#Siggraph '94 Impressions
26 messages in this thread
Hello everyone,
I just got in from Orlando, and wanted to share some impressions I got from the
show for those who weren't fortunate enough to have been there.
The Sunday night ASOFT party had over 50 attendees, and everyone seemed to have
a good time. Autodesk and Yost group dignitaries (glowing from a sucessful
booth set-up) showed up to mingle with ASOFT folks from far and wide. People
were able to speak casually and personally with each other face-to-face, and I
felt the reason for having this get-together was served (I hope!). Many of us
went to Pleasure Island after and I think I had a pretty good "dose" of
pleasure there. Thanks to MartinF for making sure I got back to the hotel
OK!<g> Those of you who couldn't make it were sorely missed, and I hope many
more of you can show up at next year's show in LA!
Obviously, the biggest news (and suprise!) for many of us is the announcement
of 3DSr4. The Monday night news conference at Disney/MGM studios was a great
time, and the news was sprung that r4 was on the way. Suddenly, 3dS users could
look forward to full-featured IK, Bezier-Patch modeling, Keyframe scripting,
and fast-preview rendering features much sooner than the usual 18-month release
cycle. Bob Bennett's demos at the press conference were informative and
entertaining, and everyone pretty much soaked it up. Tom Hudson received some
much-deserved recognition, and folks went on to preview the 3DS Siggraph reel
(stunning!), and enjoy the refereshments and the rest of the park's amusements.
Tuesday marked the first day of exhibitions, and many people watched as GaryY,
JackP, JonasR (that's pronounced YO-nas!), BobB, and others demonstrated r4's
new capabilities. Digimation (Mirage looked great!) and the Schreiber folks
(Motion-Capture for 3DS!), also showed their newest Plug-Ins. Glen Melenhorst
and Martin Foster's work was used to demonstrate the latest YG IPAS Boutique
routines. The reel looked great on the super-bright screen, and it became
obvious that no longer could the work-station crowd claim exclusivity to many
of the industry's most exotic and sought-after tools.
The Wednesday night Adesk party was much fun. I remembered *not* to eat first,
and the grilled chicken – well – tasted like chicken!<g> Seriously, the two big
screens with GREAT sound systems showed off the reel wonderfully. David
Stinnett's whale piece actually started spontaneous applause! (great tail fin
shot, David!). The "French piece" had more emotion than a whole season's worth
of Bravo programming, and the over-all rendering quality of r3 helped make the
reel the best ever.
The rest of the show had a nice, open quality to it. DPS showed new software
for the PAR (yeah!), and there should soon be a Kai's Power Tools Plug-In for
3DS. The Matrox MAX seemed to have top-notch image quality.
The bottom line is that more and more, you don't have to have a major trust
fund to do great 3D work. The Yost group and Autodesk seem to be working
together to provide us with awesome tools at a "human" price — and I, for one,
am extremely glad they are.
Thanks, everyone for listening,
-Alan Iglesias
Thanks for the report, Alan.
BILL
Most welcome, Bill!
-Alan
Alan,
That was a perfect description of the show. I ended up garbling up some threads
trying to report what I saw.
Can't wait til '95 in LA.
Kurt
Thanks for the kind words, Kurt. Actually, I thought your messages about the
show were informative. I'm sorry we didn't get a chance to meet this year. I
hope to meet you next time around.
-Alan
Wow Alan thanks much for taking the time to describe everything with so much
detail. Really sounds like you had a blast down there. I for one haven't had a
good "dose" of fun lately – wish I could have been there with you. How cool.
Dave Mennenoh
My pleasure, Dave.
We really DID have fun, although, after having been burned twice at the "Baja
Beach Club" (once when we tried to eat there, and once for a Siggraph-related
party) we declined to go to yet another party there. Wouldn't ya know it, but I
hear the place was full of thong-bikini clad young women! Oh well, we had fun
where we went, but sometimes the grass seems a little greener…
I hope you can make it to LA next year, Dave. Maybe we can get an even bigger
ASOFT party happenin', and you could party with us!
-Alan
Ahhh yes, the grass IS always greener, especially if your surrounded by desert.
<g> Hey, I will make LA next year. I have vowed not to miss Siggraph yet
another time for any reason. Partying with you guys is something I'll be
looking forward to until then. I can only imagine…..
Dave Mennenoh
Alan –
Can't wait to see the demo reel. Can you pick up a copy for your buddy at the
So. Cal. 3D Studio sig?
The feature list put up by G is incredible. Let me know if you managed to
finagle a quick test drive at Siggraph.
Call you when you get back.
rw
Bob:
I picked up an extra copy of the Siggraph reel for the User's Group. I'll
bring it along to the next meeting. August 20th, I presume?
