Sony Equipment Rep for Education @ ARTS Lab June 9th

A quick heads up for now, but our area's new Sony Equipment representative for Educational Institutions will be giving a presentation and demo on the latest in video cameras from Sony.  Presentation will begin at 2PM -- we hope you can make it.

Eric

IGDA Meeting & Rio Grande Game Design Challenge

Hey everyone...

NVGA Championships and SuperCon

This an exciting week, with the first City of Albuquerque supported Video Game Tournament beginning this Thursday at the Albuquerque Convention Center.  On-line pre-registration for the National Video Game Association (NVGA) Championship and our Rio Grande Game Design Challenge is still open (for now). Game Design Challenge participants pay $15 for the challenge and three days of casual (non-tournament) play. 

We'd like to make our local IGDA chapter part of the scene with our next chapter meeting this Saturday at 5PM at the Convention Center (we'd also like a few of you experienced pros to act as judges for the Design Challenge at that time).  For more information, please read on below.

For times, early registration, list of games, and more information you can visit: http://www.nvgaonline.com/SuperCon/ 

Rio Grande Game Design Challenge

Local game developers Luke Nihlen and Jonathan Whetzel have really pitched in to create a game design workshop experience to encourage NVGA participants to get involved in creating games of their own.  With crucial support from Abalone Studios and UNM's ARTS Lab, we hope to help make the event a success and build our local community in the process.

For more info on the Game Design Workshop and Challenge, visit the page HERE.

To pre-register for the workshop and (non-team) tournament events, visit http://www.coloradocutthroat.com/NVGARegistrationS.cfm

Rio Grande IGDA Chapter Meeting

The Rio Grande IGDA Meeting itself is free, but you must pre-register (to help our friends at IGDA deal with the crowds.) To sign up for the meeting, SIGN UP HERE (or send me an email) before Friday at 6PM.

If you'd like to help organize, connect and support game developers in the Albuquerque / Rio Grande region, or want to keep up to date on local activities, please join our Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/riogrande-igda.

ACT OUT, 2 @ ARTS Lab

The end of the semester or year here at UNM is usually a good and interesting time.  A few days ago, we hosted the end of semester presentations and demos for our Game Development Class and today we're excited to host "ACT OUT, 2" the Final Projects Exhibition for UNM's Advance Electronic Arts class.  The interactive media works being exhibited today are... really very cool, smart and fun.

We hope you'll have a chance to visit and check them out. 

WHAT:  ACT OUT, 2

WHERE:  UNM ARTS Lab, 131 Pine St., NE (one block west of University Blvd, half a block north of Central)

WHEN:  Friday, May 16th, 12-5PM; Saturday May 17th, 11 AM - 2PM

[Gfx-cafe] GFX Cafe Seminar Friday May 16, 2008

Last GFX Café for the Spring semester!

GFX Café Seminar Friday May 16, 2008
12noon, ECE118

Food will be served

TITLE:
A Conceptual Framework for Visual Data Mining, with
Continuous Semantic Zooming
by Shan Xia, Visualization Laboratory, UNM

ABSTRACT:
Large-scale data sets are typically complex, making the interesting or
novel information hidden within them hard to discover. Data mining
algorithms and information visualization methodologies can help people
explore these data sets by extracting knowledge and representing it
in "meaningful" ways. This talk will describe a conceptual framework to
help in the understanding of unified data mining and information
visualization systems. To explore this framework, we implement an
archetypical hierarchical prototype that exposes the internal parameters
of the framework allowing the quantitative evaluation of its usefulness.
A pilot study that uses an information visualization technique referred to
as continuous semantic zooming in the visualization portion of the
prototype is presented that begins to support its positive performance.
This project will conduct a new series of larger scale human subject
experiments to further analyze and empirically characterize the effects on
human performance by unified systems designed in this manner.

BIO:
Shan Xia is a PhD candidate in the Visualization Laboratory at the Center
for High Performance Computing of the University of New Mexico, with
research interests in information visualization and data mining. She has
a M.S. degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of New Mexico.

