As usual, European entries took most of the awards.
An American short film that combines 3D projection mapping on moving surfaces with live synchronized performance from both robots and humans has been named Best in Show at the 2014 Siggraph Computer Animation Festival.
Box by Tarik Abdel-Gawad and the production house Bot & Dolly, explores the synthesis of real and digital space through the use of projection mapping on moving surfaces. The short film documents the first-ever live synchronized performance to combine 3D projection with both human and robotic live action. In the video a performer moves within an ever-evolving set, interacting with two panels whose surfaces recreate a virtual environment in which 3D objects and shapes undergo changes and movements inspired by principles of magic such astransformation,levitation,intersection,teleportation, and escape. The final production took advantage of the talents of two industrial robots, Iris and Scout, normally used in car manufacturing.
Box is one of nine short animations honored in this year’s festival. The winners were chosen from 450 submissions from around the globe. Seven of the nine awards were to European entries, with short films from the USA taking the other two awards.
A short video behind the scenes for the creation of Box. (Source: Bot & Dolly)
The Computer Animation Festival is recognized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (the Oscars) 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 Siggraph 2014 Computer Animation Festival through a series of Daytime Selects and the iconic Electronic Theater, allowing attendees to glimpse behind the magic of computer-generated effects, visualizations, and animations.
Other category winners:
Best Student Project: Wrapped (Germany), Directed by Roman Kälin, Falko Paeper, and Florian Wittmann, Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg.
The deterioration of one is the foundation of another one’s life. The world, with its never-ending interplay of eating and being eaten, takes on new dimensions when the unexpected forces of nature clash with the existing structures of our society. The only constant is change.
Best Visualization and Simulation: Kinematics (United States), directed by Jessica Rosenkrantz, Jesse Louis-Rosenberg, Nervous System.
This video visualizes Kinematics, a system for designing and simulating flexible structures for 3D printing. Kinematics generates customized designs composed of thousands of hinged, interlocking modules. The designs are computationally folded using rigid-body physics into a smaller form for fabrication by 3D printing.
Best in Real-Time Graphics: Ryse: Son of Rome (Germany), directed by Chris Evans, Peter Gornstein, Martin L’Heureux, Crytek.
With Ryse, Crytek decided to focus on characters and emotion to serve the game and story. Ryse is an eight-hour game with an additional 110 minutes of linear storytelling content. The submission shows gameplay and cut scenes; both utilize the same assets and can be rendered in real time.
Best Commercial Advertisement: Three, The Pony (United Kingdom), directed by Dougal Wilson, Blink Productions. VFX work submitted by MPC.
The pony’s bouncy moves were created using a photo-real CG digital double and extensive R&D to translate human movement to a horse. The film cuts seamlessly between CG and real-life footage. Fur was created using MPC’s Furtility tool, and environments were altered using compositing and matte painting.
Jury Award: Paper World (Hungary), directed by Dávid Ringeisen, László Ruska, Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design.
“Paper World” is an image film for the World Wildlife Fund Hungary where the values that WWF stands for become visible metaphorically on the level of a micro-world.
Best Animated Short: Home Sweet Home (France), directed by Pierre Clenet, Alejandro Diaz, Romain Mazenet, and Stéphane Paccolat, Supinfocom Arles.
A house uproots herself and goes on an adventure.
Best Visual Effects: Gravity (United Kingdom), directed by Alfonso Cuarón, Esperanto Filmoj. VFX work submitted by Framestore, United Kingdom.
The box office hit Gravity turns filmmaking on its head. Rather than adding visual effects to a live-action plate, the film is 80% computer generated, with the live-action elements (Sandra Bullock and George Clooney’s faces), integrated seamlessly with their CG spacesuits and surroundings.
Best Game: The Crew (France), directed by Maxime Luère, Dominique Boidin, Rémi Kozyra, Unit Image.
This full-CGI trailer juxtaposes two worlds valued highly by car lovers: aesthetically pleasing advertisements and action scenes. The features of the game, such as the novelty of the multiplayer aspect and the feeling of freedom in an open world, are highlighted through this concept.
