Dr. Tonya Custis, senior director of artificial intelligence (AI) at Autodesk, draws on 20 years of experience in AI research to explore both the limitations and the transformative potential of AI in design workflows. While powerful, AI is often misunderstood—it’s frequently perceived as a catch-all magical solution rather than a tool with specific strengths and weaknesses. As AI becomes more commonly used in daily life, expectations rise for its role in professional tools. The best way to move beyond the hype, fear, and uncertainty surrounding AI is to develop an understanding of its history, limitations, and the types of tasks it’s best suited to help with. In this session, Dr. Custis will demystify how AI actually works, examine current trends, and outline the unique challenges of applying AI to design workflows—particularly those involving complex 3D design data. She’ll also share some recent work from the Autodesk AI Lab, offering a glimpse into the current state of AI in design and what the future may hold.

Delve into initiatives aimed at attracting under-represented talent, normalizing mental health support, and leveraging technology to create a smarter, more robust workforce, in collaboration with industry leaders like Women in Animation.

Join us for an epic digital panel dedicated to fostering diversity and inclusion in the gaming industry. This event unites game developers, designers, storytellers, and enthusiasts to tackle the challenges and unlock the opportunities to create a more inclusive gaming landscape. Power up your network by connecting with industry leaders, dive into an insightful panel discussion, and level up your strategies for breaking down barriers and championing representation in games. Whether you're a veteran player or a newbie to the field, this digital panel is your ultimate chance to connect, learn, and contribute to a more inclusive future in gaming.

SYNK is an innovative real-time production toolkit that enables content creators to produce linear and virtual content using the same tools and processes used by big studios with decades of experience in animation. SYNK allows assets from traditional digital content creation software and outputs from game engines to be managed in a single accessible environment through an integrated real-time workflow. SYNK manages the data from the early concept phase all the way to final delivery, enabling output to virtual reality (VR) and extended reality (XR), cinema, animation, video games, and virtual productions.

Hear from a panel of technical visionaries as they explore the role of Universal Scene Description (OpenUSD) in fostering open data exchange—not just in media and entertainment, but across industries. From traditional filmmaking to virtual production, architecture, engineering, construction, automotive, and manufacturing, our team of experts will explore how USD opens the door for seamless connectivity and collaboration across large-scale 3D projects of all kinds. 

Intangible heritage, globally, is under threat from aggressive urbanization and globalization, particularly in developing nations like Vietnam. To safeguard Vietnamese oral traditions, social practices, festive events, and childhood play, the project Play to Preserve the Past uses augmented reality (AR) to undertake a nuanced exploration of creative practice methodologies and considerations for creating immersive AR experiences. Central to this pursuit, the research endeavors to explore the question: How can creative practitioners harness the potentials of AR for seamless transmission of intangible cultural heritage?

Booleans are a foundational part of content creation, yet it was frowned upon to use traditional polygon booleans in media and entertainment projects. To solve this problem, Autodesk rebuilt their booleans from the ground up within 3ds Max software, creating a new, powerful, and trusted solution in the Boolean Modifier that unlocks exciting new workflows and capabilities. In this session, you'll learn about how and why this new system was created for 3ds Max, which benefits it provides, and how you can use it to its maximum potential in your own work to create amazing content for film and TV, games, XR, or 3D printing projects.

As technology continues to evolve, the intersection of 3D design and artificial intelligence (AI) presents exciting opportunities for innovation in content creation. In this session, we'll showcase experimentation with innovative techniques—namely, ComfyUI, ControlNet, and Stable Diffusion—to forge a future pipeline that seamlessly integrates 3D rendering with AI-driven processes. We'll outline a visionary approach toward empowering artists and streamlining the content creation process. By using advanced AI algorithms and data-driven insights, we aspire to give artists greater control over their creations as they enhance their efficiency and creativity while using Autodesk tools, specifically Maya and Arnold software. Our vision for the future pipeline revolves around achieving a seamless transition from 3D design to AI render, while empowering artists with unprecedented control over their creations.

This course aims to educate participants on the innovative integration of machine learning (ML) techniques for deformation approximation within Maya software. Using approximations for (part of) a deformation stack can highly improve interactivity when using complex rigs, and can significantly improve the portability between different applications. It is designed for animators, game developers, VFX artists, and any professional interested in exploring the intersection of ML and 3D animation. This course will explore a demo of a rig with computationally expensive muscle deformations that is reduced to a simple, general, black-box neural network that only requires inputs from the motion system. We'll show the entire setup process in detail. In addition, we'll go over best practices, tips, and limitations to help users get the most out of this tool for their production needs.

In this session, we'll introduce GraphQL and explore how it is being used to deliver the promise of "granular" data. As you have heard before, Autodesk is investing heavily in cloud data with Autodesk Fusion (manufacturing), Autodesk Forma [architecture, engineering, and construction; building information modeling (BIM)], and Autodesk Flow (media and entertainment) industry groups. At the center is also the Data Exchange API that allows data to be shared in a specific and durable way. From authoring to access, this class will explain the details about each software system, and how to use the GraphQL API to access the data. We'll also cover the fact that data can easily be accessed across each of the information models, and via Data Exchange.

Embark on a flight above Westeros with the Rodeo FX animation department as they discuss the intricate work done on these jaw-dropping creatures for the latest season of HBO's smash hit House of the Dragon.

