We have a bigger team travelling to Brisbane to showcase our recent work and meet up with the community since it’s so close to home.
In addition to the bigger presentations, we’ve scheduled a whole slate of mini-talks at our booth. Be sure to come along or just stop by to say hello. Our crew are also on hand to review artist reels and if we don’t have someone available on the spot, we’ll book you a time.
The following is an overview of our main activities. Follow us on Twitter for daily updates and reminders.
SUNDAY 17 NOVEMBER
Time TBC
Workshop on Virtual Reality and Artificial Intelligence
Andrew Glassner
Plaza Meeting Room P10
This workshop explores two of the hottest areas in computing right now; Artificial Intelligence, and Virtual Reality, and especially their combination.
MONDAY 18 NOVEMBER
9:00am – 10:15a
Featured Session: Staging the Endgame
Sidney Kombo-Kintombo
Great Hall 1&2
Avengers: Infinity War and its sequel Avengers: Endgame conclude a decade-long saga told over the course of 22 movies. Sidney recounts how Weta Digital assembled the expansive collection of characters for the climatic third acts of each film.
11:00am – 12:45am
Technical Brief: Motion and Expression Session: Interactive Editing of Performance-Based Facial Animation
Yeongho Seol
Plaza Meeting Room P3
We present a set of interactive editing solutions for performance-based facial animation. The presented solutions allow artists to enhance the result of the automatic solve-retarget with a few tweaks.
11:00am – 11:30am
Mini Talk: Animation Supervisor Sidney Kombo-Kintombo
Weta Digital Booth A-22
Sidney will be speaking about the art of animation and the career journey that led him to Weta Digital.
His talk will kick-off with an overview of how his team delivers some of the best animation in the industry, whether it be performance capture, keyframe animation, or a combination of both. He will also spend some time talking about how the Weta Digital motion team operates and the work they do, and his best tips and tricks of the trade.
2:00pm – 2:30pm
Mini Talk: VFX Supervisor Guy Williams
Weta Digital Booth A-22
Guy will share his insights into the artistry and history of his time at Weta Digital.
He will delve into the many facets of his job, from managing pre-production, look development and pipeline setup phases, to on-set supervision and shot delivery.
Guy will share moments from his career as a Visual Effects Supervisor including Avatar, The BFG, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, and most recently Ang Lee's Gemini Man.
2:15pm - 6:15pm
Deep Learning: A Crash Course
Andrew Glassner
Mezzanine Meeting Room M2
In this course we present a broad overview of the basic concepts behind deep learning for those who want to use these tools for themselves.
3:00pm – 3:30pm
Mini Talk: Head of Talent Acquisition Tanya Buchanan
Weta Digital Booth A-22
What is it like being part of the Weta Digital team beyond the functions of your role?
Tanya is Weta Digitals’ Head of Talent Acquisition. She is dedicated to finding talented artists from all over the world and finding them amazing career opportunities at Weta.
Tanya’s talk will delve into the ins and outs of daily life at Weta and the process of establishing yourself here. She will provide an overview of out company culture, and the dedicated systems we have in place to support your move to Wellington, New Zealand.
4:15pm- 5:30pm
Featured Session: Childish Gambino's Pharos-Real-Time Dome Projection for Live Concert
Alejandro Crawford (2n) and Keith Miller
Mezzanine Meeting Room M3
Childish Gambino's Pharos festival was a three-day immersive music event held in a 160-foot-wide inflatable dome in a remote New Zealand location. Weta Digital and 2n Design joined forces to create captivating 360-degree interactive visuals for the dome projections.
TUESDAY 19 NOVEMBER
11:00am – 11:30am
Mini Talk: VFX Supervisor Keith Miller
Weta Digital Booth A-22
Keith will talk about Weta Digital’s recent developments in real-time technology and how real-time technology is changing the industry as a whole.
Keith leads Weta’s VR / AR team who are focused on how to deploy real-time technology for new immersive media but also for expanding how the tools can be used to augment and re-think traditional VFX processes.
2:00pm – 2:30pm
Mini Talk: Assistant Technical Directors, Head of Department Tristan McMahon
Weta Digital Booth A-22
This talk is geared towards up-and-coming talent in the VFX industry.
Tristan McMahon is the Head of Weta Digital’s Assistant Technical Directors department. He will provide high-level insights into how artists can get their foot in the door at Weta Digital, giving tips on how to create a standout showreel and a resume that is on point. He will also share stories from his career journey highlighting some of the critical points that he has learned along the way.
Tristan also runs Weta Digital’s ATD training programme—a working department with a focus on training, developing, and supporting you into a position where you can join other departments in a junior capacity. Applications are open to anyone who can legally work in New Zealand. This year’s intake will include the 100th ATD hire so if you are interested in applying, come along to hear Tristan speak.
3:00pm – 3:30pm
Mini Talk: Head of Rendering Research Marc Droske
Weta Digital Booth A-22
Marc Droske is a long-serving member of the Technology & Research team at Weta Digital.
Marc will discuss developments his team has been responsible for in recent years, including enhancements to in-house renderers Mānuka and Gazebo. He will talk about opportunities and successes he has had working across our dynamic VFX pipeline.
The Weta Digital Technology & Research team is active in collaboration and exchange with highly regarded research institutions and individuals. Don’t miss your chance to hear Marc speak and to meet with him in person at our booth.
4:15pm – 5:30pm
Featured Session: How Weta Digital Created Junior for Gemini Man
Guy Williams
Great Hall 1&2
In Ang Lee's action-thriller Gemini Man, Will Smith's character Henry faces off against Junior-a younger clone of himself. Weta Digital VFX Supervisor Guy Williams presents how they created Junior as a completely digital character.
WEDNESDAY 20 NOVEMBER
9:30am – 10:30am
SV Special Session
Guy Williams
3:30pm - 4:00pm
Technical Paper: ScalarFlow: A Large-Scale Volumetric Data Set of Real-world Scalar Transport Flows for Computer Animation and Machine Learning
Marie-Lena Katharina Noemi Eckert, Kiwon Um, Nils Thuerey
Plaza Meeting Room P1
In this paper, we present ScalarFlow, a first large-scale data set of reconstructions of real-world smoke plumes. In addition, we propose a framework for accurate physics-based reconstructions from a small number of video streams.