News

Story by Melanie Farmer

For the past 20 years, Laval Virtual has been keeping it real with virtual reality, emerging as the prominent platform and exhibition space for everything related to VR and its future. And, at this year’s annual multi-day conference—expected to draw 20,000 attendees—Laval Virtual continues to serve as the destination for those in the industry, or curious about the industry, to get a firsthand look at the innovation and promise of one of the fastest growing mediums in technology.

Laval Virtual, which will be held April 4 to 8 in Laval, France, is set to welcome more than 300 exhibitors, representing a diverse range of industries, including film, entertainment, art, health and science. As in previous years, Laval Virtual is spotlighting every corner of innovation and creativity relevant to the expanding landscape of VR and augmented reality (AR).

Keynote speakers at the event’s VR International Conferences, a global forum for researchers and engineers co-sponsored by ACM SIGGRAPH, will include industry and academic experts from NAIST, Google, University of Southern California and Walt Disney Imagineering. Laval Virtual cofounder Simon Richir, a pioneer in French VR research and its applications, and Marc Pallot, senior research associate at Arts et Metiers Laval Virtual Institute, are scheduled to deliver a joint talk on day one on how immersive technologies are set to change the world around us.

In addition to a series of talks and forums geared for industry researchers and professionals, a good portion of the event is devoted to pure innovation in the space of VR/AR via the conference’s competitions and awards program; seven competitions in total.

Of the 159 submissions received for the Laval Virtual Awards category this year, 12 winners will be honored at the conference and will showcase their award-winning projects. In the ReVolution award category, an international competition that rewards the most innovative projects in VR/AR, scientific yet playful submissions are being considered. One selection involves VR swimming with dolphins and another is focused on VR training for piloting paragliders. Ten startups will vie for best startup award, and a student competition also will be held, bringing attention to 12 young finalists who will demo their work in the VR/AR space.

The general public, as in previous years, will get a more popular overview of VR and new technologies. Among the major themes to be addressed in the public program are VR in the treatment of phobias; blockchain and cryptocurrency; and the future of games and entertainment. New, in honor of its 20^th anniversary milestone, Laval Virtual also intends to set up an art and technology gallery, showcasing work by artists who use virtual and mixed technology as an artistic medium.

Indeed, from upstarts to tech giants and seasoned experts to young, emerging talent, virtually every inch of the advancements in VR/AR will be covered at this year’s annual event. Happy anniversary, Laval Virtual!

ACM SIGGRAPH / Eurographics Symposium on Computer Animation

Final Call for Papers

The papers deadline is appraching fast! You can submit your papers by April 9, 2018 – 23:59 UTC. We also want to highlight again that all accepted submissions will be published at the CGF journal this year. As a consequence, there will be a strict 10-page limit for content (plus references). Authors will be notified of acceptance by May 18. 

Posters Program

We also invite submissions to the poster and demo session, which has traditionally been an integral part of the SCA program. The poster session will follow a posters fast-forward session during which all presenters will have the opportunity to give a one-to-two minute description of their work. Additionally, a best paper award will be given to the top poster!

Posters will be included in the ACM and EG digital libraries. Note however that as usual, a SCA poster does not preclure subsequent publication of a complete paper on the same topic by the same authors (however, a SCA poster by other authors is considered prior art and should be cited as such).

We encourage any of the following types of poster submissions:

•     Up and coming computer animation research
•     Technically novel production work
•     Lab overviews which present a snapshot of the ongoing animation-related research at a given institution
•     Half-baked ideas and negative results
•     Work done outside of SCA that would be of interest to the computer animation community. This includes animation-related works recently accepted to other conferences such as I3D or NPAR.

Poster Submissions

• Submission website (https://srmv2.eg.org/COMFy/Conference/SCA_2018)
• SCA will be using the Eurographics / Computer Graphics Forum template style (https://srmv2.eg.org/COMFy/Conference/SCA_2018/GetConferenceFile?fileID=8640)
• Submission deadline: May 28, 2018 – 23:59 UTC 

Submission Instructions
Poster submissions must be camera-ready, with author names and affiliations listed. The review process will be single blind. Poster abstracts should consist of a PDF formatted paper according to the Eurographics / Computer Graphics Forum publication style given above. As last year, poster abstracts are permitted to be up to two pages in length. Posters should be written and presented in English. Supplementary material such as videos may also be submitted electronically and will be made available to reviewers. Finally, we also encourage the authors to submit a draft of the poster of size A0 in PDF as supplementary material.

