Advanced Visualization Lab
The Advanced Visualization Lab (AVL) is a team at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The AVL specializes in creating cinematic scientific visualizations of large, three-dimensional, time-evolving data. The AVL has contributed to a number of scientific documentaries including the IMAX films "A Beautiful Planet".{{cite web | url=http://www.smilepolitely.com/splog/ncsa_enabled_imax_movie_a_beautiful_planet_premiering_at_savoy_16_may_1st/ | title=NCSA-enabled IMAX movie a Beautiful Planet premiering at Savoy 16 May 1st : SPlog : Smile Politely | date=28 April 2016 }} and "Hubble 3D",{{Cite web|url=https://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2011-01/advanced-visualization-lab/|title = How the World's Most Powerful Visualization Lab Turns Hard Data into Scientific Cinema|date = 18 March 2019}} a number of fulldome films,{{Cite web|url=https://www.fddb.org/organizations/advanced-visualization-lab-at-the-national-center-for-supercomputing-applications|title = Advanced Visualization Lab at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications – Fulldome Industry Organization}} and television documentaries.
History
Cinematic visualization work at the NCSA started in 1994 under University of Illinois Art + Design Professor Donna Cox, and was formalized under the "Advanced Visualization Lab" name in 2006. Cox coined the term "Renaissance Team"1988. "Renaissance Teams and Scientific Visualization: A Convergence of Art and Science". In: Collaboration in Computer Graphics Education, SIGGRAPH 88 Educator's Workshop Proceedings, D. Cox, August 1–5, 1988, p. 81 - 104; to describe the combination of artists, technologists, and scientists that it takes to create cinematic scientific visualizations. Unlike many visualization teams who use visualization software to create their imagery, the AVL relies primarily on visual effects tools and techniques to achieve a cinematic look{{Cite web|url=https://www.sidefx.com/community/advanced-visualization-lab-avl-houdini-connect/|title = Advanced Visualization Lab (AVL) | SideFX}}
As of 2020, the core AVL team members are Donna Cox (director), Robert Patterson (designer), Stuart Levy (senior programmer), Kalina Borkiewicz (senior programmer), AJ Christensen (programmer/designer), and Jeff Carpenter (multimedia specialist).{{Cite web|url=https://www.hpcwire.com/off-the-wire/ncsas-donna-j-cox-honored-with-rare-ips-technology-innovation-award/|title=NCSA's Donna J. Cox Honored with Rare IPS Technology Innovation Award}}
References
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=Further reading=
- https://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=135550
- Rubin, J. (2015, March). Visualizing the Data. Planetarian, 44(1), 12-16. Retrieved September 10, 2020, from https://cdn.ymaws.com/www.ips-planetarium.org/resource/resmgr/planetarian/201503planetarian.pdf
- https://www.hpcwire.com/off-the-wire/ncsa-visualization-team-co-produces-birth-of-planet-earth/
- https://www.news-gazette.com/news/1-5-million-grant-to-ncsa-to-put-big-data-on-big-screen/article_eae796d9-a5a6-541d-b28b-04f47347cb17.html