SANDDE
The Summer Internship semester I signed up for four internships, each different in scope, responsibility, intention and outcome. While the majority of them involved the drawing medium as the foundation of their purpose, I recognize that drawing itself was not necessarily a priority in the resulting project. The application of the skills inherited from each of these diverse internships to my art practice and research has proven to be the most successful aspect of my summer. For the purpose of this report, I have chosen to examine the Research Assistant position I held at the Intersections Digital Studio in the Stereoscopic 3D department of Emily Carr University of Art + Design. I was most out of my element in this internship, in terms of skill, knowledge and industry, however, I feel that the SANDDE project was the most influential in and related to my research interests.
Emily Carr’s Stereoscopic 3D (S3D) Centre is focused on investigating, educating and training individuals in stereoscopic 3D: the adaptation of 3D technologies into artistic practices and research. Dubbed “The World’s First Freehand Stereoscopic Animation System” (according to the IMAX Corporation and Janro Imagining Laboratories, published on the SANDDE website, http://www.sandde.com.), SANDDE is a 3D drawing and animation tool which uses a motion-tracking device (wand) to create 3D content in real-time. SANDDE was developed by the IMAX Corporation and has been further developed by Janro in the hope of creating a marketable in-home stereo 3D product.
The Emily Carr S3D Centre was designated as a Beta testing site for the SANDDE software, on behalf of Janro Imaging Laboratory, to test and refine the user interface, track bugs and report back to Janro, a project funded by NSERC, the GRAND Network Centre of Excellence, and the Consortium en innovation numérique du Québec (CINQ).
Having previously worked with one of the founders and current Board members of GRAND, Dr. Gerri Sinclair, I am familiar with the digital media and technological industry related to this area of research. While not my area of expertise, I am interested in the growing influence this particular industry has had on the arts and its direct relationship to research and funding. I am aware of the Canadian government’s ongoing interest in the possibilities and future implications of this particular industry on jobs in Canada, and GRAND’s specific purpose to building national relationships between academic institutions. While my current body of work is not technologically driven, I am taking into consideration how this particular industry will undoubtedly take on an important role in future projects and research.
The SANDDE team is comprised of project supervisor, Dr. Maria Lantin, fellow MAA student Myron Campbell, and Steven Oldridge, project programmer and PhD candidate at UBC’s electrical engineering department. Our primary goal was to learn how to navigate the software and tools, become familiar with various aspects of stereoscopic 3D technology and terminology and to test all aspects of the program’s usability in order to follow up with Janro. I was fortunate to have received one-on-one SANDDE training sessions from award-winning animator and National Film Board of Canada artisan, Munro Ferguson. Having worked with SANDDE for over a decade, Munro was an excellent teacher and resource, and could easily demonstrate the benefits and purpose of the software.
Taking into consideration my limited technological proficiency, I was at a disadvantage compared to Myron, who has previous experience in animation and stereoscopic 3D technology, and Steven, the project programmer with vast knowledge of computing technology. However, during the three months working on this project over the summer, I learned to use the program, to discuss and communicate issues with usability, and demonstrate the basic functions of the software to various visitors, including Emily Carr staff and faculty. We reported on several software inefficiencies and usability issues, as well as suggestions for options, features and user interface updates. Keeping in mind the primary objective of product marketability, we compared SANDDE to other software already on the market, the rapid pace of software development, and the advancements in stereo 3D technology.
The SANDDE team was also formed to investigate the usability aspects of SANDDE when integrated with the VICON motion capture. The intention was to incorporate Emily Carr’s motion tracking system with SANDDE to enable full body interaction, investigating the parameters of drawing in 3D and the types of devices needed to allow for additional movement. I was most interested in this aspect of the research project, as it relates to my own interests in the embodied experience of technology.
The set-up includes a web camera to track the movement of the wand, a computer installed with SANDDE software, a large screen with 3D capabilities, and the wand itself. The user must wear 3D glasses in order to properly visualize the drawing, which appears as a drawing hovering in the space of the screen. Along with the latest software updates (which we have yet to test), SANDDE has also been outfitted with a pen tool and foot pedals for menu option triggers. Other parameters for system operation include a darkened room and a specific designated working distance. As we discovered, bright lights disrupt information translated from the wand to the web camera, and the camera’s limited point of view affected the relationship of the drawn line to the movement of the wand. Steven’s role as project programmer was to adapt the SANDDE software to ‘talk’ to the VICON motion capture software, with the intended outcome of recording movement within the motion capture studio, and to produce an art work that used this particular function.
The majority of the summer was spent learning and adapting our knowledge base to the SANDDE software, and as of yet have not been able to integrate SANDDE with the VICON system. A few issues factored into the incomplete project outcome, including the MoCap studio tech going on vacation and one of the VICON motion capture cameras breaking and needing repair. It is our intention to continue with this aspect of the research project, and to create an art work that demonstrates the final adaptation of the two software products.
Despite not being able to produce a body of work at this time, the SANDDE team made a point of discussing possible projects that would effectively translate the relationship between the SANDDE drawing tool and the motion capture studio during the testing and bug-tracking phase of the research. Because we took the time to develop our working knowledge of the software, both its limitations and possibilities, the general consensus was that the final work would involve generating a three-dimensional drawing representing body movement using various motion sensitive nodes on different body extensions/attachments. The relationship of this work to my art practice and research has been acknowledged and encouraged by the rest of the SANDDE team, with the intention of creating prosthetic devices to be attached to the subject’s body. Motion tracking will be recorded in 3D, with line quality hypothetically varying based on movement, user interface options or possibly randomly generated.
The SANDDE team experimented with a variety of mark-making tools within the software, including line weight, colour, custom brushes, importing graphics, and incorporating stereo 3D photography. As a drawing tool, SANDDE is quite limited and the mark-making is extremely different in comparison to traditional drawing tools and processes.
My preliminary expectations of the software far exceeded its actual functionality and possibilities. I found this to be the most frustrating aspect of the research project and had to allow what I perceived as the deficiencies of the technology dictate the outcome of both the tests generated and the final proposed work. This was a lesson which I believe to be important to my own research of the embodied experience of technology, as well as bodily representations in technology: the limitations of the technology mirror in some ways the limitations of the body. I intend to continue this exploration with the SANDDE software, and see this particular research project through to completion. The outcome is still unknown and may fail, however I am still interested seeing it through to fruition.
As an outcome of this internship, I was able to attend SIGGRAPH, an annual conference that showcases information on computer graphics and interactive technology, meet Muron Ferguson, a key member of the National Film Board, and gain insight into the latest stereoscopic 3D tools.
As a research assistant at Emily Carr’s S3D I have had the opportunity to consider how technology and software has affected the art world, and my own interest in research and technology. I am interested in continuing to work with drawing and animation, and have been planning new work using Flash animation software. While the SANDDE software itself may or may not succeed as a marketable product, the process of determining usability has greatly helped in understanding the basics of 3D software, its uses and limitations. As the SANDDE project is ongoing, I will have the chance to further develop my knowledge of stereo 3D drawing and create a body of work that will demonstrate this knowledge. This internship has also solidified my interest in research in art.
