Conference Activities
Throughout the Day and into the Evening

MacTech Conference is not only about learning, it’s also forming relationships and building networks. MacTech is known for conference activities that not only give you an opportunity to spend time with your peers, they also you get to know new people and expand your network. As an immersive conference, we’ll have you busy from morning until night … literally. The big question is always “What are we doing this year?”

Not familiar with our evening traditions? Check out the tweets from one of our previous events when we visited Walt Disney Animation Studios, or tweets talking about multiple years.

The Tesla Experience

Tesla will be on hand at MacTech Conference 2014, and will be conducting several test drives per hour.

What’s the catch? There really isn’t one. You need to give some info and get briefed before you test drive. And, then you are off and running (well, driving). When you’re done, we’ll ask you to share your experience via the social media of your choice. More details to come — and the time slot reservation system will go online as we get closer to the event. Keep watch for event emails as slots will fill quickly!

Fine print: While there’s a large number of test drives allotted, there is a limited number of slots available. Only one test drive per person.
To drive, you must be a registered MacTech Conference 2014 attendee, 25 or older, with a (valid) U.S. or International driver’s license.
Tesla will be asking you for some personal information (e.g., contact) and ask you to sign a drive waiver.
Attendees may ride as a passenger on the test drive if they have permission of the driver.

An Evening Behind the Scenes at Walt Disney Animation Studios

On Wednesday evening, MacTech Conference attendees will be guests at Walt Disney Animation Studios. Enjoy a behind-the-scenes look at the Animation Studios and talk with Disney technologists and artists. You will see how Walt Disney Animation Studios uses advanced technology to create their animated films, including their upcoming feature, Big Hero 6.



The studio has been home to a number of technological achievements including inventing the multiplane camera, realistic animation of special effects and human characters together, and the first feature film to be shot using a 100% digital process.



Located in Burbank, California, Walt Disney Animation Studios brings imagination to life through the art of storytelling, the magic of animation and the science of cutting edge technology.

Mini-Tours

Want to see even more? There will be a limited number of “mini-tours” slots available. Each of the mini-tours is 10-15 minutes long, and features small-group access to a Disney Animation engineer, artist or developer. You’ll learn a few things about how Disney Animation does things, and have a chance to “talk shop” with Disney folk and other like-minded participants! Sign up opportunities will come closer to the event — so keep an eye open for emails from MacTech!



Data Center

Visit Disney Animation’s data center, home to a portion of the render farm to create films like Frozen and Big Hero 6, petabytes of online storage, 10Gig networking gear and some robots not quite as interesting as Baymax (our tape robots!) Talk to a Systems Engineer about our challenges and solutions!



Media Engineering

Enjoy a mini-tour of a digital review room or our Animation Studio Theater, and talk to a Media Engineer about all things audio-visual. Projectors? Switchers? Encoders? Bring your questions!



AVID Editorial Bay

Have a peek at one of the editorial bays used to edit our films, and talk with an editor about Disney Animation’s iterative editorial workflow.



Camera Capture Suite

Take a look at our Camera Capture Suite, where we use some of the same technologies used for “motion capture” in a unique way: to allow our filmmakers to use human-controlled camera movements to make our computer-generated films. Meet with a Layout Artist and see a demo of this unique tool!

Thursday too! Gaming Night

And, it’s not just our Wednesday night event … Thursday night is our “Gaming Night”, MacTech style. You’ll get an opportunity to have fun with your fellow tech as have a night full of games and activities.