--
Pradeep Sen
Assistant Professor
Advanced Graphics Lab
Dept. of Electrical & Computer Engineering
University of New Mexico

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505 Film Festival TONIGHT!

The first 505 Film Festival has arrived! 

Brought to you by VHS Productions and sponsored by the Albuquerque Film Office, this event showcases of the future filmmakers of New Mexico.   

"It is wonderful to see creative talent at such a young age...I applaud the 505 Youth Film Festival for starting a film festival that showcases Albuquerque's young filmmakers," said Mayor Martin J. Chávez.  The festival highlights films of middle school and high school students from all around the state.  Films of 5 minutes or less in length will be show in the categories are Drama, Action, Comedy, Commercial, Music Video, Documentary, and Sci-Fi. 

Prizes will be given to the top films presented.  The grand prize will be a full version of Final Cut Pro Studio software for film editing.  The judges include high school and college students, teachers, administrators, filmmakers, writers, and parents.  This is the perfect chance for New Mexico's youth to show what they are about.

WHERE:  The historic Kimo Theatre, in Downtown Albuquerque
WHEN:    Wednesday, May 14^th beginning at 5:30 pm.
HOW MUCH:  Admission is FREE!

[Gfx-cafe] GFX Cafe Seminar Friday May 9, 2008

GFX Café Seminar Friday May 9, 2008
12noon, ARTS Lab Black Box Theatre ** Note change of venue **

Food will be served

TITLE:
Film and Digital Media in the next 5-10 years
by Craig Caldwell, Queensland College of Art, Australia

ABSTRACT:

Film and Digital Media represents a true convergence of
different disciplines. In the last 10 years, this
convergence has been dramatically changed how we think
about media (i.e. internet, nonlinear media, iTunes,
3D/VFX etc.). In the next 5-10 years there are just as
dramatic changes on the horizon, as well universal
fundamentals that won't change. In addition, this next
digital phase represents even greater opportunities in the
academic/industry nexus. Some predictions (with lots of
visuals).

BIO:

Craig Caldwell has a substantial record of achievement in
the field of computer graphics/animation and advanced
skills in the areas of visual communication, 3D
animation/vfx, digital storytelling, and the production
pipeline. His background includes research on how
simulation processes are instrumental for creating a new
richness to the medium but also currently on the success
of industry based production pipelines. The pipeline can
be seen as a critical (and constantly in flux) algorithm
for managing the workflow of the storytelling process in
concert with the modeling/rigging, animation, effects,
lighting, sound, interactivity etc. if the project is ever
to be finished (on time, within budget, and with great
success).

He has taught Art at Northern Arizona University where he
teamed up with the Head of the computer science department
to design and construct a Visualization Center, with the
support of the NSF. He received a PhD from the Advanced
Computing Center for Art and Design at the Ohio State
University. He has an MFA from the University of Florida
in Painting and Drawing. In 1994, at the University of
Arizona he initiated and created the computer graphics
area for the Visual Communication area. At UofA he served
as Associate Director for the College of Fine Arts New
Media Center & Digital Arts. In 1997, he worked in Artist
Development, at Walt Disney Feature Animation in Burbank,
CA where they were making the 3D feature "Dinosaur" and
transitioning into a fully functioning 3D studio. The work
at Disney developed skills in the production process and
work across disciplines with the Leads of animation,
modeling, rigging, layout, editorial, story, effects,
visual development, archival, digital software
development, and shot-finaling.

In 1999 he returned to UofA and in 2001, became Head of
the Media Arts Department. In 2004 he was asked to return
to Walt Disney Feature Animation to assist in integrating
the studio's new proprietary 3D production pipeline that
was being created for Chicken Little, Meet the
Robinsons(2007), Bolt(2008) and Rapunzel Unbraided(2009.
The work ranged from designing the curriculum for the new
system to testing the proprietary software as it was being
developed for the studio.

In 2005, he was recruited to work at Electronic Arts,
Tiburon Studio in Orlando, Florida. At EA he trained game
developers in the production techniques for such games as
Madden '07, Tiger Woods golf and NFL coach. In addition,
he worked closely with the Manager of University Relations
who heads up their new experimental partnership program
with educational institutions.

