markv@gauss.Princeton.EDU (Mark VandeWettering) (08/13/90)
Well, here is MY brief view of what went on at SIGGRAPH. I thought by and large the paper sessions were EXCELLENT. Among my favorites was a new method of doing ray/Bezier patch intersections (very nice!), Gavin Miller had a nice paper about simulating water effects, and Paul Haeberli had a very good paper about creating paintings from bitmaps. Several of the dynamics papers where good as well, notably Baraff gets my award for "cute demonstration of the all too mathematical theory in my paper". :-) I also liked Witkin's work on affine deformable bodies. I attended the raytracing BOF, and finally got to meet several people whom I have chatted with via email over the years. We are going to have to arrange for food and drink next year guys! :-) Andrew Glassner's new book Graphics Gems was selling like hotcakes. I got my copy. Its going to be a classic. Several of the snippets are worth the price of the book, and there are a lot of snippets :-) One disappointment: IEEE publishes a book on image warping by Wolberg. It seems like a nice book, softcover, some nice pictures. I had it on my buy list, but found out its selling price is 75 bucks, discounted to 60 for conference attendees. For a softcover book, with < 300 pages, one has to really wonder whether it is worth it. I chose to pass, with great reluctance. I hope that computer publishers don't continue to increase the cost of books like this. On the same note, I must commend the new Foley et. al. and Graphics Gems for precisely the opposite problem. Both books are nice, thick, hardcover books that are reasonably priced. The film and video show was okay, but notably lacking of the really killer animation we have come to expect in previous years. The one great exception was "The Grinning Evil Death" done at the MIT Media Lab. An excellent technical and dramatic achievement, if a bit violent. (Not that I am complaining, but others probably will). Unfortunately, they chose not to show it in its entirety during the Film & Video Show (time constraints?). I saw the rest during one of the talks, it really is quite an achievement. Anyway, that's what I saw, other than hotels, marguritas, and lots of video. Mark
genetti@cs.tamu.edu (Jon Genetti) (08/14/90)
In article <1861@idunno.Princeton.EDU> markv@gauss.Princeton.EDU (Mark VandeWettering) writes: >I thought by and large the paper sessions were EXCELLENT. Among my favorites >was a new method of doing ray/Bezier patch intersections (very nice!), >Gavin Miller had a nice paper about simulating water effects, and Paul Haeberli >had a very good paper about creating paintings from bitmaps. Several of the >dynamics papers where good as well, notably Baraff gets my award for "cute >demonstration of the all too mathematical theory in my paper". :-) I also >liked Witkin's work on affine deformable bodies. The best paper I saw was on facial animation by Lance Williams of Apple. He recorded the motion of a human face and then mapped the face of a dog to it. Pretty good results and he really got the crowd into it when he showed some different footage than the video in the show. >I attended the raytracing BOF, and finally got to meet several people whom >I have chatted with via email over the years. We are going to have to arrange >for food and drink next year guys! :-) I didn't have time to get to the BOF, but I did work the raytracing class as a volunteer. I was too busy checking badges to really see anybody's face, but did recognize a lot of names. >Andrew Glassner's new book Graphics Gems was selling like hotcakes. I got my >copy. Its going to be a classic. Several of the snippets are worth the price >of the book, and there are a lot of snippets :-) I got my copy on Tuesday but wasn't able to look at it until last night. I went back to get a copy for a friend on Wednesday and they were already sold out and were having to ship them. >One disappointment: IEEE publishes a book on image warping by Wolberg. It >seems like a nice book, softcover, some nice pictures. I had it on my buy >list, but found out its selling price is 75 bucks, discounted to 60 for >conference attendees. For a softcover book, with < 300 pages, one has to >really wonder whether it is worth it. I chose to pass, with great reluctance. >I hope that computer publishers don't continue to increase the cost of books >like this. Ditto. I just laughed when "the model" said 60 dollars. If enough people did that, they just might do something about it. Disappointment #2: They sold out of Siggraph t-shirts VERY early. Being an avid t-shirt collector, I tried to buy one on Sunday and they were already out of XL. I bought a large and hoped it wouldn't shrink. I think all of the t-shirts were sold out by Wednesday morning. They also mis-calculated the amount on long-sleeve denim shirts they would sell. A rumour I heard was that they were keeping the rooms colder to encourage people to buy them since they had way too many of them. >The film and video show was okay, but notably lacking of the really killer >animation we have come to expect in previous years. The one great exception >was "The Grinning Evil Death" done at the MIT Media Lab. An excellent >technical and dramatic achievement, if a bit violent. (Not that I am >complaining, but others probably will). Unfortunately, they chose not to >show it in its entirety during the Film & Video Show (time constraints?). I >saw the rest during one of the talks, it really is quite an achievement. Another nice one was, I forget the title, but it had a metallic T that turned into shoulders and arms of a bodybuilder and was flexing. Very realistic. Does anyone know if they presented a paper on it or at least has a pointer to something that explains how they did it? >Anyway, that's what I saw, other than hotels, marguritas, and lots of >video. well this guy is already looking forward to Siggraph '91. In fact, I already have a '91 t-shirt. jon genetti.
