Thanks to Holbytla for this press release from the Game Developers’ Conference which has news about Jon LeBrie, WETA CTO, speaking at the Game Developers’ Conference in March in San Jose.
Gollum Comes to the 2003 Game Developers Conference
SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ —
Jon LeBrie, CTO, Weta Digital has been announced as keynote of CMP Media’s 17th annual Game Developers Conference (GDC), March 4 – 8, 2003, San Jose, California. LeBrie is the principal architect of the digital infrastructure used to create the Academy Award-winning digital visual effects in “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy. LeBrie’s keynote, “Fleshing out Middle Earth: Weta Digital Creatures” discusses specific approaches to crowd animation, creature setups, digital doubles, Ents, the specific challenges involved in bringing Gollum to the screen, and how the concept of ‘creative iteration’ informed the development of one of the world’s largest digital visual effects infrastructures. The GDC offers more than 300 sessions, which provide valuable information, diverse perspectives and inspiration to all game developers. Attracting more than 10,000 attendees annually, the GDC provides an independent forum for developers from around the world to set the agenda for the next generation of games. “With revenues at $10 billion, video game development is serious business,” said Alan Yu, director, Game Developers Conference. “This industry is changing at an incredibly rapid pace. Developers are facing serious issues and challenges from within and outside, making the GDC more important than ever to the health of the game industry.” Other notable speakers include:
— Will Wright, co-founder, Maxis, driving force behind “Sim City” and recipient of the Game Developers Choice Lifetime Achievement Award, in a discussion titled: “Dynamics for Designers” — Paul Debevec, lead graphics researcher, University of Southern California, whose techniques were used to create the Academy Award-winning virtual background for the “bullet time” shots in the film “The Matrix,” lecturing on “High Dynamic Range Imagery and Image-Based Lighting” — Rich Vogel, executive producer, Sony Online Entertainment, who produced “Meridian 59” and “Ultima Online,” and Raph Koster, creative director, Sony Online Entertainment, whose credits include “Star Wars Galaxies: An Empire Divided,” “Ultima Online” and “Ultima Online: The Second Age,” leading “How to Manage a Large Scale Online Gaming Community” — Rick Giolito, Electronic Arts, speaking about “Creating a Cinematic Game Experience” — Robert Garriott, CEO, NCsoft Austin; J.C. Herz, professor, New York University, former New York Times editor; Won Il Sue, director of business development, Nexon Corporation; Cindy Armstrong; and Seung Hoon Choi; discussing “Korea, Where Multiplayer Gaming is King” — Jaime Griesemer, Mat Noguchi and Marty O’Donnell, Bungie Software, covering the development of “Halo” from the design, engineering and audio sides in “Halo: Development Evolved” — Mia Consalvo, assistant professor, Ohio University; Sheri Graner Ray, 10-year veteran of game writing, design and production; Clarinda Merripen, human resource manager, Cyberlore Studios; and Sheri Pocilujko, product support administrator, Incredible Technologies; speaking on “Profiling the Female Gamer: A Look at How She Buys and Plays” — Jonathan Blow, designer, programmer and writer of Game Developer Magazine’s “The Inner Product” column, covering 3D manipulation, interactive mixing and other issues in “Experimental Gameplay Workshop” — Kenji Kaido and Fumito Ueda, Sony Computer Entertainment Inc., recipient of a 2002 Game Developers Choice Award for game innovation, lecturing on “Game Design Methods for ICO” — Masaki Kawase, presenting “Frame Buffer Postprocessing Effects in Double-S.T.E.A.L. (Wreckless: The Yakuza Missions)”
The GDC’s seven content tracks cover the following disciplines: visual arts, production, business and legal, game design, audio, programming and the IGDA track. For the complete list of presenters, schedules and event information, visit GDConf.com .
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