In 2006, Griffith University invited him to become the
Head of for their newly formed Film School (Film,
Animation, and Digital Media). As Head he is working on
the School's expansion into the interdisciplinary areas of
Visual Effects and Games with the Queensland College of
Art.

Craig Caldwell is a candidate for director of the Interdisciplinary
Film and Digital Program (IF&DM) at UNM.

--
Pradeep Sen
Assistant Professor
Advanced Graphics Lab
Dept. of Electrical & Computer Engineering
University of New Mexico

_______________________________________________
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3rd IFDM Director Candidate to talk this Friday

Hi everyone...

Our third and final IFDM Director Candidate will be visiting this week -- and giving a public talk at ARTS Lab as part of the GFX Cafe series.  If you'd like to know more about the potential direction of our Interdisciplinary Film and Digital Media Program -- and hear a really interesting speaker -- this is a good chance to do so.

Friday May 9th

12:00 – 1:30
Public Lecture
Place: GFX Cafe at the ARTS Lab (131 Pine St. in High
Performance Computing Bldg. West of University & Central)

Title:
Film and Digital Media in the next 5-10 years

Abstract:
Film and Digital Media represents a true convergence of different disciplines. In the last 10 years, this convergence has been dramatically changed how we think about media (i.e. internet, nonlinear media, iTunes, 3D/VFX etc.). In the next 5-10 years there are just as dramatic changes on the horizon, as well universal fundamentals that won't change. In addition, this next digital phase represents even greater opportunities in the academic/industry nexus. Some predictions (with lots of visuals).

Dr. Craig Caldwell
Biographic Overview

CRAIG CALDWELL has a substantial record of achievement in the field of computer graphics/animation and advanced skills in the areas of visual communication, 3D animation/vfx, digital storytelling, and the production pipeline. His background includes research on how simulation processes are instrumental for creating a new richness to the medium but also currently on the success of industry based production pipelines. The pipeline can be seen as a critical (and constantly in flux) algorithm for managing the workflow of the storytelling process in concert with the modeling/rigging, animation, effects, lighting, sound, interactivity etc. if the project is ever to be finished (… on time, within budget, and with great success).

He has taught Art at Northern Arizona University where he teamed up with the Head of the computer science department to design and construct a Visualization Center, with the support of the NSF.  He received a PhD from the Advanced Computing Center for Art and Design at the Ohio State University. He has an MFA from the University of Florida in Painting and Drawing. In 1994, at the University of Arizona he initiated and created the computer graphics area for the Visual Communication area.  At UofA he served as Associate Director for the College of Fine Arts New Media Center & Digital Arts. In 1997, he worked in Artist Development, at Walt Disney Feature Animation in Burbank, CA where they were making the 3D feature "Dinosaur" and transitioning into a fully functioning 3D studio.  The work at Disney developed skills in the production process and work across disciplines with the Leads of animation, modeling, rigging, layout, editorial, story, effects, visual development, archival, digital software development, and shot-finaling.

In 1999 he returned to UofA and in 2001, became Head of the Media Arts Department. In 2004 he was asked to return to Walt Disney Feature Animation to assist in integrating the studio's new proprietary 3D production pipeline that was being created for Chicken Little, Meet the Robinsons(2007), Bolt(2008) and Rapunzel Unbraided(2009. The work ranged from designing the curriculum for the new system to testing the proprietary software as it was being developed for the studio.

In 2005, he was recruited to work at Electronic Arts, Tiburon Studio in Orlando, Florida. At EA he trained game developers in the production techniques for such games as Madden '07, Tiger Woods golf and NFL coach.  In addition, he worked closely with the Manager of University Relations who heads up their new experimental partnership program with educational institutions.

In 2006, Griffith University invited him to become the Head of for their newly formed Film School (Film, Animation, and Digital Media). As Head he is working on the School's expansion into the interdisciplinary areas of Visual Effects and Games with the Queensland College of Art.

For questions please contact Diahndra Grill at 277-2286 or dgrill@unm.edu

AniMotion NM -- Next Tuesday

Howdy Animators!