Join Fernando Macedo—founder and COO of SPIRIT Animation Studios and creator of KARL's Animated Franchise—for an exclusive lecture that will unveil the challenging strategies behind creating a global franchise with more than 1 billion views. Whether you're a talented artist with big dreams or a business owner, this event promises invaluable insights that can catapult your venture to extraordinary heights. Since its debut at Disney Channel, KARL has evolved into a franchise with three seasons, spin-offs such as Karl Babies (season 2) and Ketchup Jack: A Villain Story (feature), games, and e-books—reaching audiences worldwide. Macedo will share knowledge about strategic brand development on how to craft a brand that resonates on a global scale; maximizing engagement across diverse platforms; and monetization strategies that ensure sustainable revenue. Macedo is a veteran industry leader frequently present at global pitchings. He was invited to be a juror at the 51st Annual Annie Awards, and was a speaker at SIGGRAPH Bogotá.

While professional artists use high-fidelity animation techniques—pioneered and refined by Autodesk's animation products MotionBuilder, 3ds Max, and Maya—in games, film, and design production pipelines, we ask the questions: What if the user is not as skilled? What if their requirements for control are not as stringent Could we leverage new input modalities to allow untrained creators to record and edit 3D motion in just a few minutes? We'll discuss the speed and utility afforded by animating in a completely new paradigm: One that allows you to express intent with your body, fingers, face, gaze, and speech while enhancing presence, storytelling, and collaboration in real-time immersive experiences, and engaging your spatial understanding, reasoning, and memory to author 3D animations. Come and hear what our panel of experts from Meta Platforms, Workshop XR, Entertainment and Media Solutions as well as Autodesk Research have to say.

Production in the cloud continues to be a growing trend in the media and entertainment industry. Accelerated by the pandemic and ever-growing demand for content, the need for cloud-connected workflows to deliver more, faster has never been greater. As a result, studios are seeking modern solutions to improve pipeline scalability, collaboration, and data management. In this panel, representatives from Autodesk Media and Entertainment product, strategy, and sales, will join our customers to discuss how studios are investing in existing desktop and cloud products to help them achieve desired outcomes today, and how the media and entertainment industry cloud-based software Autodesk Flow will add new value to our customers' digital transformation journey by connecting workflows, data, and teams across the entire production lifecycle—from initial concept to final delivery.

This class will present a quick and easy-to-use workflow between Maya software and ZBrush. Maya is the industry-standard software for 3D animation, and ZBrush is the industry-standard software for 3D sculpting. Although both are widely used in the industry, it is not common to see beginner tutorials about the workflow and integration between both software systems. This course will try to fill this gap with plenty of examples and best practices. We will show you how to create basic meshes in Maya, how to refine the basic mesh in ZBrush using Live Boolean, how to go back and forth between both programs using the GoZ plug-in, how to export high and low-poly models back to Maya, and how to create textures in ZBrush and apply them to an Arnold shader, among other interesting topics. In the end, you will have a very good grasp of how to use Maya and ZBrush together.

In the fast-paced world of product design, there's a universal challenge to stay ahead of trends while efficiently bringing products to market. X-Rite has addressed this with innovative solutions benefiting automotive brands and industrial designers alike. The PANTORA application simplifies digital material creation, offering a standardized platform for storing and sharing complex material data to streamline design workflows. The AxF format ensures compatibility and collaboration across platforms. Join us to explore how PANTORA and AxF can transform your approach to material design and 3D visualization.

AI tech may get all the attention, but there isn't an AI solution for the critical workflows that architects need to tell the stories of their projects. Designers want visualizations that simultaneously capture a building's aesthetic complexity and the hard data points of energy efficiency, occupant movement, and traffic flow. AI isn't delivering, and Chaos is stepping up. Come see the latest tools for Revit users to conduct energy analysis, with results that can be generated and understood by everyone contributing to your Revit project. Then see how to easily assemble visualizations from across teams and creation tools into real-time explorations, with animations features that go far beyond what design tools are made to support. Learn how quickly you can bring design options to life with stunning ray-traced rendering, dynamic crowds of digital humans, and realistic vehicles traffic. Chaos will show how all of this is possible today for the casual users while meeting the demands of specialists.

The kids are all grown up! The gamer generation has entered the workforce and they are not afraid to push technology to the limits for fast, high-quality results. In this class, you will see how the Autodesk Media and Entertainment collection can take AEC storytelling, visualization and simulation to the next level. Additionally, we will explore game engine workflows to create immersive experiences that help projects get to a finished state faster. Join us!

The Autodesk 2024 Design and Make report showcases that 77% of companies report that upskilling employees is important. They also report they lack resources needed to design training programs. The Design and Make report also reflects that between 2021 and 2023 there's been a 143% increase in Autodesk's Media and Entertainment certification adoption, a 71% increase in AECO certification adoption, and a 100% increase in Autodesk's Design and Make certification adoption. Professionals and educators will learn about Autodesk's recognized certification and how earning certification helps validate your skills to employers and gives you the ability to differentiate yourself in this competitive labor force. Attendees will learn about available learning and training to upskill in Autodesk products. Additionally, they'll learn about our global distribution channels and reduced-price bulk vouchers for teams or students. Lastly, we'll discuss available state government funding for students. Twenty-five random attendees will receive a free voucher to take a professional Autodesk Certification exam.

It's 2023 and you've been wondering "WTF is USD?” You're not alone! Software never stops evolving, and it is easy to feel left behind when new tech enters the scene. Funny enough, that is exactly what USD is aiming to address. USD stands for Universal Scene Description, and it is an open-source initiative, meaning it is being built in a public facing manner, without any single company claiming ownership of its development. Rather, multiple companies share the same vision – a world where sharing production assets among programs is consistent, reliable and easy. In this class you will learn USD's origin, where its currently at in the Media & Entertainment Industry, where it is headed, and how these techniques and technologies add benefit to any industry pipeline.