Los Angeles Chapter SIGGRAPH
P.O.Box 9399 Marina Del Rey, CA 90295
los-angeles-chapter@siggraph.org

DIMENSION ONLINE

LA Chapter SIGGRAPH Presents

CGI Innovators: Past, Present, and Future Directions.
Tuesday March 9th

The Program

6:30-7:30 Social Hour
7:30-9:00 Program

The Location

UCLA Freud Playhouse Theater MacGowan Hall UCLA Campus, Westwood

Directions

From the 405, exit Sunset Blvd East. Right at Hilgard. Right at Charring Cross.

Parking

Parking in Structure 3 ($5 per car). Follow pedestrian signs to Freud Playhouse or MacGowan Hall.

Fees/Registration

This event is free to L.A. Chapter SIGGRAPH members and $10 for non-members. New members who sign up on-site and pay the $25 annual membership fee (checks or cash only) do not have to pay the $10 registration fee. Members only will be given priority entrance from 6:30-7:00 PM. After 7:00 PM itąs first come first served. We strongly urge that members arrive early to assure their admittance.

The Event

Lance Williams, Thad Beir, Michael Wahrman, and Jeff Kleiser have all distinguished themselves in the world of computer graphics. Each in their own right paved the way through research and development which ultimately led to the technology that has become the foundation of the CGI world.

Almost three decades ago these CGI innovators began to explore this strange new frontier and today continue to break new ground as we move into the next phase of our industry's history. They will be sharing their current achievements as well as where their future directions may take them.

The technical challenges are no longer as austere as those faced in the beginning, however, we constantly raise the bar as we push the limits of technology to accomplish the impossible.

These pioneers forged the road for our present day research & developers, artists and animators. Yes, we now have a history and a technology that has grown at a rate unimaginable just a decade ago. Please join us for a journey through an incredible past, present, and future to gain an appreciation and respect for the industry which is so much a part of our lives.

Kleiser, Wahrman, Beier and Williams can each speak of the past and lend us their experienced conjectures on what new directions lie ahead for us all.

JEFF KLEISER BIO

Jeff Kleiser's career has spanned the history of computer animation beginning in 1974, when he combined his interest in filmmaking with computer graphics at Colgate University to make numerous animated shorts. Following stints as a holographer and Scanimate artist, Kleiser was a founding partner and president of Digital Effect, NYC's first computer animation company, Kleiser supervised animation for Disney's Tron, The Blue Lagoon and numerous commercial projects. As Director of the Motion Picture Special Effects Division for Omnibus Computer Graphics, in 1985, Kleiser supervised the first "morphing" in feature films for Disney's Flight of the Navigator. Kleiser teamed up with artist Diana Walczak to form Kleiser-Walczak Construction Company (KWCC) in 1987, and their credits include the PBS series The Astronomers, Kevin Costner's 500 Nations, Doug Trumbull's Luxor Trilogy, Disney's Honey I Blew Up the Kid, Stargate, Judge Dredd, Mortal Kombat Annihilation, Clear and Present Danger, Universal's theme park attraction The Amazing Adventures of Spiderman, the Robert Wilson/Philip Glass opera Monsters of Grace, and Carrie II: The Rage. The company currently maintains production studios in Hollywood, New York, and at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MASS MoCA), a new, multi-disciplinary Supercollider for the Arts in North Adams, MA. The three studios are active in feature film, commercial, and location-based projects. Kleiser teaches computer animation at Williams College, and has presented papers at many international events including SIGGRAPH, IMAGINA, NAB, and VIRTUAL HUMANS.

LANCE WILLIAMS BIO

Lance Williams was part of the University of Utah computer graphics group when Ivan Sutherland and David Evans spearheaded the historic research undertaken there. Later, he worked with Ed Catmull, Jim Blinn, Jim Clark, and Alvy Ray Smith at the New York Institute of Technology Computer Graphics Lab. Here he published algorithms on shadow mapping and mip texture mapping, and wrote the script for The Works, intended to be the subject of a CG feature animation.

