The Premier Conference & Exhibition on Computer Graphics & Interactive Techniques. At SIGGRAPH 2025, you’ll experience five days of breakthroughs, techniques, networking opportunities, and cutting-edge ideas to inspire another year of research, development, creativity, and production.
Meet the Speakers
Leon Sooi | Senior Software Developer
Leon Sooi is a former storyboard artist who ended up as a software developer at Framestore. During his journey from artist to programmer, he developed a diverse range of expertise in modeling, rigging, animation, groom and cfx. Currently, he contributes to Framestore’s software for rigging deformers, groom and hair simulation.
Kevin Wheatley | Head of Imaging
Kevin Wheatley is a veteran leader in visual effects technology, currently serving as Head of Imaging at Framestore, where he directs the company's colour science and technical review infrastructure. A major contributor to global industry standards, Kevin serves as Co-chair of the ACES 2.0 Output Transforms project and represents Framestore on the OpenColorIO Technical Steering Committee. His influential career includes architecting groundbreaking calibration technology and imaging workflows for franchises like Harry Potter during a 16-year tenure at Cinesite, and his early, foundational work as a founding member of the Sohonet task force.
François Lambert | VFX Supervisor
François entered the industry as a PA for a commercial production company in Paris. Here he cut his teeth on flame compositing, and has not looked back since. Making the move to Montreal in 2009, François applied his visionary outlook and astute eye for image composition as client-side VFX Supervisor on sci-fi film Upside Down.
He was VFX Supervisor on Denis Villeneuve’s Oscar-nominated Dune and the long-awaited adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s classic graphic novel, The Sandman, before turning the wold pink for Greta Gerwig’s box office smash, Barbie.
Highly Accurate GPU-Accelerated Animation Rigs for Toothless
10:06 - 10:28am PDT 10th August | West Building, Rooms 301-305
Leveraging the GPU in rigging is challenging due to the requirement of proprietary deformers to achieve photorealistic creature work. We present our strategy to accomplish both, high-performance and high-quality deformations, giving animators an interactive experience with high visual fidelity in a streamlined asset pipeline, using How To Train Your Dragon's Toothless as a recent example.
Take Flight with Framestore: How to Make Your Dragon
12:00pm - 12:45pm PDT 13th August | West Building, Room 219
Take flight with Framestore for a behind-the-scenes look at how they translated Toothless, and the beloved animated movie world of Berk, into the live-action spectacle How to Train Your Dragon.
`Working hand-in-hand with director Dean DeBlois and production VFX Supervisor Christian Mänz, Framestore tackled everything from early visual development to complex flight choreography, imbuing the Night Fury, and supporting Dragons with the added physicality, emotion, and nuanced interaction with the Viking cast, that you would expect in the real world.
In this session, VFX Supervisor François Lambert will explore the creative and technical journey behind the work: from the challenges of shaping Toothless’ form and personality, to the practical sides of production, including the design of SFX gimbal rigs that connected the actors believably with their animated steeds. He’ll also unpack how all of this work came together in final shots, that feel as emotional, as they are epic.
Whether you’re a fan of the films or simply curious about the craft, discover what it takes to make a Dragon, and its rider, truly fly.
Birds of a Feather: ACES Technical and Projects Update
4:00 - 5:00pm PDT 11th August | Pinnacle Ballroom 1, Marriott Pinnacle Downtown
Everyone in the ACES community—users, contributors, implementers, and anyone interested in learning more—is invited to take part in this informal, open discussion. We'll cover key topics including the features of ACES 2.0, its current implementation status across both commercial and open-source tools, and its continued evolution.
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