The SIGGRAPH Computer Animation Festival is the annual festival for the world's most innovative, accomplished, and amazing digital film and video creators. An internationally recognized jury receives hundreds of submissions and presents the best work of the year in daily Festival Screenings and the Electronic Theater. Selections include outstanding achievements in time-based art, scientific visualization, visual effects, real-time graphics, and narrative shorts.

Here is this year's preview video:

The Computer Animation Festival is recognized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences as a qualifying festival. Since 1999, several works originally presented in the Computer Animation Festival have been nominated for or have received a "Best Animated Short" Academy Award. This year’s selections will be featured during the Computer Animation Festival through a series of daily Festival Screenings and the iconic Electronic Theater, allowing attendees to get a glimpse behind the making of computer-generated effects, visualizations, and animations.

Interesting statistics from this year's amazing content:

• Total Juried Submissions – 601
• Student Entries – 289
• Jury Selections – 81  
• Total Computer Animation Festival Selected Entries – 370+
• Number of Countries Represented – 43 

The Festival is open to the public and a one day pass is available for $50 [includes access to Birds of a Feather, Computer Animation Festival, Exhibitor Tech Talks, Keynote Speaker, Job Fair, Real-Time Live!, SIGGRAPH Dailies!, Technical Papers Fast Forward, and the Exhibition (Tues-Thurs)].

SIGGRAPH 2012 takes place 5-9 August in Los Angeles, California. Visit the SIGGRAPH 2012 website to learn more.

Source: ACM SIGGRAPH