After leaving NYIT/CGL in 1986, Williams consulted for Henson Associates in New York and GLOBO television in Rio de Janeiro. In 1988, he joined Apple Computer's Advanced Technology Group, where he worked for eight years. During his stint at Apple, Williams worked with Pete Litwinowicz on the InkWell interactive 21/2-D animation system, contributed to the software product QuickTime VR, which supports interactive panoramas, and worked with its principal architect, Eric Chen, to publish Image Synthesis by View Interpolation, promoting image-based rendering.

In 1996, Williams worked on special effects for a live-action feature, Habitat, before joining DreamWorks SKG as head of long-term software development for feature animation. Two years ago, he transferred to the role of lead graphics software designer for The Road to El Dorado, an animated feature now in production. At this time, Williams is engaged in visual software development for a future film.

THAD BEIER BIO

Thad Beier is a partner in Hammerhead Productions, a small digital film company. His roles include both software tool design and implementation, and visual effects production. He was the Visual Effects Supervisor for Shadowbuilder, and has supervised Hammerhead's work on various films including Paulie: A Parrot's Tale. He has been working in the computer graphics field since 1978, first at the New York Institute of Technology, then Lucasfilm, Pacific Data Images and Silicon Graphics, before founding Hammerhead. He is the author of a SIGGRAPH 1992 paper titled "Feature Based Image Metamorphosis," and has also presented Siggraph courses on implicit surfaces in 1992, and on morphing in 1997.

At New York Tech, Thad participated in early computer graphics research and production, working on projects such as The Works, and numerous commercial and broadcast productions. At Pacific Data Images, he was the second employee, and stayed with the company for 10 years; working as an animator, programmer, animator manager, and finally R&D manager. At PDI, he worked with his future Hammerhead partners in the very beginning of the digital film effects revolution in the early 90's.

Thad just won a Scientific and Technical Achievement Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for his work on the design and implementation of ras_track, a system for 2D tracking, stabilization, and 3D camera and object tracking. He has also won a Bay Area Emmy award in 1985 and shared a national Emmy in 1982.

MICHAEL WAHRMAN BIO

Michael Wahrman has worked in computer animation research and production since 1982. Starting before there were established techniques and programs for computer animation, he has contributed to the planning, design and production of motion picture, theme park and special venue, and interactive computer animation. His recent motion picture credits include Starship Troopers, Event Horizon, What Dreams May Come, and the Dream Pictures Studio full-length animated feature film Hopper. He has pioneered production technology in computer animation and visual effects for film and in real time computer generated characters (performance animation). He is currently senior visual effects advisor on the rebuild of the Hayden Planetarium and to the Digital Galaxy Project of NASA. Mr. Wahrman is also serving his second term on the board of the New York Chapter of ACM Siggraph, his fourth year on the jury of PRIX Ars Electronica of Linz, Austria, and is a consultant to Viacom International in the technology office in the areas of computer animation and for motion picture and interactive entertainment.

Mr. Wahrman was recently awarded an Academy Award for Scientific and Technical Merit for his contributions to the Wavefront Animation System.

Special Thanks to Jacki Morie, Andy Kopra and Di Piepol

Announcements

Siggraph-Art Meetings Beginning April 1999

We will be starting SIGGRAPH-Art meetings for visual artists in April. More up-to-date information can be found on the LA Chapter SIGGRAPH web page: http://www.siggraph.org/chapters/los_angeles/ To sign up for announcements of SIGGRAPH-Art meetings, e-mail majordomo@allen.com with the line

subscribe siggraph-art
in the body. For comments and meeting suggestions e-mail: los-angeles-chapter@siggraph.org.

SIGGRAPH-Tech Meetings

We have started SIGGRAPH-Tech meetings for programmers and other technical folks. More up-to-date information can be found on the LA Chapter SIGGRAPH web page: http://www.siggraph.org/chapters/los_angeles/ To sign up for announcements of SIGGRAPH-Tech meetings, email majordomo@allen.com with the line:

subscribe siggraph-tech
in the body. For comments and meeting suggestions, email callen@allen.com.

We Want You

There are many factors that go into staging meetings. Accurately guessing the number of attendees is but one facet of this ever-growing process. We are the largest SIGGRAPH Chapter in the world!