Here is the info for the next AniMotion NM meeting coming up Tuesday, May 13th from 7:00pm to 9:00pm.

*Software integration in a Motion Graphics Pipeline*

Where: ARTS Lab
When: 13-May-08 07:00 PM until 13-May-08 09:00 PM

David Garcia creative director and partner at halflife* digital will demonstrate how to effectively work between different applications from 3D to motion GFX to compositing and editing to create stunning motion graphics. David will walk through the creation of a logo in 3D space and integrate particles, lighting pre-banked footage and finishing techniques to arrive at a broadcast final. Software will include Autodesk Maya, Autodesk Combustion, Adobe After Effects and Apple Final Cut Pro.

David Garcia was trained in VFX at the Academy of Art College in San Francisco and theatre arts at Boston University School for the Arts. He is co-owner of local production company halflife* digital which produces commercials, industrials and documentaries for the regional and national Markets.

This session takes place, Tuesday, May 13, from 7:30-9:00 pm at UNM ARTS Lab, 131 Pine Street NE (near the Northwest corner of University and Central).

In addition, graduating Art Center seniors Jess Evans and Robert Stump have both agreed to present their demo reels at this event, so I am hoping for a lot of friendly faces in the crowd to cheer them on. I hope to see you all there. The more the merrier!

Teri

Teresa Farley
Animation Department Chair
The Art Center Design College
www.theartcenter.edu
5000 Marble Ave. NE
Albuquerque, NM 87110
(505) 254-7575
tfarley@theartcenter.edu

Pangea Day NM

Image by gorgeoux via FlickrHi everyone...

(and FYI... this is cross-posted from the NM Media Events blog, the MISP events listserv and a few other places...)

We're very happy to be involved in Pangea Day -- and especially glad to be part of efforts statewide (in this worldwide event). There are two public events listed here in New Mexico (so far), with one at the Santa Fe Complex, and another from Sushi Gig (temporarily out of retirement) at the Flying Star in downtown Albuquerque. More on those below.

Pangea Day is a a global event bringing the world together through film, on May 10, beginning at noon. Locations in Cairo, Kigali, London, Los Angeles, Mumbai, and Rio de Janeiro will be linked for a live program of powerful films, live music, and visionary speakers. The entire program will be broadcast – in seven languages – to millions of people worldwide through the internet, television, and mobile phones.

In Albuquerque, SushiGig is back from retirement, albeit temporarily.

Sushi Gig's Webb Johnson said, "It just needed to be done."

We have been fortunate to secure the use of the upstairs conference room at the Downtown Flying Star to offer a public venue to view these films as they were meant to be seen, simultaneous with the world, in a community environment where you can exit at any time, grab a bite to eat, a coffee or a beer and meet the other people attending.

WHAT: Pangea Day: A global event, bringing the world together through film.
WHEN: Saturday, May 10th 12:00pm - 4:00 pm
WHERE: Flying Star Downtown, 723 Silver SW, Downtown Albuquerque
HOW MUCH: No charge, but please click here to RSVP as space is limited.

In Santa Fe, join the kind folks at the new Santa Fe Complex.
Pangea Day seems a particularly fitting as one of the series of opening events for
the Santa Fe Complex, "a community, a workshop and a place for people interested in the intersection of art and science in our daily lives."
From their website:

• As a community, we are engaged in a craft, in building the tools and discovering the techniques that advance and support the craft, and teaching that craft to apprentices.
• As a workshop, we are noisy with multiple projects and activities, our walls and benches covered with the works of masters and students.
• As a place, we are an intellectual center for masters, scientists and thinkers seeking a multi- and inter-disciplinary intersection between theory and practice.

WHAT: Pangea Day: A global event, bringing the world together through film.
WHEN: Saturday, May 10th 12:00pm - 4:00 pm
WHERE: Santa Fe Complex, 632 Agua Fria, Santa Fe
HOW MUCH: No charge, but visit their site or the Pangea Day site for more information.

