Epic Games is using SIGGRAPH 2017 as a launch pad for the first Unreal Engine User Group and party.
The event will be held from 4:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. on July 31 at the downtown L.A. Orpheum Theatre. Speakers will include a full complement of Epic Games staffers along with Chris Zoog of design and architecture firm HOK, Pascal Mueller of GIS software maker Esri, Martin Krasemann of architectural visualization software maker Twinmotion, and Louis-Simon Ménard, Peter Skovsbo, Pierre Blaizeau and David Dozoretz of CG animation studio Digital Dimension.
Epic said presentations at the event will cover animation, feature film-making, AR and VR, architectural design and product visualization. “Visual fidelity in real time is what we’re known for. Now we’re adding workflow tools that simplify pipelines considerably, and we look forward to demonstrating them at SIGGRAPH,” said Marc Petit, Enterprise GM, Epic Games in a prepared statement.
The company released a list of other technology that will be demonstrated during the conference:
- DigiPro: Epic Games CTO Kim Libreri will keynote the DigiPro Symposium on July 29th at the Beaudry Theatre at Los Angeles Center Studios, where he will discuss “Real-time technology and the future of production.”
- VR Film Jam: Throughout the Siggraph conference, Epic Games will coach the VR Film Jam where teams will convert animated shorts into interactive VR experiences.
- Computer Animation Festival: This is the first year real-time production is represented and the only two real-time films being shown are both Unreal projects (“A Hard Day’s Nite” and “The Human Race”).
- Meet Mike in VR: Meet Mike in VR is a state-of-the art digital human performance in virtual reality, powered by Unreal Engine. Spearheaded by FX Guide’s Mike Seymour as part of his PhD with the University of Sydney, this is a widely-supported global research project that is pushing hardware and software limitations to provide a glimpse into the future of photorealistic, character-driven real-time production.