Since L.A. Chapter SIGGRAPH is staffed only by non-paid volunteers, who mostly work 40++ hours per week, on our day jobs, we do the best we can. We are not complaining about what we do. If we didn't enjoy contributing back to our community, we wouldn't be doing it. We would only like to convey that a great deal of planning and preparation goes into each and every meeting. Each seemingly minor detail is weighed and measured at our Executive Council Meetings, with the goal of bringing you the finest meetings possible. There are many logistical and budgetary details to be considered. One of these details is our policy of giving Members exclusive admittance from 6:30 P.M. to 7:00 P.M.

Please be assured that we try to admit everyone to our meetings. We do our utmost to accurately predict the turnout for each meeting, and secure a venue to accomodate that number of attendees. This can only be, at best, a rough guess.

With more volunteers we could distribute more tasks and thereby likely reduce errors, and not completely burn out the volunteers that we currently have. If you have a few spare hours per month and would like to be more involved with this worthwhile organization, please E-Mail us at: los-angeles-chapter@siggraph.org

Setting New Standards We Remember
Bruce Perry Berman
April 12, 1966 to November 14, 1998.

A natural born teacher, Bruce combined his love of teaching and computers and was an adjunct graphics/animation professor at both Seton Hall and William Patterson.

Fulfilling a career dream, Bruce was employed as a computer graphics animator in Hollywood in 1993.

He worked at Sidley Wright Motion Works, Topix LA, and finally VIFX/ Video Image until he went on permanent disability in October of 1997. Bruce Berman died at home in Nevada City, CA after complications with pneumonia and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (Lou Gehrig's Disease). Bruce graduated from Seton Hall University in 1988 with a BA in Communications, and from William Patterson College in 1992, with a Master's Degree in Computer Animation.

After his diagnosis of ALS in 1996 Bruce worked exhaustively trying to solve the many mysteries of this horrible disease. As the disease progressed Bruce continued to work on the computer by using specialized equipment that he found through the internet. He utilitzed a Headmouse which was a reflective dot worn on his forehead that controlled the cursor through infrared technology.

He was extremely involved with a group on the internet who were also diagnosed with ALS at a young age - His research and discussions continue to generate e-mail from around the world. Even now, he continues to help and to teach.

His efforts and journey are chronicled in a web site he created and updated regularly. The site and its archives can be viewed at www.jps.net/berman and will remain on the web indefinitely.

He is survived by his wife, Carolyn, and daughter Andie Rose, age 2 1/2.

Upcoming Meetings

Tuesday, March 9th, 1999
CGI Innovators: Past, Present, and Future Directions
April 13th, 1999
Rhythm & Hues Hosts the History of CGI

Upcoming Conferences

March 14-16,1999
Business Process & Workflow Conference. Walt Disney World Dolphin, Lake Buena Vista, Florida. For information: Mary Jean Ahearn, Giga Information Group; Phone: 781-792-2669;fax: 781-871-4871; email: conferences@gigaweb.com.
March 27, 1999
3D Media for the Internet: Technology Overview and Business Opportunities Symposium. UC Berkeley, San Francisco Campus. Extension Department; Phone: 510-642-4111; URL: http://www.berkeley.edu/unex/eng/
October 4-6 1999
Call for Papers and Participation, 9th International Conference on Software Quality. The planning has started for the Ninth International Conference on Software Quality to be held October 4-6, 1999 in Boston. The call for papers is available from the 9ICSQ website and other information will be posted as it becomes available. The URL is: http://www-biz.aum.edu/tomgriffin/9icsq
Critical Dates:
March 8, 1999 Papers and proposals for tutorials and panel sessions due.
April 21, 1999 Notification of acceptance mailed.
July 30, 1999 Final approved paper and presentation files due.
For Information about the Software Division: Visit the ASQ Software Division Web Page www.asq.org/about/divtech/softdiv/swqweb.html
Submit To: Papers, panel proposals and tutorials should be submitted in electronic form to: Postal Address: Tom F. Griffin, III, Ph.D. IS & DS, School of Business, AUM PO Box 244023 Montgomery, AL 36124-4023 Street Address: Tom F. Griffin, III, Ph.D. IS & DS, School of Business, AUM Room 310 Business 7300 University Drive Montgomery, AL 36117 E-Mail: tgriffin@monk.aum.edu (Send Word files as attachments)
February 7-11, 2000
WSCG'2000 Call for Papers The First Announcement
Deadline for papers: October 10, 1999
Conference dates: February 7-11, 2000
Information: http://wscg.zcu.cz WSCG'99 Call for Participation

