In September 2009, Kerner Optical approached us with the idea of forming a Stereoscopic 3D Centre at Emily Carr. We took up the challenge, and by November 2009, during the Interactive Futures conference (on the theme of Stereo) at Emily Carr, we were ready to announce the initiative. Preliminary funding came from Western Economic Diversification in February 2010, and by May we officially launched the Centre.
The S3D Centre allows us to bring together people and resources, and to increase the level of exploration and production of stereoscopic images, videos, interactive work, and hybrid forms. We are now able to support a full S3D pipeline, from pre-production, to capture, edit, and display. Members of the S3D Centre team possess a complimentary set of skills that include stereoscopic photography, filmmaking, editing, animation, stop-motion, time-lapse, interactivity, and rigging. Given the technical complexities of the medium, it is essential that all practitioners and researchers involved in the production of S3D develop an understanding of the theory and practice of stereoscopic image-making. The activities of the Centre aim to bring together industry professionals, students, artists, and independent filmmakers to promote the art and practice of S3D. We want to support those who, through their practice, are generating a new cinematic language for S3D. Our objective is to give British Columbia’s screen-based professionals the training needed to build the province’s competitive advantage, and to ensure that creators use the third dimension to produce new ways of telling narrative and non-narrative stories.
We have started a series of meetups and master classes that feature well-known experienced practitioners in the field of stereoscopic 3D. The meetups serve as free informal gathering of the S3D community and have helped to strengthen connections between artists, students, academics, industry representatives and professionals. The master classes are more in-depth explorations of topics of interest to the community. Guest speakers and lecturers at the Centre have included Ian Herring of Parralax Productions, Dylan Reade of IMAX, and Marty Banks of the Visual Space Perception Lab at
UC Berkeley.
Our Sponsors
From its inception, the Emily Carr S3D Centre has benefited from the support of many organizations and funding bodies, including Western Economic Diversification (WED), Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC), the Graphics, Animation and New Media Network Centre of Excellence (GRAND NCE), and the NRC Industrial Research Assistance Program (IRAP). This support has enabled us to quickly build an applied research portfolio and liaise with local industry to align our objectives with their needs.
Our Priorities
Our mission is to advance the art of stereoscopic 3D through research, education and training. In addition to workshops and training events, we offer courses through Emily Carr’s Continuing Studies Program, and are integrating S3D into the regular undergraduate curriculum.