Mark
Elendt
and
Jeff
Lait
are
two
Academy
Award
winning
developers
at
SideFX
who
have
a
long
history
in
the
industry.
They
will
be
discussing
the
unique
challenges
involved
in
developing
3D
tools
for
artists
and
what
it’s
like
to
be
a
software
developer
in
this
very
exciting
industry.
At
SideFX
they
develop
Houdini
—
a
3D
graphics
software
that’s
used
world-wide
for
animation
and
visual
effects.
Houdini
has
been
used
by
large
studios
like
Disney
to
create
complicated
shots
for
movies,
smaller
studios
like
Rodeo
FX
to
create
visual
effects
for
Game
Of
Thrones.
Houdini
has
also
been
used
by
companies
to
create
games
like
Far
Cry
5
and
Ghost
Recon
Wildlands.
Because
of
its
versatility
and
procedural
techniques,
Houdini
has
a
wide
range
of
applications
from
TV
motion
graphics
to
scientific
visualization.
Biographies
Mark
Elendt
is
a
Senior
Mathematician
at
SideFX,
where
he
has
spent
over
25
years
developing
high-end
computer
graphics
software.
He
has
received
four
Scientific
and
Technical
Academy
awards,
including
an
Academy
award
of
Merit
for
his
work
developing
procedural
modeling
and
animation
techniques
in
Houdini.
Jeff
Lait
is
also
a
Senior
Mathematician
at
SideFX.
In
2018
Jeff
received
a
Scientific
and
Technical
Academy
Award
for
his
contributions
to
the
dynamics
framework
and
management
tools
in
Houdini.
The
dynamics
engine
in
Houdini
is
an
industry
leading
tool
used
for
creating
natural
phenomena,
destruction
and
other
digital
effects.