Submissions to the Upcoming Conferences section may be made to Sherm Klein, Contributing Editor, ADVANCED INFORMATION METHODS, INC., P. O. Box 950692, Mission Hills, CA 91395-0692, email: shermk@juno.com, phone: 818-366-2678, at least one month ahead of the time it is taking place.

Leading Creativity-Are We Still Having Fun?

Competitive environments have taken a toll on the creative business of producing and delivering computer graphic content. CG content is found in entertainment applications most widely used in games, commercials, and film as well as IMAX format, science, research, and corporate America.

The companies that produce and deliver such content are susceptible to the same business conditions that their own clients face everyday. A lot of people I know who set up CG shops, began with the idea they could have fun while doing the kind of work they enjoyed. As these small start up companies began to grow and expand, the competitive forces that affect all businesses forced their founders to divert their attention from the creative process to the challenges and pitfalls of running a company. The fun now took on a serious tone. Rats.

One of the constants we have been facing is that our industry is not like a typical assembly line cranking out mindless widgets of exacting size and specification. Simply put, we produce information. Our product is fundamentally different -- it is different and more complex with each project. We are charged with producing breakthrough improvements every frame, every shot, every day. We are constantly asked to drive the technology to accomplish what was thought to have been impossible the last time out. We typically seek out the projects that challenge us and this is incredibly different from a typical manufacturing environment.

As we fully immerse ourselves in the mind-blowing world of CGI, we have become myopic. I have worked in different studios for different types of computer graphic and creative design work both here and internationally, and you know what? Myopia is universal. It happens in New York, Tokyo, and Los Angeles. It happens in big shops. It happens in small. Our friends in the media forgot to tell us. We are susceptible to the same forces, problems, and trends that affect our clients. Darn.

There are five forces which act upon our business and guide our strategy: new entrants to our business, our clients ever changing needs, substitutes like optical or practical (yikes!), suppliers for our workstations, algorithms and software, and of course our competitors. These forces are in motion more than ever because of digitization. Lowering costs of workstations and software are bringing new people into the game. Many of them are not even new -- they used to work for you and me but now have inexpensive SGI Visual Workstations and work from home and send me plates and animation via the Internet. Did you see that coming?

Forrester Research, an international technology research organization, has fortunately devised a nifty name for this trend of ad hoc teams or individuals coming together for a shot or scene and then disbanding at the end. It is the trend of atomization. We all know someone who is taking part in this. It's a fascinating thing. Forrester suggests that large monolithic shops are a thing of the past. Yes, there are a few large shops that have suddenly vanished or slowly died off but it was hardly from atomization. Atomization is one result from a formula of forces that affect any business.

Creativity and the ability to consistently innovate is our core, our main function,in the computer graphics business. Atomization has an effect. Forces beyond our control have an effect. And certainly things within our domain have an effect. What can we do to shape these? What can we do to guard our innovative capabilities? What can we do to lead creativity? These are issues I seek to explore to understand more about our business and more about leading creativity.

Mike Ash is a Mananagement Consultant for Entertainment & New Media
mikeash@secant.org Secant - applied creativity www.secant.org Los Angeles

The Visual Effects Society Presents VES OE99
A Festival of Visual Effects

VES OE99 is the Visual Effects Society's celebration of the art of the process of storytelling. VES OE99 is the first of what we hope will be an annual event providing a platform for the visual effects artists to share their experiences with VES members, others associated with the visual effects industry, the production community and the general public.