Poster abstracts will be included in the ACM and EG Digital Libraries, thus providing a better and longstanding referencing to such works.

Fast Forward Slide
Authors of accepted posters will be required to provide a short video describing their work for the Poster Fast Forward session. Video guidelines will be provided to presenters.

Oral Presentation
For the final presentation, videos and interactive demonstrations are highly encouraged. We will provide electrical outlets and tables so that authors can display such demonstrations using their own equipment.

About SCA

The 17th annual Symposium on Computer Animation (SCA) will be held in Paris in France, July 11-13, and the symposium will be hosted at the "Maison des Mines" in the center of Paris. 
 
SCA is the premier forum for innovations in the software and technology of computer animation. It unites researchers and practitioners working on all aspects of time-based phenomena. Our focused, intimate gathering, with single track program and emphasis on community interaction, makes SCA the best venue to exchange research results, get inspired, and set up collaborations. 

Organizers
 
Conference Chairs

• Maud Marchal, IRISA-INSA
• Damien Rohmer, Ecole Polytechnique

Program Chairs

• Thabo Beeler, Disney Research Zurich
• Nils Thuerey, Technical University of Munich

Posters Chair

• Melina Skouras, Inria

Looking for New Zealand's Best Young Animator Through Light & Dark

4 April 2018:  Aspiring artists from around New Zealand sharpen your pencils and hone your Photoshop skills: the Light and Dark Secondary School Character Competition is now underway and students have until June 5 to submit their entries.

Now in its fifth year, Light and Dark is the country’s largest character design competition for Year 11, 12 and 13 students. Presented by Animation College in conjunction with Yoobee School of Design, entrants must use their artistic talents to create a character portraying two opposite emotions – excitement and fear, happiness and sadness, love and despair, or serenity and rage. Judged by some of the country’s top creatives, contestants will be marked on expression, character pose, and wow factor.

“It’s not so important that characters are perfectly rendered – the ability to breathe life into the characters is what we are really looking for,” says Adam Berry, CEO of New Education Group’s Creative and Technology Cluster which includes Animation College and Yoobee School of Design.

Students can use traditional tools such as pencils and paint, digital programmes like Adobe Photoshop, or they can submit 3D modelled characters.

“We really just want them to use their imagination and go for it. It’s a really exciting opportunity for students to showcase their animation skills and potentially pathway into further studies and a career in this fast-growing industry.”

One student who has done exactly that is 2016 Light and Dark third place getter Grace Kim, who has just moved from Mt Maunganui to Auckland, to start a Bachelor of Animation at Animation College.

“It came as such a shock to me when I found out I placed third. It really gave me a confidence boost that a panel of artistic judges liked my work,” says Grace. “All those hours of drawing felt like they had finally paid off!”

Students receive online support through the Light and Dark Facebook Group and for Grace this proved invaluable.

“This competition is such a great way to learn from other aspiring artists. The feedback group was so helpful – I don’t think I would have placed without their support and critique. It enabled me to see my art from a different perspective. Even if you’re not confident that you will place or win, Light and Dark is such a good competition to gain experience, build skills and learn from others.”

It’s also a great way to pick up a stash of prizes. The winner of 2018 Light and Dark will receive a scholarship for the Bachelor of Animation degree programme, which can be undertaken at Animation College’s Auckland Central campus or Yoobee School of Design’s Wellington campus. They’ll also win loads of vouchers, subscriptions and prize packs from competition sponsors. Second and third place winners will walk away with a bunch of cool prizes too, courtesy of Light and Dark’s primary sponsors – Adobe, Wacom, Gordon Harris, Playtech and Arkham City Comics.

Competition winners will be announced on July 10.

To find out more go to: www.lightanddark.nz

About Animation College

Founded by the legendary ex-Disney animator John Ewing, we are the only college in New Zealand to offer degrees and diplomas in 2D, 3D character animation and storytelling.  We deliver cutting edge training at our Auckland, Manukau and Rotorua campuses.

About Yoobee School of Design

As part of the New Education Group, Yoobee is New Zealand’s largest specialised digital design school delivering practical, innovative training for careers in graphic design, filmmaking, animation and 3D graphics, game art and development, and web development. We keep students plugged into industry advances and at the top of their game, at our state-of-the-art campuses in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and online.

For further information please contact:

Evonne Geluk, Communications Advisor
Email: evonne.geluk@acgedu.com
Mobile: 021 538 984