CGA – computer graphics & arts conference

This article was developed within the program Venture an Idea funded by the USAID.

After almost three years of online activity, the CGA Belgrade international conference for computer graphics and digital arts returns to its original format under the theme 'Remodeling the Future.' On September 23, the first day of the conference, the program will be free to access on the CGA website starting at 3 p.m. On September 24, the audience will be treated to a full-day program in three live rooms at the MTS dvorana.

The CGA Belgrade conference, a favored event in the field of creative industries that annually brings together experts from the fields of film, video games, and digital arts, will demonstrate to the audience that the future of entertainment depends on collaboration and ongoing innovation.

A large part of the program will focus on the powerful tool for creating interactive content and virtual production, Unreal Engine, in which the virtual scenography of the first, online day of the conference was created. Twelve young artists,  participants of the summer laboratory for creating virtual environments run by the Crater Training Center, worked on this project. 

The virtual CGA stage on the first day of the conference will host lecturers from Australia, Great Britain and the USA, some of whom come from the biggest video game development studios such as Epic Games, creators of the hit title Fortnite, and Playstudios that have recently acquired the license to the iconic Tetris.

The second day of the conference in MTS dvorana will be opened by a lecture by Nicky Gogan, a celebrated Irish producer of documentaries and feature films who has turned her career towards the use of innovative solutions in the development of animated films. Audiences in Belgrade will have the opportunity to hear Victor Perez and his inspiring lecture on the art, science, and technologies of light conceptualization, which he recently gave for Pixar Studios. In addition to them, French video game artist Camille Soual, as well as representatives of successful domestic studios for visual effects Crater Studio and Digital Asset Tailors will talk at the main stage of the conference.

The conference will present the most current projects in the entertainment industry, technological innovations, virtual production and visual effects on film, video game development, audience experience design, and the increasingly frequent involvement of artificial intelligence in artistic practice. 

Knowledge, professional advice, and experiences will be shared, and there will be discussions about pushing the boundaries in talent development, but also redefining the relationship between business and creativity - and all this completely free of charge, with the necessary registration of visitors on the website cgabelgrade.com.

This event has been realized for many years in partnership and with the sponsoring support of the companies 3Lateral/Epic Games, Autodesk, PMO, Mad Head Games, Playstudios Europe, Crater Studio, Side FX, Foundry, Chaos Group, and DAT, while its new partners, Elder, Atomic Visual and Ovation BBDO provide audiences with a seamless digital experience. 

The CGA Belgrade 2022 conference is supported by the Ministry of Culture and Information of the Republic of Serbia, the Embassy of the Republic of Ireland and participates in the Creative Tech Serbia supercluster initiative, supported by the Serbia Innova project implemented by the ICT Hub from Belgrade, with the support of USAID.

The CGA Belgrade conference was founded in 2017 by the Crater Training Center, the Serbian Film Association, and the VFX Serbia portal.

This article was made possible by the support of the American people through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The contents of this article are the responsibility of Nova Iskra and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government.