The Digital Media Garage, housing high-tech equipment for UNM’s Arts Technology Center, ARTS Lab and High Performance Computing, will hold grand opening ceremonies for the public Wednesday, Dec. 7, from 1 to 5 p.m. at 1601 Central Blvd. NE.
The garage will provide an interdepartmental space—a neutral zone where people from all walks of campus can access technological resources, pool their diverse talents and explore the intersections between art, science, technology and business.
From 1 – 3:30 p.m. in the Student Union Building, hear from a panel of national speakers prominent in the arts technology field – Donna Cox, National Center for Supercomputer Applications and School of Art and Design, University of Indiana – Urbana Champlain; Cleve Moler, chief scientist of Mathworks and former chair of computer science at UNM; Dave Turek, head of Deep Computing at IBM; and Pixar animator and UNM alumnus Mark Henne.
Tours and demonstrations at the Digital Media Garage will take place from 3:30 – 5 p.m. Garage facilities include an experimental dome, visualization/perception lab and experimental “black box” with a full-corner green screen, a motion-capture system and an advanced lighting system.
In producing past ARTS Lab dome projects, such as the award-winning “Gronk’s BrainFlame,” animators first viewed their work in a dome setting side by side with an audience. The experimental dome enables animators to view work in progress before it’s widely released.
While green screens are relatively common, a full-corner green screen is an unusual asset. It allows for greater range of motion and flexibility in how an image is filmed. A number of popular, contemporary movies have been filmed using motion-capture, including “Polar Express,” “Sin City” and “Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow.”
UNM staff, faculty and students will be able to submit proposals to use the space for specific projects. The space will also be available for classes. For example, Hue Walker Bumgarner-Kirby, UNM Arts Technology Center multimedia development specialist, will teach a dome animation course this spring. A second spring course offering allows students to use the facilities to work on gaming simulation projects.
Contact: Laurie Mellas, (505) 277-5915; e-mail: lmellas@unm.edu