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SOFTIMAGE SIGGRAPH 2008 Production Challenge

Imagine this: with an important pitch around the corner, you and three colleagues need to turn a concept and a simple storyboard into a short, high-quality shot that you can present to a client. The catch is you’ve only got one day to get it done. Sound familiar? If you’re planning a career in 3D, it will.

Fortunately, four of the CG industry’s top XSI artists are coming back to SIGGRAPH to show you how it’s done, in the second annual Softimage Production Challenge, sponsored by Lenovo. Last year the team – working together for one day only – created the animation "Attack of the Jellybeans" in less than 12 hours, before a crowd of approximately 90 people.


This year's Production Challenge pays homage to Georges Méliès's "A Trip to the Moon"

This year’s challenge pays homage to legendary filmmaker and special effects pioneer, Georges Méliès. Our XSI dream team will create a shot inspired by the 1902 science fiction classic, A Trip to the Moon. Since it’s their second time working as a team, expectations are high to see what they’ll be able to accomplish!

Starting with a simple concept drawing, Todd Akita (PSYOP), David Andrews (Sony Pictures Imageworks), Bradley Gabe and Greg Punchatz (both from Janimation) will model, rig, animate, light, and render a character - right before your eyes.

Hosted by Alex Lindsay (Pixel Corps), this is a fantastic opportunity to watch four masters of their craft execute a small but complex project on a very tight deadline. You’ll get a behind-the-scenes look at how a highly skilled production team collaborates to fine tune a shot, overcome production hurdles and inspire one another to reach new creative heights.

The Production Challenge is an all-day event your sure to want to see. Stick around for the whole event, or pop in and out to see the production come together piece by piece.

However you choose to see it, space is limited, so register today.

And to see how it all turns out, drop by our booth, on Wednesday, August 13th, or the Lenovo booth on Tuesday, August 12th and Wednesday, August 13th, where we’ll be presenting the results of the Production Challenge.



	Details Where: Sheraton Los Angeles Downtown, 711 South Hope Street, Los Angeles, CA, 90017 When: Sunday, August 10th, 11:00AM – 8:00PM Room: California ABC >> Register for this event <<

Meet the XSI Dream Team...

Todd Akita 3d Technical Director, PSYOP Originally trained as a painter, Todd turned his attention to computer graphics shortly after graduation from art school. In 2000, after years of freelancing and teaching in the New York area the founding partners of PSYOP asked him to join their small but immensely talented team. Since then, PSYOP has continued to grow steadily and has evolved from a small boutique to a large-scale studio operation. Recent PSYOP projects include work for some of the world's most recognizable brands, including but not limited to Mercedes, Infiniti, MTV, Renault, Bombay Sapphire, AT&T, McDonalds, Nike and Coca-Cola.		Greg Punchatz Senior Creative Director, Janimation Greg developed his artistic skills at an early age in Dallas, TX, creating creatures and sci-fi/ fantasy clay models. He provided make up/prosthetic effects for A Nightmare on Elm Street 2, Robocop (all three films), Coming to America, Beauty and the Beast (TV series) and Spy Kids 2. He also designed creatures for the 1993 best-selling first-person shooter Doom. An XSI user since version one, Greg started his 3D career at Janimation (Dallas, TX) contributing to the Area 51 game trailer for Midway games. He relies on SOFTIMAGE\|XSI to produce commercials, visual effects, and pre-viz sequences for clients.
Bradley Gabe Senior Technical Animator, Janimation It was at SIGGRAPH in 1995, while watching a presentation by Industrial Light & Magic at the Softimage User Group that Bradley realized his career path. After a short time doing character work at a small games company, he returned to his native South Florida to attend graduate school in computer science and work on commercials. A few years later, he moved into high end 3D, joining up with the team at Quiet Man in New York where he helped create effects for national campaigns including Gillette's Mach 3, Chester Cheetah, and the award winning AT&T Blue Line Guy. Bradley left New York for the West Coast, where he joined ILM as a creature TD, working on Van Helsing, Harry Potter 3, Son of the Mask, and Lemony Snicket. Since then, he has been a creature and pipeline consultant for clients including Paramount and Stan Winston Studio. After the 2007 Softimage Production Challenge, Brad moved to Dallas, TX to take a position at Janimation where he continues to work as Senior Technical Animator.		David Andrews Animation Director, Sony Pictures Imageworks David Andrews graduated from the University of Western Ontario in 1982 with a B.A. in English and a minor in Film Studies. He enrolled in Sheridan’s Classical Animation Program, where his student film, Trouble With Joe won the school’s Kodak Award. In 1987 Andrews began a six-year period of freelance commercial animation, including positions as Assistant Director to Derek Lamb at the National Film Board of Canada and Assistant Director of a Saturday Morning show for WDR-TV in Cologne, Germany. In 1993 he moved to California beginning his career in computer graphics animation. In March of 1998 Andrews completed work on his animated short, Tweet Tweet Sludge, a hand-drawn cartoon about birds and frogs living in an oil refinery.
And Your Host... Alex Lindsay Chief Architect, Pixel Corps Alex has been involved in computer graphics for nearly 20 years. He has extensive experience in digital production including print, real-time graphics, multimedia titles, forensic animation, television, and film. He spent several years on the production of Star Wars: Episode 1 (at JAK Films and then at Industrial Light and Magic). Alex has taught at the Academy of Art and at the San Francisco State Multimedia Studies Programs. He writes for 3D Magazine, 3D World, and Post and is a regular guest on TechTV.