Seminar • Computer Graphics — Physically based Character Simulation and Articulation for Games and Film

Wednesday, February 26, 2020 3:00 pm - 3:00 pm EST (GMT -05:00)

James Jacobs, Co-founder and CEO
Ziva Dynamics

Physics-based character animation uses computational resources in lieu of exhaustive artist effort to produce physically realistic images and animations. Machine Learning and GPU compute has now made it feasible to employ these techniques in real-time use cases. This talk will give an overview of the techniques that we are employing at Ziva Dynamics to bring realistic character creation to artists everywhere.


Bio: James Jacobs is the co-Founder and CEO of Ziva Dynamics. Prior to starting Ziva, James spent more than 20 years working in VFX and Animation, were he was awarded with a 2013 Science and Engineering Academy Award for Weta Digital’s Tissue System — Weta’s in-house elastic solid creature simulator.

Other career highlights include a Daytime Emmy and a VES nomination. James has received critical acclaim for his professional contributions for films including AvatarAvengers: Age of UltronThe Hobbit: An Unexpected JourneyPrometheus, and Peter Jackson’s King Kong.