DreamWorks’ technical reel for Madagascar gave attendees a look at how major studios are advancing the medium. © DreamWorks.

DreamWorks presented the technical reel for Madagascar, illuminating the process of character development and animation—from wireframe to fur—for the creatures in the jungle jaunt. Their techniques with extreme deformations and ocean and sand systems were illustrated in the fanciful manner of the film, accompanied by a lighthearted musical score.

There was a resurgence in scientific visualization at the show. From Dorothy Hall and the NASA Goddard Space Center, MODIS Daily Global Snow Cover and Sea Ice Surface Temperature used satellite technology to track climate change, water location and global sea ice through the seasons, creating a mesmerizing, constantly shifting study of the planet. Visualization of an F3 Tornado within a Simulated Supercell Thunderstorm by Robert Patterson and Donna Cox from the National Center for Supercomputing Applications used colored threads to trace air currents elevating this graphic depiction into a paradigm of modern art.

Other instructive animations included Sony Picture Imageworks’ Visualizing the XYZ Color Space by Jeremy Selan, A Semi-Lagrangian Contouring Method for Fluid Simulation by Adam Bargtell of UC Berkeley, Green’s Fractal Terrain by Jason Sewall and the Resfest 2004 Opening on motion theory.

As a teaser to the rest of the conference, trailers for the various SIGGRAPH programs were also screened. These previews “approved for geeks” included the Art Gallery, Emerging Technologies, Papers Program and Animation Theater.

“Create” consisted of seven shorts from around the world — highlighted by the visually striking Samuroid Zero by Polygon Pictures’ Yuichi Abe and Haidouk! Films’ 2D black-and-white The Regulator (Le Regulator) from Philippe Grammaticopoulos. Samuroid Zero © Polygon Pictures. The Regulator (Le Regulator) © Haidouk! Films.

Construction by Arata Kawata, Smoke Control by Jeremy Daniel Wendt, Scattershot by Gene Greger and Bounce by Dino Schweitzer were all short shorts, each a mere seven seconds long, yet in that brief space of time, every one packed a memorable punch as did the entire Electronic Theater program, which was over all too soon. Still, for visual effects and animation junkies, there was more to come at the Animation Festival.

The Animation Theater line up was divided into seven themed programs. “Create” consisted of seven shorts from around the world. The visually striking Samuroid Zero by Polygon Pictures’ Yuichi Abe features a bloody duel of Samurais under the light of three suns, reflected within the water that they battle. Philippe Grammaticopoulos of Haidouk! Films, presenting an abbreviated version of The Regulator (Le Regulator), used 2D black-and-white characters reminiscent of woodcut prints to tell the amusing story of a couple choosing their child from a department of egg-like incubators. Student Luke Bailey of NCCA Bournemouth University discovers the world within a snow-globe in Moscow Souvenir. Gaelle Denis of Passion Pictures creates a hand-painted, photoreal, fantasy world in City Paradise. Dante Ariola’s Anti-Smoking “Growth,” uses the visual metaphor of cloning tobacco executives to illustrate the message: “As they expand, we die.” True Color by Pierre Ducos and Bertrand Bey of Supinfocom Arles and Journey to the West by Junichi Yanagihara of Sprite Animation Studios rounded out the imaginative program.