This presentation will focus on the creative and technical challenges of cloth and hair done in the feature film Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs. Join Sony Pictures Imageworks' Rodrigo Ibanez as he explores the relationship between character design, modeling, rigging, animation and cloth/hair. He will also examine the use of Autodesk's Maya as used in the Cloudy pipeline and how it contributed to bringing the characters to life. Finally he will chronicle the evolution of cloth and hair systems used at Imageworks and explore some of the latest techniques used in tailoring, grooming, rigging and simulation.

Often in the real world of production, many different artists have a short amount of time to quickly turn around a shot. A freelance Maya Artist may have to send files to a freelance Compositor. Inevitably, a Compositor will load many Maya passes from the artist, some which may have names like "CrateB_FlippyThing_VortexyParticle_v10" and have a dumbfounded look on his/her face. What do you do with this pass? Is it meant to be multiplied, screened, added, or overlayed? We will discuss smart ways to let the Compositor know what was in the mind of the Maya artist and increase speed through better communication and better workflows.

The new Prince of Persia now travels alongside Elika, a believable and engaging companion character controlled entirely by artificial intelligence. The science of creating a relationship between the player and the controllable, main character is a well-documented one (3Cs, etc.). The same can be said about the art of establishing relationships between characters themselves. The challenge for Ubisoft was to create a bond between the player and a character over which he has no control. This presentation will explore and expose the animation and programming techniques as well as tools utilized to create such a bond.

Autodesk® Maya® 2010 now includes an extensive set of production tools, including Maya Compositing (Autodesk Toxik based technology) and a new Match Moving System. Maya compositing offers a new integrated 2D /3D production workflow. The tool set previously only available to Maya Unlimited – Maya Cloth, Maya Fluids, Maya Hair – is now also available to all Maya 2010 customers. See how to use these tools to add fantastic special effects to your production. Autodesk Technical Specialists, Lee Fraser and Gary M. Davis, will share these new features and some tips & tricks with you in this presentation.

Get an in-depth view of Autodesk® 3ds Max® 2010 extensive set of new tools for modeling, including the new graphite tools set that offer a significant number of new modeling features. Particle effects capabilities have been enhanced in PFlowAdvanced and an extensive effects library. Managing scene complexity has never been easier with the new Container Object, Material Explorer, xView and ProOptimzer. New features such as mental mill, Open EXR, and improved OBJ and Autodesk® FBX® support will provide enhanced interoperability and pipeline integration. See the powerful Character Animation Tools (CAT) in action. Autodesk Technical Specialist, Louis Marcoux, will share these new features and some tips & tricks with you in this presentation.

See Autodesk® Softimage® 2010 in action, which now includes the Autodesk® Face Robot® technology as well as numerous other enhancements. Using Face Robot, animators are free to concentrate on emotion, expression and delivering unforgettable performances. The new GigaCore III technology offers accelerated performance. Interactive Creative Environment (ICE) and the new Scene Debugger provide additional functionality for creating custom nodes, providing the ultimate control and freedom for technical directors. Autodesk Technical Specialist, Mark Schoennagel, will share these new features and some tips & tricks with you in this presentation.

Learn how partnering Autodesk® Lustre®, Autodesk's non-linear Digital Intermediate and color grading software, with Autodesk® Flame® and Autodesk® Smoke® software for VFX and editorial finishing, allows creative professionals to set themselves apart from the competition regardless of market size or industry. Using real-world examples, this presentation demonstrates the creative and efficient benefits of leveraging intelligent assets across color and finishing suites, and showcases our industry-leading product interoperability.