Fall 2013, SCAD

Well I took a bit of an hiatus during the summer, but I'm back, and ready to go!  The first day of classes started this week, and it is going to be an intense quarter.

First, I have actually been doing some work over the summer, collaborating with others and planning things out.  I did manage to finish one book, and start another (look at the Dresden Files), finished a slew of games, volunteered at SIGGRAPH 2013 as a Student Volunteer, visited Downtown Disney in Anaheim, and helped my brother move into a new house many states away.  I am currently working on putting together a collaborative short animation to do for fun, but the majority of the work will start next summer, since I now have a huge animation project to continue.

This quarter at SCAD, I am taking a Models and Shaders programming class, which teaches Pixar's Renderman, and i am super excited!  I also have a Photography class; always a good way to expand your horizons and get a different view of lighting and composition.  Finally, I am taking Senior I, which is actually the second out of 4 classes dedicated to working on the senior film at SCAD.  The first class was Concept development, followed by 2 quarters of production (Senior I and II), and finally finishing with Post-Production.  I am also helping a few others with their projects, trying to get more lighting and texturing/shading behind my belt.

Since we are starting actual production now, and I already have some people interested in helping with my project, I am using a free online tool called Trello to keep organized.  It works on any web browser, plus it has apps for my iPad and iPhone!  If you are ever working on a project, especially a collaborative one, check it out!  It even connects to Google Docs and Dropbox.  I am also creating a new blog to chronicle the development and production of the short.  I have added a new tab to my blog, but you can also check it out at LastLightFilm.blogspot.com.

So for now I will leave you with a picture of a lantern I've been working on for another senior project by Michelle Ionescu.  I'll post a link when I get one from her.  I mainly focused on the glass, getting a bumpy frosted glass feel.  Enjoy!

Day 3, SIGGRAPH 2013, Morning

Hello again everyone!  Ready for day 2 of the convention??

I have to say this has Ben very exciting for me.  In the past, I never would have dreamed of actually meeting the people who make dreams into reality.  At my school, SCAD, I have a special opportunity to meet professional artists in the industry once or twice a quarter.  But at SIGGRAPH, every day is like that.  You never know who might be waiting in line for food begin you, who might be sitting next to you at a talk.  Everyday I have bee meeting amazing people, artists and programmers and dreamers, who all share the same vision, a love for computer graphics.  I feel that this convention is the most influential thing I have ever done, and it really gets me excited to be surrounded by such supportive and talented (and awesome) people, both professionals and students.

I is true what they say, we are the future of the industry, and I can't wait to get started!

That and Californian is so pretty I just love walking to the convention everyday!

Day 2, SIGGRAPH 2013, SV, morning

David Hixon

Senior BFA, SCAD Atlanta

 

Today is the FIRST Official day of SIGGRAPH!!  Welcome to all the attendees!!  We student volunteers are really excited to see you all here, and it looks like good turn out!

So today is my one day off, and I am planning to have a lot of fun today, and going to many events as I can.  First, I'm kicking off the day with a presentation of PIXAR'S Blue Umbrella!

The lights are dimming... Lets get the show on the road!

SIGGRAPH 2013, SV Dat 1, night

Well the first day is over, for volunteers that is.  For me, I had an early shift, which lasted several hours and involved lots of bag-stuffing, but I got to meet a lot of cool people, mostly fellow volunteers.  Later in the day, we had orientation and a tour.  Finally we had a special treat, where we got to listen to the stories of several industry professionals who told us about how they made it intothe industry   themselves.  It was really a great pep talk not just for the conference, but for our futures.  They talked about several topics I really care about, such as older students entering the field, and tips on networking, among other things.  A few lucky students walked away from the presentation with some cool prizes, like a computer and awesome graphics cards, but for me to hear the presentation and get their stories really excited me more than any graphics card would (although they were pretty sweet).  After that, we all posed for a group photo, even though it was starting to get dark out, and had free pizza and drinks afterwards.

But the best thing about today was getting to meet with and talk to so many talented and interesting people, all with similar passions.  Even though they aren't professionals yet, every one of these student volunteers could become a friend, a partner, a boss, or an important asset for networking.

For now, I'm off to bed.  I get the day off tomorrow and I don't want to miss anything the conference has to offer!

SIGGRAPH 2013, Day 1, morning

Hi everyone!  For those who don't know me, my name is David Hixon, I am a senior at Savannah College of Art and Design in Atlanta (SCAD), where I am majoring in a BFA in animation, although I already have anBA in Digital Art from George Mason University (GMU).

So today is day one of SIGGRAPH, at least for student volunteers.  We have to get trained and signed in you know.  So after doing all the online training and such, I'm here for the real thing.  I am super excited to meet people for the first time and eager to get started.  I have a lot to do, so I will post more later tonight!

SIGGRAPH 2013, Here I Come!

So for those who don't know, I will be heading off to SIGGRAPH 2013 (Special Interest Group for Computer Graphics and Interactivity), as a Student Volunteer (SV), which starts tomorrow!  Well actually it starts Sunday, but I am arriving Friday so I can volunteer in their bing on Saturday followed by training on Saturday.  This conference is an entire week long, and with all the post conference events for SVs, I won't get back till Saturday.  So I will be checking in on here every single day to give a rundown of everything happening at SIGGRAPH, or at least from my perspective.  I look forward to meeting all the fun cool people, both professionals and volunteers, and can't wait to get started!  There are butterflies in my stomach, or maybe that's the pizza I ate...

Stay tuned for more!