murray@vs2.scri.fsu.edu (John Murray) (08/15/90)
In article <7395@helios.TAMU.EDU> genetti@cs.tamu.edu (Jon Genetti) writes: >In article <1861@idunno.Princeton.EDU> markv@gauss.Princeton.EDU (Mark VandeWettering) writes: > >Another nice one was, I forget the title, but it had a metallic T that turned >into shoulders and arms of a bodybuilder and was flexing. Very realistic. >Does anyone know if they presented a paper on it or at least has a pointer >to something that explains how they did it? I don't know if the technique has been published anywhere. That bit you saw, "In search of muscular Axis," was by Polygon Pictures. Also, remember the "Dancing Sony" piece, with each letter in the Sony logo twisting about itself? Also by Polygon, using the same technique, according to the Theater program. Polygon calls it their Skeleton Coordinate System. Done with in- house software. That's the best I can do for a pointer. >>Anyway, that's what I saw, other than hotels, marguritas, and lots of >>video. >well this guy is already looking forward to Siggraph '91. In fact, I already >have a '91 t-shirt. Some of the margueritas you saw were probably in my hands. I'm hoping the folks with the budgets won't mind sending the low man on the totem pole (me) again next year. John R. Murray | "They call me Mr. Know-it-all, I am so eloquent. murray@vs2.scri.fsu.edu | Perfection is my middle name! | ...and whatever rhymes with 'eloquent'." - Primus
charlie@celia.UUCP (Charlie Gibson) (08/16/90)
In article <398@sun13.scri.fsu.edu> murray@vs2.scri.fsu.edu (John Murray) writes: >In article <7395@helios.TAMU.EDU> genetti@cs.tamu.edu (Jon Genetti) writes: >>In article <1861@idunno.Princeton.EDU> markv@gauss.Princeton.EDU (Mark VandeWettering) writes: >> >>Another nice one was, I forget the title, but it had a metallic T that turned >>into shoulders and arms of a bodybuilder and was flexing. Very realistic. >>Does anyone know if they presented a paper on it or at least has a pointer >>to something that explains how they did it? > >I don't know if the technique has been published anywhere. That bit you saw, >"In search of muscular Axis," was by Polygon Pictures. Also, remember the >"Dancing Sony" piece, with each letter in the Sony logo twisting about >itself? Also by Polygon, using the same technique, according to the Theater >program. Polygon calls it their Skeleton Coordinate System. Done with in- >house software. That's the best I can do for a pointer. I have the thesis paper by Toshiashi Katoh entitled "Skeleton Coordinate System" from his research done at Hiroshima University, but it's in Japanese. Sorry. If you are really interested, here is his mailing address: Toshiashi Katoh Polygon Pictures Bond Street T11 2-2-43 Higashi Shinagawa Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo 140 JAPAN I'd watch these guys, at least is you are interested in Japanese computer animation production. I think they are poised to become the top graphics production organization in Japan. -- Charlie Gibson INTERNET: celia!charlie@usc.edu Rhythm & Hues, Inc. UUCP:...{ames,hplabs}!lll-tis!celia!charlie "A boy without mischief is like a bowling ball without a liquid center!"
