Tuesday @ Siggraph and the after party

Tuesday we got to Siggraph fairly early. We stopped at the starbucks inside the convention center for some breakfast. Then a few of us went to the "Women in Animation" talk. As some know, this industry has mostly men in it. Not too many women, but its changing. After a while they split us up into groups to get to talk to people. A lot are grads looking for work. A few ladies looking to hire. One women had mentioned that I could do 3D for the army in making simulations. I thought that could be an interesting avenue to take. Then another was actually looking for women to take on her team to do games in New York City. She said it was near time square. I gave her my info. so will see. After that panel we headed to the Animation Breakdown panel where a few Disney and Pixar animators broke down their process on how they animate shots. Some challenges they faced and how they over came those challenges. It was pretty cool. There is a scene in toy story 3 where Mr. Potato head is a pita bread. Their reference for that was this, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFZgqCt24Js&feature=related Hilarious. I saw this on the internet a while back and never thought it could be reference for an animation. They were focusing on the floppy movement of the guy that would work well for the pita bread. One guy who did the animation for the gator in The Frog Princess was showing his breakdown sheets. When the gator plays the trumpet the fingers for the notes are actually right fingerings. As they say research, research, and more research. Its not always best to pull something out of your head. Nine times out of ten its not going to look right if you go that route. After that panel we went to exhibition hall. This area all the different software companies show off there latest technologies. There also a few companies there that have job postings. A lot of free stuff. And you have to be quick about it too. Pixar was giving away these little toy tea pots. The line wrapped around the exhibition hall for that one. O_o At 2pm we made our way to the job fair in the exhibition hall. I was ready to talk to people for the most part. If anything useful feed back on my work. The companies in the job fair I was most interested in were Digital Domain, Frame Store, Lucas Films, IGT, and Ubisoft. There were some companies outside of the job fair that where looking too. It seemed to me that most of who where at the job fair looking where students or just graduated students. I talked to some of the recruiters at Frame Store. Their opening a new location in London and are looking for about 100 applicants. I had never heard of Frame Store till the conference. Most of my classmates didn't stay long. A making of How to train your Dragon had started. Though I loved that movie, I thought staying at the job fair a bit longer was more beneficial. IGT was looking for interns. They lady mentioned to me that they pull in new hire from interns. I already have experience in making slot style games. Why not? Though the weather in Vegas can be brutal. After networking a bit more I left to find my classmates. The panel was still going on. I just waited outside wishing I could get one of those cheap massages they where offering. lol With all the walking and what I was carrying in my bag was killing my back. I had reels, resumes, business cards, notebook, and a sketchbook in my bag. Doesn't sound much but it felt it. After the panel we met back up to head to the Side FX/ Houdini after party. As they say, most job opportunities come from these parties. I'm not a Houdini user yet, but I soon to be one. :) The place they had the venue was pretty fancy. Signed in and went up the elevator. More free shirts! lol! The Side FX folks launched their new release of Houndini 11. A few companies showed off some demo's using Houdini. Frame Store and Digital Domain from what I could remember. After the demo was food time and watching fire dancers. A few other companies where there and I grabbed there info as well. Not a bad day at all.