Greg Pyros
I guess I missed you as well Alan. Sig was definately a good time, my first..
Off to play with Mirage.. <g>
JNJ
<< Sig was definately a good time, my first.. Off to play with Mirage.. <g> >>
I'd really like to hear more about Mirage, if you get the chance.
Thanks,
BILL
Bill
Mirage, in a little nutshell, is an IPAS from Digimation (IXP) that does all
kind of cool warping, wavy, and rain like effects on an entire image or a
masked one. It does waves, ripples, and animated color variations done on to
stuff in Video Post. It's kinda simple sounding, but the effects are really
quite impressive.
Some examples demo'ed there at Siggraph were things like a masked out, wavy 2d
logo (while the background was still) Another used a greyscale character
running across the screen as a mask and the effect looked like something out of
the Predator. The area where the guy was was all warped and stuff. Another
demo was "cloaking" of a ship. The ship was a mask, and it warped the world
behind it like any Trekkie is familiar with. (fun stuff, but probably not the
most useable in that application) I'm still getting acquainted with it, but I
hope to be able to upload some sort of animation within the week. (If work
doesn't get too busy.)
Any other questions? It really needs to be seen. The Pentium 90 gave really
quick previews before actually rendering anything out. (Unfortunately, I don't
have that luxury- yet. <g>)
JNJ
Thanks a lot John. How do you define the effects, and how much does it cost ?
BILL
You define the effects by a bunch of sliders, and such. You define the areas
affected by masks (alpha). Good feedback on fast machines (my 486/66 takes a
little while) I got it for $195 and I believe they're selling it for that for
a short time (siggraph promo price) Regular price is $295. from Digimation
Any other questions?
JNJ
Nope, I really appreciate the information.
BILL
I've been playing with Mirage for a couple of hours, and it's an EXTREMELY
impressive .ixp Lots of control, some of the best wave and ripple effects I've
ever seen. This software is deeeeeep. It seems like the possibilities are
endless.
John Tissavary (LUNA cie)
>I've been playing with Mirage for a couple of hours, and it's an EXTREMELY
impressive .ixp Lots of control, some of the best wave and ripple effects I've
ever seen. This software is deeeeeep. It seems like the possibilities are
endless.<
I second that.
JNJ
<< I've been playing with Mirage for a couple of hours, and it's an EXTREMELY
impressive .ixp Lots of control >>
No kidding. Is there some sort of preview capability ? I'll have to checkthis
out soon. Thanks for the info.
BILL
Yes, Mirage has a great real-time (on a P5/90, anyway <g>) previews that use a
stand in image. It's like the XAOS one, but you can see it animated.
John Tissavary (LUNA cie)
Sorry I didn't get a chance to meet you, John.
Next year, perhaps?
Have fun with Mirage!
-Alan
Alan,
Thanks for the well worded write-up. I'll pass it on to the users group here
(All Indonesia 3ds Users). Really sorry didn't make it this year. Your msg has
made a lot of us more jealous than we already were<g>
————————————-beak
Hey there, Mr. beak!
I've heard a lot about you, but we've never spoke. I'm pleased to make your
aquaintance…
I hope my discription of the show provides folks with at least a taste of what
went on. I didn't mean to make anyone jealous, honest!<g>
It's very interesting that you are calling all the way from Indonesia. I have a
few friends here (in San Diego) from out that way. Is there a lot of 3D work
out there? I'd LOVE to visit sometime. Spending 3 years in Japan as a kid
definitely left a taste of Asia and related areas and I've got to get back
there sometime in my life.
It would be great if you could make it out here next year. I'd love to hear
more about what it is like to live and work in Indonesia.
Take care,
-Alan
Alan,
>> Spending 3 years in Japan as a kid definitely left a taste of Asia and
related areas and I've got to get back there sometime in my life. <<
You'll need to _earn_ it first! You're not just entitled to it, you know
<g,r&d>
Of course, you're right, Martin!<g>
Hmm…maybe by 2020….
-Alan
Alan,
It was a real pleasure getting together on several occasions during SIGGRAPH
94.
You and Martin make not only top animations, but journalism seems to be in your
blood as well…
Speaking of things in your blood…. take it easy on the schnapps….
I read those words recently from a wise man…. 🙂
The convention was a fantastic explosion of new and exciting technologies…
I'm very excited about at least 3 dozen things I saw…
It would take weeks for me to distill the amazement to a coherent summary…
Thank you for doing it so well….
So…. if not before….LA 95!
Again, meeting you was my pleasure.
Steve Pidgeon
Pulse Productions
P.S. My summary of SIGGRAPH 94:
"Veni, Vidi, Video"