SIGGRAPH [Sig-Graph]

Definition: Name of the annual conference on computer graphics (CG) convened by the ACMSIGGRAPH organization. Dozens of research papers are presented each year, and SIGGRAPH is widely considered the most prestigious forum for the publication of computer graphics research.

Our paper, Updated Sparse Cholesky Factors for Co-Rotational Elastodynamic, was presented at SIGGRAPH. Here's a picture of me and Florian (first author) doing a silly 40-sec advertisement of our session during Tech Papers Fast Forward.

SIGGRAPH ends up being a big re-union of friends since graphics industry/academia is so tightly knit. The left half of us met at PIXAR during the Summer Internship. Lot of us ended up in the visual effects studios including Pixar, Weta, and Bungie and we started our new jobs within few months of each other. The right half are my friends from Berkeley Graphics Lab. Everyone loves technology, art, and being a nerd. I loved spending time with these like-minded people. 

Curiosity landed on Mars succesfully on the first day of SIGGRAPH. There was a viewing session set up at the Geek Bar in Los Angeles Convention Center. A fair amount of people came, including my family who snuck in to the geek bar to watch the landing with me. I believe my mom cried during the landing. It was so emotional and I felt so proud to be an engineer.

And I got some quality time with my family and my parents' not-so-small-anymore pug. It looks just like Frank the Pug from Men in Black. This pug changed our family dynamic from a grouchy family to a loving family. It loves everyone it meets. Here's me pinching its velvet-pin-cushion cheeks.

One of the best things about SIGGRAPH is the screening of selection from the SIGGRAPH Animation Festival. I got to watch Disney's new short Paperman, which is screened in front of Wreak it Ralph. The style of it was an interesting blend of 2D and 3D framed in photographic black-and-white. I watched it three times, and during the third one I teared up a bit. It moved me in the best way. Definitely a dreamer and romantic's pick of the evening.

I also loved the style of Twinings commercial called "Gets You Back To You". My favorite part is when her feet plunges in to the shallow ocean. Makes me want to walk along the shores of Seal Beach before I head back to Silicon Valley.

During downtime, I wandered into the SIGGRAPH Bookstore. It's awesome because someone already did the work for you in selecting the books in your interest range. I ended up buying bunch of them:

C++ Coding Standards: 101 Rules, Guidelines, and Best Practices

Herb Sutter, Andrei Alexandrescu

I heard of this book through an amazing coder I programmed with at Berkeley. He was a C++ guru and when I asked him how he picked up C++ (Berkeley doesn't teach it to you) he mentioned that he read a red C++ book over Summer. I assume it's this one since it's one of the more well known red-books on C++.

The DSLR Filmmaker's Handbook: Real-World Production Techniques

Barry Andersson, Janie L. Geyen

I am considering purchasing a DSLR and shooting videos in my spare time (weekends tend to be open). Reading a book about production usually doesn't help with the process unless you absolutely have no clue as to where to start. Well, I have zero knowledge and any starting point will probably help.

An Interdisciplinary Introduction to Image Processing: Pixels, Numbers, and Programs

Steven L. Tanimoto

Can't wait to read this book. It looks at image processing from creative and artistic as well as technical point of view. 

3D Engine Design for Virtual Globes

by Patrick Cozzi

My friend Josh bought this book. I picked it up again at the store and read couple pages and realized that it's directly related to projects done by my team at NASA. It covers terrain reconstruction among other topics. I can't wait to read this one and hopefully implement it for planetary bodies. 

More detailed blog on technical talks at SIGGRAPH will be coming soon, including the ones on Mobile GPUs. So stay tuned...