In 2008-2009, Visual Arts Associate Professor, Eric Dyer, collaborated with the IRC on an animation project that produces rapid-prototyped (3D printed) Cinetropes from 3D animated models. These real sculptures are then digitally filmed or exhibited as installations using high-speed video cameras. Bringing this process into 3D allowed for more control and effects. Using IRC staff and involving Visual Arts interns in the research, Professor Dyer and the IRC produced 13 Zoetropes for the final film, Bellows. The completed film has been showcased at premiere international venues and received numerous awards.
Additionally, IRC Systems Administrator, Steve Brown, designed and built a pair of shutter glasses that allow the viewer to see the motion of the animation live in a gallery type of space. The Cinetropes have also been exhibited internationally with museums duplicating the IRC-designed glasses.
The Zoetropes and animation have been exhibited at:
- Too Art 4 TV, The Big Screen Project, Chelsea, NY, New York
- Byron Bay International Film Festival, Byron Bay, Australia
- 7th International Berlin International Director’s Lounge, Berlin, Germany
- Slamdance Film Festival, Park City, UT
- Rythmetic Festival of Experimental Animated Film, Bègles, France
- Rosebud Film and Video Festival, Washington, DC
- Bradford Animation Festival, National Media Museum, Bradford, UK
- Chicago International Film Festival, Chicago, IL
- Pop: Montreal International Music Festival, Montreal, Canada
- Sidewalk Moving Pictures Festival, Birmingham, AL
- Animazing Spotlight Festival and Conference, Los Angeles, CA
- London International Animation Festival, London, UK
- The Public, arts center and gallery, West Bromwich, UK
- ANIMATOR International Animation Festival,Poznan, Poland
- Avesta Art, Kultur Avesta (festival), Avesta, Sweden
- Ocus Pocus exhibition, Norrköpings Visualization Center, Norrköping, Sweden
Researcher and Creators
| Artist & Researcher: | Professor Eric Dyer, Visual Arts |
| Technical Director & Animator: | Eric Smallwood |
| Graduate Research Assistant: | Joanna Lit |
| Rapid Prototyping: | Direct Dimensions, Owings Mills |
| This IRC interdisciplinary collaboration is being supported in part by funds from the Robert W. Deutsch Foundation. | |