The Second More-or-Less-Annual "Stupid RenderMan Tricks" Contest ---------------------------------------------------------------- When is it? During the RenderMan User's Group meeting at SIGGRAPH 2000. That is, Wednesday, July 26, 7:00 (refreshments start at 6:30). If you want to attend the user group, please RSVP to renderwoman@pixar.com, and she'll send you the info. What is it? Beginning at the RMan User's Group meeting of SIGGRAPH '99, we let people submit ideas for fun tips and tricks, then selected the best five and allowed the submitters several minutes each at the podium with a microphone and overhead projector. The users who were selected to speak thrilled and amazed us all. Now we're doing it again. What did people talk about last year? David Bock (NCSA) - volume visualization shading Ivan DeWolf (Rhythm & Hues) - gloopy displacement shading Katsuaki Hiramitsu (as himself) - butt-kicking cloud shaders Doug Epps (Tippett) - things never to try with motion blocks Tom Duff (Pixar) - using blobbys for rain in A Bug's Life How do I enter? Easy. First, think of something cool you'd like to talk about. It could be a neat shader technique, a renderer or an extension thereof, an MTOR trick, a clever way to munge RIB files, a tool you've written, hints, tips, and war stories from productions, whatever. In short, anything remotely related to RenderMan and its use and that would be interesting to TD's and other users of RenderMan renderers. Second, you write up a short description (a couple paragraphs is okay) and send it to lg@pixar.com and lg@bmrt.org (yes, please use both email addresses, so I can read it wherever I check mail). Clearly mark the subject of the email as "Stupid RMan Tricks Submission." Attaching images, or pointing me to a web page, is fine. All submission materials will be strictly confidential. Send submissions before Friday, July 7, 2000. An elite team of renderer authors headed by lg will judge the submissions, choosing the coolest 5-6 for presentation at the user group meeting. You will be notified of our decision by July 10. All decisions by the jury are final! What happens if the jury likes my submission? Chosen presenters get 5-10 minutes in front of the other users at the user group meeting, an overhead projector, a videotape player, and an open mike. Dazzle us, confuse us, make us smart! For those materials that you're allowed to distribute (example shader code or whatever), I'll also set up a web site on which we can put the materials so that others may access them after the meeting. Are there prizes? Yes. Can I just show my demo reel? NO! It's not enough to just show pretty pictures. You need to say how they were done, ideally with figures, shader code fragments, vigorous hand-waving, etc. Does it really have to be "stupid?" No, we want clever. I was just trying to be funny. But the jury will be biased toward presentations that exhibit a sick and twisted sense of what can be done with RenderMan. Bonus points and special preference will be given to proposals that cause jurors to say any of the following out loud: "I never would have thought of that." "Wicked cool!" "I've gotta try this out." "I didn't know you could do that with my renderer." "Are they nuts? What are they smoking down there in L.A.?" "Huh?" [while squinting and cocking head to side] Enter early. Enter often. See you all at SIGGRAPH, -- lg -- Larry Gritz Pixar Animation Studios lg@pixar.com Richmond, CA