DNEG at Virtual SIGGRAPH 2021

Ready to get all caught up with the latest innovations in the world of visual effects?

We’re pleased to share that DNEG will be returning this year to SIGGRAPH, the premier conference for computer graphics and interactive techniques worldwide!

Running from August 9th to August 13th, this year’s conference is bursting with one of a kind sessions.

This year, on-demand content will become available on August 2nd, allowing participants the opportunity to review presentations in advance of interactive sessions with contributors. For the convenience of participants, on-demand content will continue to be available for viewing through to October 29th.

WHERE: Online, check out the SIGGRAPH website for more details and tickets.

WHEN: August 9th to August 13th 2021 (with on-demand content available August 2nd – October 29th)

COST: Registration starts at $50 USD but many different levels are available — see SIGGRAPH’s registration page.

*Note: All scheduled sessions take place in the Pacific Time Zone (UTC/GMT -7).

We’ve been busy preparing a fantastic line-up of presentations and masterclasses, so scroll down to read more about what’s in store!

‘Greyhound’: A Dive Into the Depths of Colossal Photorealism

with Sebastian von Overheidt (VFX Supervisor, DNEG ), Gruff Owen (DFX Supervisor, DNEG), & Mike Nixon (FX Supervisor, DNEG)

As the sole VFX vendor on AppleTV’s maritime drama ‘Greyhound’, our teams crafted over 1,200 shots to fully submerge audiences into the mid-Atlantic gap. Working under a tight timeframe, our Greyhound crew devised creative solutions to steep their visualizations in reality, factoring in weather conditions, Beaufort scale and time of day (to name just a few variables!) to create a fully digital photorealistic ocean and convoy — and ultimately, earn a BAFTA nod for ‘Best Special Visual Effects’.

Join us for an exploration into the intricate processes behind the film’s WWII ships, submarines and ocean sims, and discover how our team crafted the North Atlantic around limited live-action set photography — all while coming onto the film after principal photography had finished.

Learn more about our team’s visual effects work on Greyhound.

OpenVDB AX: An Expression Language for VDB

with Richard Jones (R&D Software Developer, DNEG) & experts from NVIDIA, SideFX, ILM, and DreamWorks Animation.

Covering the latest developments and tools in the open-source library OpenVDB, this course is perfect for FX artists looking to enhance their knowledge of typical workflows for volumetric modeling and simulations.

Assembling a team of industry experts, we’ll be providing a comprehensive lesson covering GPU support through NanoVDB, new tools to compute SDFs and extend properties of surfaces, a JIT scripting language dubbed AX, novel optimization techniques, and numerous production examples — just to name a few!

DNEG VFX Showcase 2021

We believe in the positive power of storytelling and we are delighted to share what we’ve been up to lately. Catch our 2021 VFX showcase at this year’s  Electronic Theater Director’s Cut watch party — part of SIGGRAPH’s Computer Animation Festival.

Fireside Chat: Virtualization and DNEG

with Stephen Willey, (Head of Technology, Vancouver, DNEG)

Join this session to learn more about how we’ve moved production from deskside workstations to a virtualized environment in the data center. Gain insights on how GPU scaling helps reduce overall costs, while providing additional flexibility for the studio.