Starting at noon, Mountain time, locations in Cairo, Kigali, London, Los Angeles, Mumbai, and Rio de Janeiro will be linked for a live program of powerful films, live music and visionary speakers. The entire program will be broadcast in seven languages to millions of people worldwide through the internet, television and mobile phones.

The 24 short films to be featured have been selected from an international competition that generated more than 2,500 submissions from over one hundred countries. The films were chosen on their ability to inspire, transform, and allow us to see the world through another person's eyes. Details on the Pangea Day films can be viewed here.

The program will also include a number of exceptional speakers and musical performers. Queen Noor of Jordan, CNN's Christiane Amanpour, musician/activist Bob Geldof, and Iranian rock phenom Hypernova are among those taking part.

Filmmaker Jehane Noujaim is the inspiration behind Pangea Day. In 2006, she won the TED Prize, an annual award granted at the TED Conference. She was granted $100,000, and more important, a wish to change the world. Her wish was to create a day in which the world came together through film. Pangea Day grew out of that wish. Click here to watch Jehane Noujaim’s 2006 acceptance speech.
More information on Pangea Day is available at their website.
To find other events near you, visit http://www.pangeaday.org/attend_map.php

Finally, a quick shout-out to TED, whose site includes high quality video of talks and presentations from many of our world's most inspiring thinkers and practitioners in technology, science and the arts... and much more. Visit them here.

[Gfx-cafe] GFX Cafe Seminar Friday May 2, 2008

GFX Café Seminar Friday May 2, 2008
12noon, ARTS Lab Black Box Theatre ** Note change of venue **

Food will be served

TITLE:
Ironic Citizenship and User-Generated Content: Digital Media, Art
and Politics
by Megan Boler, University of Toronto

ABSTRACT:

In this talk Dr. Boler will introduce the range of web-based digital
media productions and documentaries she has authored. She will then
detail her recent three-year project on "Rethinking Media, Democracy,
and Citizenship," providing examples of user-generated viral videos,
blogs, and other web-based productions accompanied by analyses of
interviews with these author- producers. The talk will focus on "ironic
citizenship," and the appeal of fake news such as The Daily Show, fan
practices, and online productions that engage irony and satire as a
mode of expressing artistic and political interventions within the
broader political media-scape.

BIO:

Megan Boler is presently Associate Chair of Theory and
Policy Studies, Coordinator of the History and Philosophy
Program, and faculty affiliate at University of Toronto's
Knowledge Media Design Institute and the Center for the
Study of United States. She is a founder of the
interdisciplinary Media Education Working Group, a
partnership between Center for Media and Culture in
Education the National Film Board, Toronto District School
Board.

Her work is at the crossroads of digital media,
communications and journalism, and media arts. Throughout
her career she has developed programs and curriculum in
arts, culture, and media, first in her arts-based teaching
of the core course Arts and Heritage in a Multicultural
Society at the University of California (1989-1993). At
the University of Auckland, New Zealand she developed an
MA program in Media Education and Culture Technologies;
and while at Virginia Tech from 1998-2003,
cross-affiliated as faculty of the graduate program in
Science and Technology Studies and Interim Director of
Women's Studies, she worked with faculty and students
across colleges and departments to build an
interdisciplinary focus on Media, Education, and Cultural
Technologies. Her work includes multimedia production and
arts ranging from iMovie productions and screenings,
podcasts to wiki production web-based discussions,
electronic portfolios, in short documentary or artistic
electronic productions.

Her research program focuses on the motivations of
producers of viral videos, tactical media, and web-based
production and circulation of expressions of dissent. She
is Principal Investigator of a 2005-2008 SSHRC Research
Grant of $131,000 titled "Rethinking Media, Democracy and
Citizenship: New Media Practices and Online Digital
Dissent After September 11." www.meganboler.net. Her
forthcoming book is titled Digital Media and Democracy:
Tactics in Hard Times (MIT Press 2008). She is co-editing
a special issue of the journal Electronic Journal of
Communication on "Irony and Politics: User-Producers,
Parody, and Digital Publics" (forthcoming July 2008).

--
Pradeep Sen
Assistant Professor
Advanced Graphics Lab
Dept. of Electrical & Computer Engineering
University of New Mexico

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