Behind the scenes of 3D contents

Along with the development of science and technology, there have been made vast improvement in the way we access multimedia. Today, it is not rare to see movies come out in 3D, and there are even TVs made specifically for 3D entertainment. However, nobody seems to understand and appreciate the process of making these 3D contents and the groups of people that put in strenuous effort in order to provide us with what we take for granted.

At the recent field trip to the National Center for Supercomputing Applications building, the Journalism 199 class watched 3D contents produced by the power of supercomputers. Although we did not eye-witness the process of making the videos, the guide demonstrate the extent to which scientists and engineers work hard in order to make these videos. It might take up to several months just to make a 10-minute video. The students were given 3D glasses and watched simulations. The video on traveling space that was a part of an I-MAX movie was also shown. Even though the video lasted only about 10 minutes, the guide told the students that it took many months in order to complete just that small part of the movie.

These videos that contain simulations of natural phenomena all have copyrights and therefore cannot be shown freely to the public. However, these contents can be viewed when a field trip or a showcase is scheduled. People do not understand that there are a countless number of people and many days, months, or sometimes even years of effort that is put into making 3D contents.

I believe that if there were regulations that allow educational videos accessible to the public at will or at least make viewing these videos more convenient, people would be more aware of who created the contents, where they were made, and how these contents were able to make it to the viewers eventually.