A new award, the “Best Student” prize goes out to “Loom” by Ilija Brunck, Jan Bitzer and Csaba Letay of Filmakademie Baden-Wuerttemberg, Germany. This exceptional piece by students of the reputable film academy tells the story of a moth getting caught in a spider’s web. Viewers are taken through the moth’s struggle to face its predator bravely only to be digested into an integral part of its own trap, that is, the spider’s web. The creative ideas behind this piece outshone its competitors’ and proved to the international computer graphics community there are brilliant emerging talents that are set to take the industry to new heights.

Inspiring Tomorrow’s Talents
SIGGRAPH Asia has long been recognized as a unique industry platform that not only showcases the latest developments but also seeks to advance the community through knowledge-sharing and thought-provoking discussions.

SIGGRAPH Asia 2010 will underline this objective through its carefully selected Featured Speakers, each a master in their unique medium of creative expression.

Frank Stephenson, Design Director, McLaren Automotive, will offer participants a unique glimpse into the glitz and grind behind designing one of the world’s most fascinating speed machines. Having worked on perfecting the super car for McLaren, Stephenson will be sharing how his world-class design team constantly challenges the future by imagining what the world has yet to witness either through new technologies, new materials, or new concepts. Stephenson will also take the audience into how these breakthrough ideas are transferred to the real world with the aid of top-of-the-line computer graphics solutions.

Satirical caricaturist Professor Jae-Dong Park, a well-known personality in Korea, will be sharing his passion for art, and how drawing and sketching have evolved from pencil and paper to the computer screen. In his featured talk, Park will discuss how developments in computer graphics over the past decade have changed the way caricatures and cartoons are produced. In a session set to excite aspiring talents and industry professionals alike, Park will speak about his vision of how non-photorealistic rendering, an active research subject in computer graphics, can enrich human lives. This will complement his sharing session covering his unique and distinctive approach to caricature production.

Hyung-Tae Kim, Art Director at NC Soft wraps up SIGGRAPH Asia 2010’s Featured Speakers list. Sharing his experience in the production of the highly anticipated massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG), Blade & Soul, Kim will reveal some first visual elements, such as concept art or trailers in the journey to give life to one of the most popular games today. Focusing on the creation of new characters in the game, Kim’s session will also discuss how art direction and game design can influence the way a game is played. Kim will also touch on how Blade & Soul is marketed to a worldwide audience, having first been launched to local audiences in Korea.

A gathering of top minds and future talents
More than 8,000 participants from all over the world are expected to gather in Seoul this year for yet another thought-provoking and highly stimulating interaction centered on computer graphics and interactive techniques. Once again SIGGRAPH Asia will bring together experts from the industry and academic landscape to share their insights and knowledge through the Courses, Special Sessions and Featured Speakers talk. With more than 100 animations to be screened, and close to 170 research papers and Technical Sketches & Posters to be discussed, SIGGRAPH Asia 2010 is set to blaze a trail in Seoul’s and Asia’s digital media landscape.

About Frank Stephenson