pepke@gw.scri.fsu.edu (Eric Pepke) (08/16/90)
A couple of brief thoughts on SIGGRAPH: 1) THANK YOU^n to whomever decided to bind the pocket guides for the technical program people in spiral bindings! 2) Next time, include a booth number -> exhibitor name index. 3) The categories of exhibitors seemed ill fitted. There were far too many exhibitors listed among the miscellaneous under seemingly arbitrary headings, many of which were synonimous. A good example was the makers of scan converters. 4) Thanks for including the Maplethorpe 3-D pictures. But why wasn't the cyan penis in the 3-D slide set? 5) I like the continuation of the tradition of holding the technical program reception in science museums. It brings out the ten-year-old that lies at the heart of each of us. Well, at the heart of me, anyway. Besides, if the VR panel was any indication, a good dose of remedial instruction in physics might be a good idea. 6) Any suggestions on how to get the theme song to _The Geometric Fables_ out of my skull? Eric Pepke INTERNET: pepke@gw.scri.fsu.edu Supercomputer Computations Research Institute MFENET: pepke@fsu Florida State University SPAN: scri::pepke Tallahassee, FL 32306-4052 BITNET: pepke@fsu Disclaimer: My employers seldom even LISTEN to my opinions. Meta-disclaimer: Any society that needs disclaimers has too many lawyers.
herzog@dogwalk.Eng.Sun.COM (Brian Herzog, DSGG/DGDO/GSP/MRG/WXYZ) (08/22/90)
In article <408@sun13.scri.fsu.edu> pepke@gw.scri.fsu.edu (Eric Pepke) writes: >A couple of brief thoughts on SIGGRAPH: > >1) THANK YOU to whomever decided to bind the pocket guides for the >technical program people in spiral bindings! > This was considered in past years and reluctantly not done because it's rather expensive, but everyone seemed to like the spiral binding, so, budgets permitting, it's likely to be continued. >2) & 3) [comments on the final program, which I'll forward to the appropriate '91 planners.] >4) Thanks for including the Maplethorpe 3-D pictures. But why wasn't the >cyan penis in the 3-D slide set? > I'll forward your question to the folks who made the decisions on this, and will post any responses. >6) Any suggestions on how to get the theme song to _The Geometric Fables_ out >of my skull? > Work in the SIGGRAPH registration area for a day. But then, you won't be able to get the narration of the latest Video Review out of your skull. ;-) -- ----------------------------------------------------------------- I'm not a real SIGGRAPH answer person, but I play one on the net. Brian Herzog herzog@Eng.Sun.COM ...!sun!eng!herzog
herzog@dogwalk.Sun.COM (Brian Herzog, DSGG/DGDO/GSP/MRG/WXYZ) (08/29/90)
In article <408@sun13.scri.fsu.edu>, pepke@gw.scri.fsu.edu (Eric Pepke) writes: > A couple of brief thoughts on SIGGRAPH: > [...] > > 4) Thanks for including the Maplethorpe 3-D pictures. But why wasn't the > cyan penis in the 3-D slide set? > > [...] As promised, I forwarded your question to the two SIGGRAPH '90 committee members involved, and both responded. (BTW, I am not a member of the SIGGRAPH '90 committee; I'm just acting as go-between here). Diana Tuggle, the slide sets chair, reports: ----- Begin Included Message ----- The cyan penis was not submitted for selection to the 3-d slide set. Tom will be able to tell you why it wasn't in the art set. ----- End Included Message ----- Tom Linehan, the art show chair responded as follows: ----- Begin Included Message ----- Brian, Thanks for forwarding the message to me. If you wouldn't mind forwarding the following message, would appreciate it. I too would have liked to have presented the "Maplethorpe, the 90's" piece in its totality (as exhibited in the SIGGRAPH'90 Art Show) in the art show slide set. The slide sets are limited to 78 slides. There were more than 90 pieces in the art show. I selected several slides from the "Art (n) Maplethorpe " piece but had to exclude some. The piece itself was not fully completed until a month before the show. The slide sets are duplicated in early May. I would have prefered to have both the catalog and the slide set present the artwork as it was shown to the SIGGRAPH community. Such slides were not availble prior to the completion of the piece. If they had been, I would have included them. Thanks for your interest. __________________ tom@archone.tamu.edu Tom Linehan, SIGGRAPH'90 Art Show Chair ----- End Included Message ----- ----------------------------------------------------------------- I'm not a real SIGGRAPH answer person, but I play one on the net. Brian Herzog herzog@Eng.Sun.COM ...!sun!eng!herzog