Softimage at GDC 2008

Softimage is coming to GDC 2008. Come visit us and find out how Softimage Solutions can help you produce your next title. We'll be available for Sales, Press, and R&D meetings rooms MR 23 and MR 24 in the Moscone Center, West Hall. See the sidebar for meeting room hours, and to to download map.

• To book a Press meeting, contact Kevin G. Clark
• To book a Sales or R&D meeitng, contact Anick Gagné
• You can also book any meeting by calling 514.840.0264

We'll also be hosting a number of special events, including the Softimage Education Conference, where educators and trainers can learn about our revamped education program, and the Softimage Student User Group, where students can get advice from seasoned pros about learning XSI and finding a job in the 3D industry.

And don't forget to check us out in special locations around the show floor, where we'll be presenting XSI demos.

Tuesday, February 19th - Softimage Education Conference

1:00 PM - 4:00 PM (Registration begins at 12:30 PM)
Westin San Francisco Market Street, Franciscan 1 Room
50, Third Street
San Francisco, California 94103
(Map)

The Softimage Education Conference at GDC 2008 is a great opportunity for educators and trainers to hear about the latest education initiatives from Softimage.

We'll be presenting the revamped Softimage Education Program, and discussing partnership opportunities for academic and professional institutions, as well as certification and re-certification programs for XSI trainers. We'll also show off new XSI training materials for educators, and give you the latest company and product news from Softimage.

Finally, there will be a roundtable discussion about industry needs and market opportunities for educators, featuring special guest presenters Carey Chico from Pandemic Studios and Michael Endres, Art Director for Crytek.

A light lunch wil be served.

To RSVP, please email Jennifer Goldfinch

Registration begins at 12:30 PM

About the Presenters

Carey Chico, Executive Art Director, Pandemic Studios

Carey has been working in the game industry since 1996, after graduating from UCLA with a bachelor's in design. His foray into the game industry began when he started at Activision Studios as an animator on PLANTETFALL. From there, he rose through the ranks as lead artist on BATTLEZONE and then as a founding member of Pandemic Studios where he completed BATTLEZONE 2 as art director. After working again as art director on STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS, he stepped up as studio art director to oversee more global and long term art interests. Some of the most recent titles under his supervision are FULL SPECTRUM WARRIOR, BATLLEFRONT, MERCENARIES, and DESTROY ALL HUMANS.

Michael Endres, Art Director, Crytek

Michael started in the games industry in 1997 at Neon, Germany to work on PSX titles. Michael joined Crytek in 2002 as a senior Artist and completed Far Cry for PC. Since then he worked as an Art Manager and produced “The Project,” a graphics demo for ATI. On Crysis, he planned and oversaw the art production. Currently he is working in a studio wide position, overseeing the art production in the Crytek studios.

Wednesday, February 20th - Softimage Student User Group

5:00 PM - 8:00 PM (Registration begins at 4:15 PM)
Art Institute of California - San Francisco,
10 United Nations Plaza, 1st Floor
(Map) (Directions)

If you're eager to break into the industry and want to polish your 3D skills, you won't want to miss the GDC 2008 Softimage Student User Group. Our panel of industry veterans, including David Andrews from The Orphanage, Andy Bueker from Zoogloo, Jonathan Harb from Whiskytree, and Burke Revet from Black Point Studios will be talking about what it takes to get a job in 3D, and why there's never been a better time to make SOFTIMAGE|XSI your tool of choice. XSI Evangelist, Mark Schoennegal, will also be on hand to give you an up close look at XSI in action.

Students who register for and attend the Softimage Student User Group will each receive a FREE academic license of SOFTIMAGE|XSI* (a $295 USMSRP value)!

Click here to register

*To claim licenses of SOFTIMAGE|XSI Academic Edition, registered students must supply a valid student ID card, along with a Photo ID, at the Softimage Student User Group.

About the Presenters

David Andrews, Animation Director, The Orphanage

David Andrews graduated from the University of Western Ontario in 1982 with a B.A. in English and a minor in Film Studies. He enrolled in Sheridan’s Classical Animation Program, where his student film, Trouble With Joe won the school’s Kodak Award.

In 1987 Andrews began a six-year period of freelance commercial animation, including positions as Assistant Director to Derek Lamb at the National Film Board of Canada and Assistant Director of a Saturday Morning show for WDR-TV in Cologne, Germany. In 1993 he moved to California beginning his career in computer graphics animation. In March of 1998 Andrews completed work on his animated short, Tweet Tweet Sludge, a hand-drawn cartoon about birds and frogs living in an oil refinery.

Andy Bueker, Co-Owner, Zoogloo

Andy has been part of the digital visual effects industry for nearly 12 years. Prior to the formation of Zoogloo, his most recent adventure was as a Lead Character Technical Director at Industrial Light and Magic in San Francisco, where he met his current partner Greg. While at ILM, he developed character rigs and wrote numerous tools for the rigging team, including a motion capture retargeting pipeline. His work is included on such films as Van Helsing, Star Wars Episode 3, The Island, War of the Worlds, Chicken Little, Jarhead, and Pirates of the Caribbean 2.

Jonathan Harb, CEO & Creative Director, Whiskytree

Jonathan Harb opened Whiskytree Inc in May of 2007. His film credits include Visual Effects Supervisor, Digital Matte Supervisor, Digital Matte Artist, Digital Artist, and Concept and Animatic Artist on films such as Eight Below, the 3 Star Wars prequels, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, The Perfect Storm, Artificial Intelligence, and Sleepy Hollow. Harb has contributed to more than 30 feature films, and dozens of commercials for television.

Harb won the first 2 Visual Effects Society (VES) Awards for ‘Best Matte Painting in a Motion Picture’ for his work on Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl and Star Wars: Episode II; he received a nomination for a third VES award for his work on Star Wars: Episode III.

Burke Revet, Lead Artist, Black Point Studios

Burke Revet is currently working for Blackpointstudios as Lead Artist for various next gen games, vfx, and commercial projects. Burke is a 3D artist with over 7 years of solid experience in Film, commercial, and video games and complex production pipeline in the creation of digital environments, character creation and animation. His work is included in such games as Smackdown vs Raw 2008, Stranglehold, Area 51 Blacksite, and various Film and music video projects.

Also a traditionally trained artist, with the skill of illustrating, characters, creatures, and environment related designs, Burke has the understanding of both traditional and digital worlds, delivering unique 3d designs and top quality character work for film and video game projects.

Softimage on the Show Floor

We'll be appearing in various booths around the show floor:

AMD Booth

Date: Wednesday, February 20th and Thursday, February 21st
Time: 1:30 PM

We'll be presenting XSI demos in the AMD booth. Come find out why SOFTIMAGE|XSI is the best 3D animation solution for games, film, and television productions.