I’m planning a series of more extensive posts on SIGGRAPH content (starting with the courses), but I’ll start with a quick roundup to help people decide on their attendance before the early-bird registration expires at the end of this week. The roundup is focused on those sessions of potential interest to professional game artists, professional game programmers, real-time rendering researchers and real-time rendering students. I’m not listing paper sessions – I typically skip those in favor of other sessions since the papers themselves tend to be readily available. I’ve also skipped the Reception and the various Birds of a Feather sessions for brevity since those tend to be more social (some Birds of a Feather sessions do have presentations, and others might be of particular interest, so it’s probably a good idea to check the BoF list). More information can be found on the individual SIGGRAPH web pages (linked where available) as well as the SIGGRAPH Advance Program.

UPDATES:

• June 15, 2011: Added SIGGRAPH Dailies! and relevant Exhibitor Tech Talks; added links to individual Panels.
• June 20, 2011: Added links to individual CAF Production Sessions, The Studio Workshops, The Studio Digital Artistry Sessions, and the Keynote.
• June 23, 2011: Added links to remaining sessions, and corrected the classification of some of The Studio presentations.
• June 24, 2011: Removed Reception and Birds of a Feather sessions for brevity; also corrected times of some Studio Talks.
• July 15, 2011: Added individual NVIDIA Exhibitor Tech Talks.

Multiple Days

• Electronic Theater (6:00-8:00 on August 8, 9, and 10)
• Emerging Technologies (2:00-5:30 on August 7; 9:00-5:30 on August 8, 9, and 10; 9:00-1:00 on August 11; also open during Reception)
• Exhibition (9:30-6:00 on August 9 and 10; 9:30-3:30 on August 11)
• Posters (12:00-5:30 on August 7; 9:00-5:30 on August 8, 9, 10, and 11)
• Real-Time Live! (4:30-5:15 on August 8, 9, and 10)
• The Sandbox (12:00-5:30 on August 7; 9:00-5:30 on August 8,9, and 10; 9:00-1:00 on August 11; also open during Reception)
• There are also several co-located conferences which may be of interest

Sunday, August 7th

12:00-1:45:

• Scan-Model-Print: A Roundtable Chat (The Studio Talk)

12:30-1:45:

• Bringing ZBrush to Life: Advanced Visualization Techniques (The Studio Digital Artistry Session)

2:00-3:30:

• Pushing Production Data (Talk Session)
• Animation and Rigging in Blender (The Studio Digital Artistry Session)
• Introduction to Python Scripting (The Studio Workshop)

2:00-5:15:

• 3D Spatial Interaction: Applications for Art, Design, and Science (Course)
• Destruction and Dynamics for Film and Game Production (Course)
• Introduction to Modern OpenGL Programming (Course)
• Liquid Simulation With Mesh-Based Surface Tracking (Course)

3:00-3:30:

• A Unified Dynamics Pipeline for Hair, Cloth, and Flesh in “Rango” (The Studio Talk)

3:45-4:15:

• SolidState Drives in Developer and Artist Workstations (The Studio Talk)

3:45-5:15:

• Successful Creative Collaboration Across Time and Space (Panel)
• Facing Hairy Production Problems (Talk Session)

4:30-5:00:

• Standards in 3D Modeling: Case Study and Applications From Stock 3D (The Studio Talk)

5:00–5:30:

• “Paul” – Creating a Compelling Character Performance (The Studio Talk)

6:00-8:00:

• Technical Papers Fast Forward

Monday, August 8th

9:00-9:30:

• New and Used Cars (The Studio Talk)

9:00-10:00:

• NVIDIA – Advanced Rendering Solutions (Exhibitor Tech Talk)

9:00-10:30:

• 3D Motion Graphics With Photoshop and After Effects (The Studio Digital Artistry Session)
• Getting Started in Maya (The Studio Workshop)

9:00-12:15:

• PhysBAM: Physically Based Simulation (Course)
• Advances in Real-Time Rendering in Games: Part I (Course)

9:30-10:30:

• The Spirit of “Rango”: Dissection of Character Animation and Rigging (The Studio Talk)

10:15-11:15:

• NVIDIA – OpenGL and CUDA-Based Tessellation (Exhibitor Tech Talk)

10:40-12:10:

• Creating a Multi-Platform Real-Time Portfolio for Your Artwork Using Unity (The Studio Workshop)

11:00-1:00:

• SIGGRAPH Award Presentations and Keynote by Cory Doctorow

11:30-12:30:

• NVIDIA – Parallel Nsight 2.0 and CUDA 4.0 for the Win! (Exhibitor Tech Talk)

12:00-1:00:

• Creating Cool Games Without a Programmer (The Studio Talk)

12:45-1:30:

• NVIDIA – Using the GPU to Create a Seamless Display from Multiple Projectors (Exhibitor Tech Talk)

1:45-3:00:

• NVIDIA – VFX Trendspotting: Unlocking GPU Performance (Exhibitor Tech Talk)

2:00-2:30:

• MakerBot (The Studio Talk)

2:00-3:30:

• Storytelling With Color (Course)
• Tiles and Textures and Faces Oh My! (Talk Session)
• Eye on the Road (Talk Session)
• Dynamic 3D & Photoshop Integration (The Studio Digital Artistry Session)

2:00-5:15:

• Advances in Real-Time Rendering in Games: Part 2 (Course)

3:15-4:15:

• NVIDIA – Tools for Mobile Photography and Vision (Exhibitor Tech Talk)

3:45-4:15:

• Rapid Solutions to 3D Scanning (The Studio Talk)

3:45-5:00:

• Cross-Platform Concept Illustration (The Studio Digital Artistry Session)

3:45-5:15:

• The Need for Standardization Within Global Visual Effects Productions Through Open Source and Open Standards (Panel)
• How to Write Fast iPhone and Android Shaders in Unity (The Studio Workshop)

4:30-5:00:

• Per-Face Texture Mapping for Real-time Rendering (The Studio Talk)

4:30- 5:30:

• NVIDIA – GPU Ray Tracing (Exhibitor Tech Talk)

5:00-5:30:

• Blending of Transforms with Non-Uniform Parent Scale (The Studio Talk)

Tuesday, August 9th

9:00-9:30:

• Prop Building for VFX (The Studio Talk)

9:00-10:30:

• Let There Be Light (Talk Session)
• Out of Core (Talk Session)
• Creating Characters With Character (The Studio Digital Artistry Session)
• Rigging Characters for CryENGINE (The Studio Workshop)

9:00-12:15:

• Beyond Programmable Shading I (Course)

10:30-11:30:

• Special Effects With Depth (The Studio Talk)

10:40-12:15:

• Dynamic 3D Integration in CS5 Extended (The Studio Workshop)

10:45-12:15:

• Building Blocks (Talk Session)
• Walk the Line (Talk Session)
• 3D Workflows in Photoshop CS5 Extended (The Studio Digital Artistry Session)

12:30-1:45:

• The Power of the (Wacom) Pen (The Studio Digital Artistry Session)

1:15-1:45:

• UV Layout (The Studio Talk)

2:00-3:30:

• DreamWorks Animation: The Yin and Yang of Creating the Final Battle in “Kung Fu Panda 2” (CAF Production Session)

2:00-3:30:

• 1000 Points of Light (Talk Session)

2:00-5:15:

• Beyond Programmable Shading II (Course)
• Modeling 3D Urban Spaces Using Procedural and Simulation-Based Techniques (Course)

3:00-3:30:

• 3D Color Printing Using ZCorp Rapid Prototyping (The Studio Talk)

3:45-4:15:

• Let There Be Hair (The Studio Talk)

3:45-4:40:

• The Bakery – Bakery Relight – Interactive Lighting, Shading & Rendering for Pros (Exhibitor Tech Talk)

3:45-5:00:

• Digital Painting With ArtRage (The Studio Digital Artistry Session)

3:45-5:15:

• Fur and Feathers (Talk Session)

4:30-5:00:

• Tokyo Race Lighting for “Cars 2” (The Studio Talk)

Wednesday, August 10th

9:00-9:30:

• Developing a Fab Lab for 3D Data Capture, Modeling and Prototyping (The Studio Talk)

9:00-10:30:

• Industrial Light & Magic Presents: Getting Dirty: Bringing the Digital Feature “Rango” to Life (CAF Production Session)
• Cinematography: The Visual & the Story (Course)
• Mixed Grill (Talk Session)
• Zbrush Life Sculpting and Portraiture (The Studio Digital Artistry Session)
• Basics of Blend Shapes in Maya (The Studio Workshop)

9:00-12:15:

• Stereoscopy From XY to Z (Course)

9:45-10:45:

• OPTIS – Physics-Based Virtual Reality (Exhibitor Tech Talk)

10:30-11:30:

• Quill-birds of a Feather Tool (The Studio Talk)

10:40-12:10:

• World Creation in CryENGINE (The Studio Workshop)

10:45-12:15:

• Production Volume Rendering 1 (Course)
• From the Ground Up (Talk Session)
• Dynamic 3D & Photoshop Integration (The Studio Digital Artistry Session)

11:15-12:15:

• AMD – OpenCL and OpenGL/DirectX Interoperability (Exhibitor Tech Talk)

11:30-12:00:

• DIYLILCNC (The Studio Talk)

12:30-1:45:

• Real World Camera-Rig Creation (The Studio Digital Artistry Session)

2:00-3:30:

• Imageworks: The Smurf-alution: A Half-Century of Character Development (CAF Production Session)
• Applying Color Theory to Digital Media and Visualization (Course)
• Directing Destruction (Talk Session)
• Anatomy of a Dragon–2D to 3D (The Studio Digital Artistry Session)

2:00-5:15:

• Character Rigging, Deformations, and Simulations in Film and Game Production (Course)
• Production Volume Rendering 2 (Course)
• An Introduction Into After Effects for Motion Graphics (The Studio Workshop)

2:15-3:15:

• Xsens – How Much Animation Can You Do in a Day? (Exhibitor Tech Talk)

3:45-5:00:

• Sensor Calibration (The Studio Digital Artistry Session)

3:45-5:15:

• Crowds (Talk Session)

4:30-5:00:

• The Visual Style of “Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole” (The Studio Talk)

6:00-7:30:

• SIGGRAPH Dailies!

Thursday, August 11th

9:00-10:30:

• Hiding Complexity (Talk Session)

9:00-12:15:

• Compiler Techniques for Rendering (Course)

10:40-12:15:

• KeyShot: Amazing Rendering and Animation in Real Time (The Studio Workshop)

10:45-12:15:

• Industrial Light & Magic: New Solutions for New Challenges (CAF Production Session)
• Designing Curriculum for 3D Computer Animation: Innovation and Experimentation for an Evolving Discipline (Panel)
• Volumes and Rendering (Talk Session)
• Smokin’ Fluids (Talk Session)
• Lighting Worlds in Unity (The Studio Talk)

2:00-3:30:

• ACM Student Research Competition Final Presentation
• Guerrilla: The Creation of Killzone 3 (CAF Production Session)
• Heads or Tails (Talk Session)
• Speed of Light (Talk Session)

2:00-5:15:

• Filtering Approaches for Real-Time Anti-Aliasing (Course)

3:45–5:15:

• Light My Fire (Talk Session)
• Capture and Construction (Talk Session)