Siggraph 2003: AMD64 Finally Makes Sense

Only a true, diehard, dyed-in-the-wool graphics enthusiast can truly appreciate the wonder of Siggraph. For a while there, this gathering of the enlightened and superficial of the graphics industry was in danger of turning into just another trade show with a decent conference, or at best, a Game Developer Conference for animators.

The main exhibit hall was not as big as in recent years, but the atmosphere was good, and people come for the conference and the chance to network with peers as much as anything else.

However, now that the hype and over-indulgence of the GPU market has died down a little, it is shrinking back into the quirky, semi-academic graphics fest veterans know and love.

Check out our past Siggraph reports for a flavor of what once was:

This year, there weren't many surprises or disco-lit booths, or much in the way of Comdex-like mania. This year, some things shone bright, but uninhibited by the glare of publicity.

No Siggraph would be complete without the gratuitous shot of writhing bodies in a motion capture ring. As for technological advances? Now, you can have two figures Salsa dance and still capture the data adequately for post-production. Hmmm.

Unfortunately, one bauble of attraction was the wealth of possibilities opening up before the Opteron.