry
are keeping up with employees and what the overall benefits are to keeping
employees trained.
"Is a Career in Computer Graphics Possible?"
Part 2: Dedication & Expectation
Wednesday, August 2
3:45pm - 5:30pm (Room 210)
Presented by Jenny Fulle, executive vice president of production and
executive producer for Imageworks, this session will cover the expectations
of companies, employers, researchers, artists and students and what the
industry can do to make sure that sane and stable jobs exist in computer
graphics.
Special Session
"Sounding Off: How Voice Talents Bring Characters to Life in a CG Film"
Wednesday, August 2
4:45pm - 6:45pm (Hall B2)
Mary Hidalgo, casting director for Sony Pictures Animation, will
participate in a special session panel that will discuss how major studios
and talents use different approaches and techniques to integrate voice
performance with computer graphics to create emotionally resonant
computer-generated characters and stories.
Additional Appearances
Imageworks artists will also be participating in educational panels and
presentations in various booths including:
Autodesk Maya Master Classes
"SuperToon Body & Face Rigging"
Monday, July 31
9:00am - 12:30pm (Westin Bonaventure Waterfront Hotel)
Presented by Senior Technical Animator Joe Harkins
"Hyper Real Creature Anatomy Foundation"
Thursday, August 3
8:30am - 12:30pm (Westin Bonaventure Waterfront Hotel)
Presented by Character Set-up Supervisor Erick Miller
Autodesk Booth # 1706
August 1, 2 and 3
12:00pm
Senior Flame artist Todd Mesher will present material from CLICK and
SUPERMAN RETURNS.
August 1, 2 and 3
2:00pm
T. Dan Hofstedt, co-animation supervisor on MONSTER HOUSE, will discuss
how Maya was used in the making of the film.
Maxon Booth # 603
August 1, 2 and 3
1:00pm
Apryl Knobbe, digital paint lead on OPEN SEASON, will discuss how Cinema
4D was used during the making of the film.
Side Effects Booth # 1731
August 1 and August 2
10:30am
Darren Lurie, CG supervisor on Open Season, and David Stevens, effects
animation supervisor from Open Season, will discuss how Houdini was used
for the film.
About Sony Pictures Imageworks
http://www.imageworks.com
Sony Pictures Imageworks Inc., is an Academy Award(R) winning,
state-of-the-art digital production studio dedicated to the art of visual
effects production and character animation. Imageworks' production
environment facilitates four diverse pipelines including live action visual
effects and character work, Imagemotion(TM) performance capture, all CG
animation and Imageworks 3D stereoscopic. The company has been recognized
by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences with Oscars(R) for its
work on SPIDER-MAN(R) 2 and the CG animated short film THE CHUBBCHUBBS!, as
well as nominations for THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: THE LION, THE WITCH AND
THE WARDROBE, SPIDER-MAN(R), HOLLOW MAN, STUART LITTLE and STARSHIP
TROOPERS. Imageworks continues to raise the level in the visual effects and
character-animation industry, becoming a major force by providing leading
edge technology to its world-class artists.
Current projects include SUPERMAN RETURNS, CLICK, MONSTER HOUSE (also
in Imageworks 3D), GHOST RIDER, SPIDER-MAN(R) 3 and BEOWULF, as well as the
first two features from Sony Pictures Animation -- OPEN SEASON (also in
IMAX 3D) and SURF'S UP!
For more information, please visit http://www.imageworks.com.
SOURCE Sony Pictures Imageworks
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Related links:
http://www.imageworks.com
CONTACT:
Rachel Falikoff of Sony Pictures Imageworks,
+1-310-840-8789, rfalikoff@imageworks.com
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