Millimeter Senior Editor Michael Goldman sat down with Pixar’s Brad Bird, director of Ratatouille, to discuss that film and the challenges of making and executing color palettes for animated films in general. To listen to their conversation, click here .

Read the accompanying story on digitalcontentproducer.com.

Artwork that illuminates the role the digital media plays in shaping, extending, and reflecting world views and cosmologies will be showcased throughout the SIGGRAPH 2007 Art Gallery: Global Eyes. Global Eyes will take place during the 34th International Conference and Exhibition on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques held 5-9 August 2007 at the San Diego Convention Center in San Diego, California, USA.

Global Eyes will explore ecological, social, and political issues in imaginative and innovative ways through a variety of submitted and curated works. This year there were more than 660 submissions from 30 countries that were evaluated by a prestigious international jury. The main categories presented during Global Eyes include animation, artist books, panel discussions, papers, digital performances, art installations, as well as monitor and wall-based works. These works aim to foster respect, tolerance, and empathy among people and nations.

“The SIGGRAPH Art Gallery is known for consistently presenting the work of the world’s most talented digital artists,” stated Vibeke Sorensen, SIGGRAPH 2007 Art Gallery Chair from the University at Buffalo. “Global Eyes is an exciting forum for showcasing alternative ways to think about nature and art, and how the two interact.”

For a video preview for the 2007 Art Gallery: Global Eyes, click here.

The SIGGRAPH 2007 Emerging Technologies exhibition features a broad range of installations from research labs, universities, independents, and industry giants that explore the dynamics between humans and digital systems. Of 75 submissions, 23 installations were selected to be showcased at SIGGRAPH 2007. Submissions came from six different countries including France, Hungary, Japan, Korea, and Sweden.

“The SIGGRAPH 2007 Emerging Technologies program provides a unique look into the future capabilities of computer animation technologies in very practical, everyday environments,” says John Sibert, Emerging Technologies Co-Chair from The George Washington University. “This year’s selection of technologies explores how advance computer technology significantly impacts human interaction.”

For a video preview of this year’s Emerging Technologies, click here.

Welcome to the third annual Siggraph blog from the editors of Digital Content Producer and Millimeter. We’re on our way to San Diego next week to cover the annual tradeshow, which serves the computer graphics and 3D animation industries and also functions as a gathering of the tribes for a diverse collection of high-tech artists.

In the blog we’ll be detailing our participation in Siggraph on many different levels–from exhibitions and events to all the buzz on the show floor. Aside from this we’ll check in with industry players, hit the parties, and introduce you to a group of student bloggers from the Art Institutes, experiencing Siggraph for the first time.

Check back often, as we’ll be updating multiple times a day. Have a great Siggraph if you’re attending, and if not, this is your source for realtime coverage of the show.