SIGGRAPH Games Program Highlights Revealed

SIGGRAPH 2016 has revealed the Games program lineup for this year’s “Render the Possibilities” festivities. A fascinating range of talks, course, Real-Time Live! demos and production sessions will spotlight pioneers and visionaries of some of the most iconic and critically acclaimed games new to the market during the conference and expo, taking place July 24-28 at the Anaheim Convention Center.

Complete details can be found on the SIGGRAPH website. Some Games track highlights include:

TALKS

Building Character

Session Chair: Akshay Agarwal, Google Inc.

Features four talks, including: “Character Workflow of Final Fantasy XV”

Led by Kazutaka Kurosaka and Eitaro Iwabuchi of SQUARE ENIX CO., LTD, this talk presents how to create character assets with superior quality and performance for display on a game console. It also summarizes construction of a workflow to efficiently produce these sorts of character assets on a large scale.

The Technical Art of Uncharted 4

Speakers: Waylon Brinck, Andrew Maximov, and Yibing Jiang, Naughty Dog, Inc.

This talk presents a handful of rendering and shader features created by the technical artists at Naughty Dog. Some of these features are novel, and some are an evolution of common concepts, but all are critical to achieving the look and scope of Uncharted 4.

COURSES

Open Problems in Real-Time Rendering [Intermediate]

Instructors: Natalya Tatarchuk, Bungie, Inc.; and, Aaron Lefohn, NVIDIA Corporation

This course will discuss the top unsolved problems in real-time rendering, why current solutions don’t work in practice, the desired ideal solution, and the problems that need to be solved to work toward that ideal.

Physically-Based Shading in Theory and Practice [Intermediate]

Instructors: Stephen McAuley and Stephen Hill, Ubisoft Entertainment S.A.

The course will begin with a brief introduction to the physics and mathematics of shading before delving into exciting new research in the field. Speakers from film and game studios will also share examples of how physically based shading models have been used in production and other practical applications of shading.

REAL-TIME LIVE!

From Previs to Final in Five Minutes: A Breakthrough in Live Performance Capture

Presenters: Tameem Antoniades, Ninja Theory Ltd.; Kim Libreri, Epic Games, Inc.; Steve Caulkin, Cubic Motion Ltd; and, Vladmir Mastilovic, 3Lateral Studio

Epic Games teamed up with Ninja Theory, Cubic Motion, and 3Lateral to create the world’s first believable human driven live by an actress within an Unreal Engine game world. In this demonstration, body, face, and voice are all captured live in real time and recorded to create a real-time scene.

Real-Time Technologies of Final Fantasy XV Battles

Presenters: Isamu Hasegawa, Remi Driancourt, Hiromitsu Sasaki, and Wan Hazmer, SQUARE ENIX CO., LTD.

This presentation showcases several real-time technologies implemented for Final Fantasy XV’s epic battle between heroes and monsters: AI systems that control companions and monsters, dynamic weather systems and lighting, and visual effects for magic that affect the environment.

PRODUCTION SESSIONS

Star Wars: Battlefront – Game Development in the Star Wars Universe!

Panelists: Kenneth Brown, Jonas Andersson, Pontus Ryman, Anders Egleus, and Oscar Carlén, Electronic Arts Digital Illusions Creative Entertainment AB

The DICE team reveals some of the work that went into Star Wars: Battlefront, their award-winning, visually stunning game.

Developing Mass Effect: New Earth – A 4D Holographic Adventure

Panelists: Robert deMontarnal, Christian Dieckmann, and Howard Newstate, Media Networks Cedar Fair Entertainment Company; Clint Reagan, Halon Entertainment LLC; and, Nathan Huber, 3D Live

This session focuses on development of Mass Effect: New Earth, a first-of-its kind theme-park attraction at California’s Great America in Santa Clara.