CGW-Computer Graphics World

This year’s edition arrives as Saudi Arabia marks 2026 as the Year of Artificial Intelligence, an initiative backed by His Royal Highness Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Prime Minister and Chairman of the Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority. DeepFest is the principal platform through which that national agenda meets the global AI ecosystem.

ASIFA-Hollywood’s Board of Directors has recommended two new members to its 16-member Advisory Board: Hannah Minghella and Alex Woo. In 2025, ASIFA-Hollywood created an Advisory Board that was hand selected by ASIFA’s board of directors, and meets twice a year to exchange ideas, review progress and help shape ASIFA-Hollywood's strategic goals.

"As broadcasters, live event producers, and corporate media entities face mounting pressure to reduce production friction, this partnership combines Emergent’s cutting-edge AI software pipeline with ROCKET’s deep technical engineering and system integration expertise," said Grig Mindling, CEO and Co-Founder of Emergent.

Every summer, the Academy Software Foundation (ASWF) hosts Open Source Days to bring together technical leaders, software engineers, developers, pipeline supervisors, technical directors and anyone else who touches open source software, for two days of presentations, collaboration and networking. This year’s Open Source Days takes place July 19-20, 2026 at the J.W. Marriott L.A. Live hotel. They recently shared the full lineup and schedule.

SIGGRAPH 2026, the world's premier conference on computer graphics and interactive techniques, is once again spotlighting the future of visual storytelling through two of its most anticipated programs: the Computer Animation Festival and Production Sessions. Taking place from 19–23 July 2026 at the Los Angeles Convention Center, this year's conference once again puts the spotlight on a global slate of animated storytelling and the studios shaping today's most ambitious productions.

[Editor's Note: This interview contains story spoilers.] The Boroughs, grieving widower Sam Cooper (Alfred Molina) reluctantly moves into an idyllic retirement community that is not the peaceful desert oasis it appears to be. He soon realizes that something sinister is lurking right beneath the surface, threatening to cut all of the residents’ precious “golden years” short.

Created by showrunner Oren Uziel, the series seamlessly merges stylized comic book storytelling with classic film noir aesthetics, transporting the web-slinging mythos of Spider-Man into the gritty realm of hard-boiled detective narratives.

Gold Rising is part of Academy Gold, a global talent development initiative that provides creative individuals with access and resources toward achieving their career pathways in filmmaking. Academy Gold also includes career-launch programs such as the Student Academy Awards and career-growth programs such as the Academy Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting and the Gold Fellowship for Women.

Gaussian Splats The technology utilises Gaussian Splats, a hot topic that has recently been making waves mainly in the capture of environments. Gaussian Splats recreate objects and people using millions of tiny volumetric points that blend together into incredibly photoreal assets instead of building traditional CG characters from scratch. For digital characters Splats preserve an exact performance, capturing amazing detail including the nuanced motion of hair and cloth.

4Dviews will demonstrate the new Unity plug-in and the full HOLOSYS pipeline in Booth #935 at the Long Beach Convention Center. The Unity plug-in is available for download by contacting 4Dviews at contact4dv@4dviews.com. 4Dviews will unveil its Unreal Engine plug-in in the coming months.