Disney. Pixar. Autodesk. Whether creating blockbuster visual effects or enhancing artist workflows, the experts at these firms and many more like them use AI, VR and other NVIDIA GPU-accelerated technologies to entertain and to innovate.
You can hear and learn from them at the GPU Technology Conference, March 26-29 in San Jose, to discover new techniques in interactive graphics, video progressing, 3D rendering and more.
Here’s an overview, in no particular order, of 10 of the top innovators in media and entertainment speaking at GTC:
1. Pol Jeremias-Vila, Pixar – Advances in Real-Time Graphics at Pixar
Pol Jeremias-Vila works at Pixar Animation Studios, where he develops rendering algorithms to help artists make award-winning animated movies. His session will include other great speakers from Pixar, including Tom Cauchois, Jacques Gasselin de Richebourg and David Yu. They’ll explore how real-time graphics are used at Pixar. And they’ll describe the unique needs for film production and custom solutions, including Presto and open-source projects like Universal Scene Description, OpenSubdiv and Hydra. Don’t miss this great opportunity to learn about graphics, algorithms and movies!
2. Max Liani, Pixar – Adding GPU Acceleration to Pixar Renderman
Also from Pixar is Max Liani, who, as senior lead engineer for RenderMan, leads rendering technology research. He’ll describe photo-realistic rendering in modern movie production — and the path that led Pixar to leverage GPUs in a new scalable rendering architecture. Learn how Pixar is partnering with NVIDIA to enable the art and creativity in future feature animation and live-action visual effects blockbusters.
3. Bei Yang, Walt Disney Imagineering – Game Engine on Eight GPUs
Bei Yang is a technology studio executive at Walt Disney Imagineering, where he oversees the functional and day-to-day operations of the business as well as design and construction software and technology. He’ll talk about how WDI has been working with NVIDIA and Epic Games to develop new technology to drive one of the key attractions at the upcoming Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge opening in Disneyland Resort, California, and Disney’s Hollywood Studios, Florida.
4. Kim Libreri, Epic Games
Kim Libreri is chief technology officer at Epic Games, responsible for fusing state-of-the-art technology and for defining the studio’s Unreal Engine as the platform of choice for all types of interactive experiences, including games, movies, visualization and VR. Session information coming soon.
5. Adrien Herubel, Autodesk – Bringing the Arnold Renderer to the GPU
Adrien Herubel is a principal software engineer at Autodesk, where he works on the Arnold renderer team and leads the GPU project. Arnold is a high-quality production renderer for visual effects in film and feature animation used by more than 300 studios worldwide on projects such as Blade Runner 2049 and Game of Thrones. Arnold was instrumental in the shift toward physically based light transport simulation in production rendering. In fact, this role was recognized with an Academy Award in 2017. He’ll demonstrate GPU acceleration inside Arnold using NVIDIA OptiX for the first time ever.
6. Blagovest Taskov, Chaos Group – Interactive and Production Rendering with V-Ray GPU
Blago Taskov leads the V-Ray RT GPU developers team at Chaos Group, where he works on some of the latest advancements in V-Ray RT GPU, including improved OpenCL support, performance optimizations and many rendering features. He’ll focus on the latest advances in GPU acceleration for the Academy Award-winning V-Ray renderer and how it’s improving artistic workflows and speeding final frame rendering.
7. Jules Urbach, OTOY – Light Field Rendering and Streaming for VR and AR
Jules Urbach is a pioneer in computer graphics, streaming and 3D rendering with over 25 years of industry experience. He’ll discuss OTOY’s cutting-edge light field rendering toolset and platform, which allows for immersive experiences on mobile and next-gen displays, making it ideal for VR and AR.
8. Francesco Giordanna and Damien Fagnou, MPC – Genesis: MPC’s Virtual Production Platform, Where the Stories Begin
Francesco Giordanna leads the development of real-time technologies for film at MPC, with a special focus on virtual production and VR. Damien Fagnou is the global head of VFX operations at MPC, where he brings together his expertise in software and production to evolve and refine the creation processes across all feature film VFX work. They’ll showcase the MPC virtual production platform called Genesis and its technology.
9. Sébastien Guichou, Isotropix – Isotropix Even Faster: Accelerating Clarisse iFX with GPU
Sébastien Guichou is the co-founder and chief technology officer of Isotropix, which specializes in developing high-end professional graphics software to deliver artists game-changing innovations. Clarisse, Isotropix’ flagship product, is used in blockbusters such as Kong: Skull Island, Wonder Woman and Blade Runner 2049. He’ll dive into how GPU acceleration boosts ray-tracing performance and enables artists to manipulate life-like environments in real time while simultaneously displaying noise-free lighting scenarios.
10. Rishabh Battulwar, Digital Domain – A Data-Driven Future in VFX Pipelines
Rishabh Battulwar is a software engineer in the R&D group at Digital Domain. He’ll focus on visual effects and how Digital Domain is undergoing a transition from using the traditional parametric models to data-driven generative models. He’ll discuss where machine learning is taking us and how GPUs help artists iterate quickly and reach their creative goals much faster.
See the entire media and entertainment track at GTC. And register to attend today.