DATE: 4-6 June 1999
PLACE: Leonard H. Goldenson Theatre Academy of Television Arts & Sciences
5230 Lankershim Blvd. North Hollywood, CA 91601
COST: $12 per presentation
TICKETS: Tickets will be sold on a first come, first served basis. You may purchase tickets via email, fax or mail only. When ordering, please include the following information:

Number of tickets
Show(s) you wish to attend (reference show by letter: A. 10:00-12:00 Flat Earth)
Name and address where you wish the tickets mailed
Payment method

PAYMENT: Check or Credit Card
Please include the following information for credit card purchases: Visa or MasterCard number (these are the only cards VES is authorized to accept) Expiration date, Name on card, Billing address (including zip code) VES will confirm your ticket purchases. The actual tickets will not be mailed until March/April.

VES OE99 Schedule of Events

Friday - 4 June 1999
A. 10:00am - 12:00 Flat Earth Productions presenting Xena and Hercules; weekly TV show where principal is shot 10,000 miles from post.
B. 1:00 - 3:00 Robert Abel -- The development of visual effects - the untold story from the feature film, 2001, to the present.
C. 4:00 - 6:00 SETI/SPI -- Dr. Jill Tarter and Dr. Kent Cullers will present SETI (the privately funded Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence institute) followed by Ken Ralston and his team from Sony Imageworks discussing how they brought Robert Zemeckis' vision of Contact to the screen through visual effects.
D. 8:00 - 11:00 Dennis Muren - Senior VFX Supervisor, ILM, discussing the sequences he supervised for Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace. This presentation will be followed by War of the Worlds.

Saturday - 5 June 1999
E. 10:00am - 12:00 JHCS -- Jim Henson's Creature Shop presenting animatronics and puppeteering; the history and work of the Creature Shop.
F. 1:00 - 4:00 Rob Coleman - Animation Supervisor, ILM, discussing the digital character animation he supervised for Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace. This presentation will be followed by a classic visual effects film.
G. 5:00 - 7:00 JPL/DD -- Jet Propulsion Laboratories will present the Mars Rover followed by Rob Legato and Digital Domain presenting the visual effects from Apollo 13.
H. 8:00 - 11:00 John Knoll - VFX Supervisor, ILM, discussing the sequences he supervised for Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace. This presentation will be followed by Forbidden Planet.

Sunday - 6 June 1999
I. 11:00am - 1:00 Threshold Threshold Entertainment presenting the Mortal Kombat franchise as it relates to repurposing assets for all the various Mortal Kombat properties.
J. 2:00 - 4:00 Ray Harryhausen -- Recognized master of stop-motion photography from Mighty Joe Young to Clash of the Titans. Mr. Harryhausen will give a presentation followed by a one on one interview with visual effects supervisor Phil Tippett.
K. 5:00 - 8:00 Scott Squires - VFX Supervisor, ILM, discussing the sequences he supervised for Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace. This presentation will be followed by a classic Ray Harryhausen film.

Visual Effects Society: 15118 Valley Vista Blvd. Sherman Oaks, CA 91403 phone: 818.789.7083 fax: 818.789.7085 email: visual.effects.society@worldnet.att.net
www.visual-effects-society.org
www.vesmem.org

L.A. SIGGRAPH 98-99 Executive Council
Genny Yee, Chair
Di Piepol, Vice Chair
Alan Botvinick, Co-Vice Chair
Michael Seales, Treasurer
Kathleen O'Reilly, Secretary
Claudia Sumner, Co-Secretary
Leslie Mais, Publicity Chair
Diana Lee, Membership Chair
Steve Hwan, Records Comptroller
Chris Troianello, Membership Secretary
Linda Hinojosa, Editor
Sherm Klein, Contributing Editor
Amelia Garcia, Advertising Coordinator
Pamela Thompson, Subcommittee Chair
Joan Collins, Chair Emeritus
Aliza Corson, Past Chair
Chris Allen, Webmaster

Committee Members:
Larry Carroll, John Bryant, Rimas Juchnevicius

Last Updated: Thu Jun 29 01:26:23 2000
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Los Angeles Chapter SIGGRAPH, P.O.Box 9399, Marina Del Rey, CA 90295 SIG-PHONE: (310)288-1148 SIG-FAX:(818)716-6989 email: los-angeles-chapter@siggraph.org http://www.siggraph.org/chapters/los_angeles/