CHICAGO — (BUSINESS WIRE) — June 30, 2016 — SIGGRAPH 2016, the world's leading annual interdisciplinary educational experience showcasing the latest in computer graphics and interactive techniques, will feature an exciting lineup as part of this year’s Games program. With the tagline "Render the Possibilities," SIGGRAPH 2016 will be held at the Anaheim Convention Center, 24–28 July 2016.

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Through the Games program, attendees of the 2016 conference can go behind the scenes of some of today’s most critically acclaimed and popular video game titles. The program centers around the innovation and creativity of the video game industry, and how the graphics community works together to develop new methods and technologies to deliver content. SIGGRAPH 2016 will provide a unique venue by which game creators can collaborate and learn from other industries that are also pushing the limits of real-time graphics. Attendees will be exposed to cutting-edge research from the top minds in academia.

SIGGRAPH 2016 Games Chair Jerry Edsall said, “The 2016 Games program will spotlight the pioneers and visionaries behind iconic and critically-acclaimed video games currently in the market. Developers and producers will discuss the work that led to the creation of each game represented, as well as detail what it took to take the games to the next level. SIGGRAPH 2016 will be the place to learn about real-time graphics for games and the content this year is amazing! The Talks especially will feature groundbreaking techniques from some of the biggest, top-tier game studios such as Naughty Dog and Square-Enix.”

For a closer look at this year’s upcoming Games Sessions, please visit s2016.SIGGRAPH.org.

SIGGRAPH 2016 Games program highlights include:

TALKS

Building Character

Session Chair: Akshay Agarwal, Google Inc.

Features four talks, including:

“Character Workflow of Final Fantasy XV”

Led by Kazutaka Kurosaka and Eitaro Iwabuchi of SQUARE ENIX CO., LTD, this talk presents how to create character assets with superior quality and performance for display on a game console. It also summarizes construction of a workflow to efficiently produce these sorts of character assets on a large scale.

The Technical Art of “Uncharted 4”

Speakers: Waylon Brinck, Andrew Maximov, and Yibing Jiang, Naughty Dog, Inc.

This talk presents a handful of rendering and shader features created by the technical artists at Naughty Dog. Some of these features are novel, and some are an evolution of common concepts, but all are critical to achieving the look and scope of Uncharted 4.

COURSES

Open Problems in Real-Time Rendering [Intermediate]

Instructors: Natalya Tatarchuk, Bungie, Inc.; and, Aaron Lefohn, NVIDIA Corporation

This course will discuss the top unsolved problems in real-time rendering, why current solutions don’t work in practice, the desired ideal solution, and the problems that need to be solved to work toward that ideal.

Physically-Based Shading in Theory and Practice [Intermediate]

Instructors: Stephen McAuley and Stephen Hill, Ubisoft Entertainment S.A.

The course will begin with a brief introduction to the physics and mathematics of shading before delving into exciting new research in the field. Speakers from film and game studios will also share examples of how physically based shading models have been used in production and other practical applications of shading.

REAL-TIME LIVE!

From Previs to Final in Five Minutes: A Breakthrough in Live Performance Capture

Presenters: Tameem Antoniades, Ninja Theory Ltd.; Kim Libreri, Epic Games, Inc.; Steve Caulkin, Cubic Motion Ltd; and, Vladmir Mastilovic, 3Lateral Studio

Epic Games teamed up with Ninja Theory, Cubic Motion, and 3Lateral to create the world's first believable human driven live by an actress within an Unreal Engine game world. In this demonstration, body, face, and voice are all captured live in real time and recorded to create a real-time scene.

Real-Time Technologies of Final Fantasy XV Battles

Presenters: Isamu Hasegawa, Remi Driancourt, Hiromitsu Sasaki, and Wan Hazmer, SQUARE ENIX CO., LTD.

This presentation showcases several real-time technologies implemented for Final Fantasy XV’s epic battle between heroes and monsters: AI systems that control companions and monsters, dynamic weather systems and lighting, and visual effects for magic that affect the environment.