Reports from the SMPTE Technology and Task Force Committees

Bruce Devlin, Florian Scheich, Paul Gardiner, Fred Walls, Dean Bullock, Brian Long, Steve Llamb and Leigh Whitcomb

• SMPTE sets the standards that drive the professional media industry. This session allows you to hear the voices behind the documents as we talk to the people that lead SMPTE standards efforts. There are a lot of voices and they each get about 3 minutes to explain why their work is vital to the industry. Join and ask your own questions in this lively and brisk journey through the world of SMPTE technology.

Report from IDEA—The Immersive Digital Experiences Alliance

Austin Pahl, Thomas Alder 

• The past 12 months saw significant progress in the emerging world of immersive media. We saw myriad developments across all aspects of the immersive media landscape, ranging from new immersive displays announced by Looking Glass Factory, Sony, Avalon Holographics, Dimenco, and others to strides made in light field capture research. All of this brings us closer to widespread access to immersive media that will transform the way we live and work. To prepare for this future, the Immersive Digital Experiences Alliance (IDEA) recently published updated specifications, papers, and presentations during the last year, raising awareness about immersive media and how we will handle it.

An Update from the Entertainment Technology Center

Kenneth Williams

• The Entertainment Technology Center (ETC) at the University of Southern California’s (USC) School of Cinematic Arts (SCA) is a think tank and research center, funded by major studios and leading technology companies, which brings together senior executives, innovators, thought leaders, and catalysts from the media, entertainment, consumer electronics, technology, and supporting services industries along with the academic resources of USC to explore and act upon topics and issues related to the creation, archiving, distribution, and consumption of entertainment content.

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciencs (AMPAS)

Andy Maltz

• The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the world’s preeminent movie-related organization, is composed of more than 10,000 accomplished professional men and women working in cinema. The Academy’s Science and Technology Council leads the organization’s motion picture science and technology initiatives, and had a very active agenda over the last year despite the global situation. This session will highlight the Council’s work in virtual production education, the new Academy Digital Preservation Forum, advances in the Academy Color Encoding system, and anything else session attendees found interesting in this year’s Progress Issue article and what’s happened since its publication.