VIEW Conference

VIEW Conference is a computer graphics event in Italy and is held yearly in Turin, between October and November.

This cultural event spans several days, filled with sessions freely open to the public: International speakers (The 2007 edition, "Creating a Digital Future" has four guests from "Pixar", to present their work for the CGI animated film "Ratatouille", and four Academy Award winners), and also "Master Classes" and theory lessons taught by world-renowned experts and by major industry leaders (From Softimage to Nvidia Corporation and Autodesk to name a few), provide real-world learning opportunities for everyone.

History

Beginning in 2000 as "Virtuality Conference", the conference changes name at its eighth edition, in 2007, becoming "VIEW: Virtual Interactive Emerging World". Its horizons change as well, becoming wider: still keeping its focus on Virtual Reality, VIEW opens up to include the latest digital technology and applications: from animation to special effects, from virtual architecture to videogames, from design to territorial marketing and to cultural heritage. Starting with the 2005 edition, VIEW celebrates the "VIEW Award", an international award for 3D animated and VFX short films, targeted to students, artists and filmmakers.

The VIEW Award

The "VIEW Award", international award for 3D animated and VFX short films, dedicated to emerging talents in animation and visual effects, receives the participation of hundreds of young artists coming from all over the world (80 entries in 2005, over 150 in 2006, and more than 190 in 2007). Winners are selected by an international jury composed of experts in the different disciplines of the contest and by teachers and school directors from the most prestigious animation schools in Europe and North America. In 2007, the "VIEW Award" widens its objectives with new themes, new categories and new participants. VIEW now accepts artworks submitted by both students and non-students.

Categories

* "Best 3D short": best short movie created with 2D, 3D digital animation, or live footage with the integration of digital visual effects.
* "Best 3D Design": best original 3D model for non-living objects (industrial design, automotive, architecture or any other common use object but not characters).
* "Best Environment Design / Digital Matte Painting": best environment created with digital techniques: it can be entirely 3D or a mix of 3D graphics and digital matte painting techniques.
* "Best 3D Digital Character": best 3D digital character modeled for an animated short film or for a videogame. The character may be created with any software used for 3D graphics.
* "Best Digital Visual Effects": best Digital Visual Effects sequence used in a CG animated or live-action short film.

2007 Edition

* VFX and animation: Sharon Calahan, Paul Topolos, Jessica McMackin, Alex Harvill from Pixar; Lucia Modesto of PDI DreamWorks, creator of the "Shrek" saga's characters; Danny Dimian, creator of "Surf's Up's" waves; Academy Award winner Grant Major ("production designer" of The Lord of the Rings, Glenn Entis of Electronic Arts, Ken Perlin, inventor of "Perlin noise"; Peter Nofz and Parag Havaldar, of Sony Pictures Imageworks, on the latest developments in "motion capture" for filmmaking.

* Premiere: two animated films: "Khan Kluay", a Thai production, and "Free Jimmy", a Norwegian production.

* Videogames: among others, "Age of Conan", "LittleBigPlanet", and the ARG "World Without Oil". Some of the guests include: Glen Entis, Peter Plantec, Joseph Olin, Ken Perlin. An entire section is dedicated to "Second Life".

* The training opportunity: during the entire VIEW Conference 8, the Torino Incontra conference center becomes the headquarters for specialized computer graphics training, open to the public. Students and young talents can challenge themselves and face experts' advice on career building in the digital content industry, attending international and Italian animation schools which present their best courses and students. Other training opportunities include: Paul Topolos (Pixar Animation Studios), Craft Animations, Autodesk, Antycip, Mike Springer (Google).

* Design, and digital architecture: Kevin Gilson, Grant Major, Muqeem Khan, James Clyne, Tino Schaedler, Fondazione Ultramundum.

* Art installation: Franz Fishnaller (F.A.B.R.CATORS 2007): SOE | Space on Earth Project.

* Torino and the European digital realities: BluMiAl Studios, EDI - Effetti digitali italiani, Pixomondo, Paola Zini (Torino 2008 World Design Capital).

2008 Edition

* VIEW Conference 2008 will be taking place on November 11-14 in Turin, Italy. VIEW Conference has the honor of hosting Will Wright, creator of SimCity, TheSims, and Spore, as well as Louis Castle, producer of the Academy Award winning film Ratatouille, and the director of Pixar's upcoming Cars 2.

External links

* [http://www.viewconference.it/ Official website]