The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences has unveiled 20 scientific and technical achievements for further consideration for the Academy Awards.
AMPAS’ Scientific and Technical Awards Committee unveiled the list on Monday, noting that the list is made public to allow individuals and companies with similar devices or claims of prior art the opportunity to submit achievements for review. It also said that the 20 technologies were selected from 11 investigations.
The deadline to submit additional entries is Sept. 1. After investigations are conducted in each of the technology categories, the committee will meet in early December to vote on recommendations to the Academy’s board of governors, which will make the final awards decisions.
The 2015 Scientific and Technical Awards will be presented on Feb. 13, two weeks before the Oscar ceremonies.
The committee selected the following technologies for further consideration:
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— A remote-controlled lens attachment that enables highly adjustable in-camera distortion effects. Squishy Lens (Clairmont Camera)
— A remote-controlled lens attachment that allows viewable, easily manipulated, real-time image movement without displacing the camera. Image Shaker (Clairmont Camera)
— Portable, inflatable panels for on-location motion picture production. Inflatable Airwall (Aircover Inflatables)
— Displays that provide P3 color space for image review in motion picture workflows. Dolby Laboratories model PRM-4200 Professional Reference Color Monitor (Dolby Laboratories)
— Tools that are used for the creation and quality control of DCI compliant digital cinema packages for the motion picture industry. EasyDCP Software Suite (Fraunhofer IIS)
— Rig-based solvers for tracking and animating deforming objects from image sequences. Geometry Tracker (ILM) and FACETS – Directable Facial Motion Capture (Weta Digital)
— Integrated computer solutions for collaborative, iterative review of cinema resolution shots and sequences within the visual effects and animation studio environment. RV Media Player (Tweak Software), Clip – A Comprehensive Playback, Editing and Review Suite (Double Negative), DreamWorks Animation Media Review Ecosystem (DreamWorks Animation), FrameCycler (IRIDAS), Global DDR (Rhythm & Hues), HiDef – Media Review System (Weta Digital), Itview Collaborative Review System (Sony Pictures Imageworks), WDAS Collaborative Enhanceable Image Playback and Review Systems (Walt Disney Animation Studios)
— Large-scale, massively parallel, distributed, multi-physics simulation systems. Odin: A massively parallel simulation environment (Weta Digital)
— Image compression coding and parameters that adhere to the specifications for the theatrical release of motion pictures. JPEG 2000 Digital Cinema and IMF Profiles (Fraunhofer IIS)
— 3D texture paint systems capable of dealing with large texture sets for production assets. MARI (the Foundry)
— Rule-based frameworks for the art-directable creation of computer-generated structures and urban environments. CityEngine (Esri R&D Center Zurich)
