We are honored to participate in the Annenberg Space for Photography Digital Darkroom exhibition, running from Dec 17 to May 28 2012. We will be lecturing on the evening of Jan 12 in the IRIS Nights lecture series, giving a talk entitled “Post Digital: Expanding the Boundaries of Photography”. (...)
Read the rest of Annenberg Space for Photography Lecture (68 words)

©xRez Studio, 2011. | Permalink | |
Post tags:

xRez Studio is partnering with GlacierWorks, a non-profit organization that uses art, science, and adventure to raise public awareness about the consequences of climate change in the Greater Himalaya. By comparing modern high-resolution gigapixel imagery with archival photographs taken over the past century, GlacierWorks seek to highlight glacial loss and the potential for a greatly diminished water supply throughout Asia.(...)
Read the rest of GlacierWorks- Climate Change in Gigapixel (281 words)

©xRez Studio, 2011. | Permalink | |
Post tags: Aerial, Concordia Glacier, David Breashears, Everest, George Mallory, Gigapixel, Gigatexel, GlacierWorks, K2, Kala Pattar, Khumbu Icefall, Photogrammetry, Pumori Camp Gigapixel, Vittorio Sella

xRez Studio’s Eric Hanson and the Yosemite Extreme Imaging Project were featured in August 2011 edition of Popular Science in an article entitled, “The 25 Coolest College Labs in the Country“:(...)
Read the rest of Popular Science USC Article (219 words)

©xRez Studio, 2011. | Permalink | |
Post tags: Popular Science, Science Visualization

We were recently approached by Bay Area design firm Elixir for usage of a series of sections of our Yosemite Extreme Imaging project, toward a new web design for noted outdoor clothing manufacturer Prana. (...)
Read the rest of Prana Web Graphic (35 words)

©xRez Studio, 2011. | Permalink | |
Post tags: Gigapixel Advertising, Prana

With time to burn while camping on recent panoramic photo workshops held on Anacapa Island and Red Rock Canyon led by xRez’s Greg Downing for the Gnomon School of Visual Effects, we enjoyed some decent results using new led light clusters and purple and green lasers. (...)
Read the rest of LightPaint Experiments (21 words)

©xRez Studio, 2011. | Permalink | |
Post tags: light painting

xRez recently returned from leading a photo workshop in Santa Fe and Albuquerque for the IAIA, the Institute of American Indian Arts, and the UNM Arts Lab, teaching our techniques for integrating panoramic images into fulldome projection. (...)
Read the rest of New Mexico Travels (139 words)

©xRez Studio, 2011. | Permalink | |
Post tags: Cultural Heritage, Fulldome, Institute of American Indian Arts, Kivas, Pecos National Historic Park, Pueblo ruins, Sunspot Solar Observatory, Time-lapse, UNM Arts Lab, White Sands New Mexico

In June of 2010 xRez Studio set out to document one of the oldest rock art panels in North America, known as Shaman’s Panel. Located in a remote side drainage of the Grand Canyon and under the jurisdiction and protection of the NPS, it is a difficult site to reach, which has likely contributed to it’s somewhat limited vandalism. (...)
Read the rest of Shaman’s Panel Rock Art Documentation (394 words)

©xRez Studio, 2011. | Permalink | |
Post tags: Gigatexel, great gallery, Horseshoe Canyon, native american rock art, shaman's panel, sky rock

xRez Studio has completed an animated sequence illustrating the geological forces leading to the creation and carving of the Grand Canyon for use in the new visitor center film “Grand Canyon: A Journey of Wonder”, produced by Aperture Films. (...)
Read the rest of Geologic Formation of the Grand Canyon (97 words)

©xRez Studio, 2011. | Permalink | |
Post tags: Geologic Formation, Grand Canyon, Grand Canyon Geology

We are pleased to announce we are showing select gigapixel prints at the G2 Gallery in Venice CA as the current Nature LA exhibit, running from April 19, 2011 through June 19. We hosted a reception on Friday May 6, and a talk on our work on Friday May 13 entitled “Technology in Service of Conservation”.(...)
Read the rest of G2 Gallery Exhibition- Nature LA: xRez Studio (370 words)

©xRez Studio, 2011. | Permalink | |
Post tags: G2 Gallery, Gigapixel, Gigapixel Printing

Director Mike Patterson and Eric Hanson of xRez Studio acted as co-organizer of a visual music event at the USC School of Cinematic Arts complex in April of 2011. Several student animation projects were projected onto the building in various forms, from realtime stereoscopic interventions to aligned architectural projections. (...)
Read the rest of Visions and Voices Event- Rhythms+Visions: Expanded+Live (221 words)

©xRez Studio, 2011. | Permalink | |
Post tags: Building Projection, D-Fuse, USC School of Cinematic Arts, Vision + Voices, Visual Music

xRez Studio was given a unique opportunity to spherically shoot and document the largest engineering project in the US, the National Ignition Facility at Lawrence Livermore Labs in Northern California. (...)
Read the rest of NIF Laser Fusion in Fulldome (164 words)

©xRez Studio, 2011. | Permalink | |
Post tags: fusion energy, laser fusion, National Ignition Facility, NIF, VR panorama

We are pleased to announce a joint agreement with SpaceCam Systems, the leader in high-end aerial cinematography. We are currently developing some very exciting technology together and hope to offer innovative solutions for new means of aerial capture in the very near future.(...)
Read the rest of SpaceCam Systems/ xRez Studio Joint Agreement (247 words)

©xRez Studio, 2011. | Permalink | |
Post tags: Aerial Cinematography, Aerial Gigapixel, Helicopter Gigapixel, Photogrammetry, Spacecam, xRez Studio

xRez Studio and BlackboxFX collaborator Ethan Summers have just completed a number of visual effects shots for a film produced by Aperture Films depicting the British war of 1812 at Fort McHenry on the eastern seaboard, where the Star-Spangled Banner was written by Francis Scott Key in reaction to the bombardment of the fort.(...)
Read the rest of Recreating the British War at Fort McHenry (103 words)

©xRez Studio, 2011. | Permalink | |
Post tags: Fort McHenry, Fort McHenry Film, Fort McHenry Visitor Center Film, Visual Effects

We at xRez have always had a keen interest in the latest implentations of NUI’s (Natural User Interfaces). Here are a few video examples of xRez imagery being explored with a Gesture Based Interface with the Kinect as part of “Open Exhibits” and a large Multitouch screen at CES. (...)
Read the rest of Multi-Touch & Kinect to Navigate Gigapixel Images (112 words)

©xRez Studio, 2011. | Permalink | |
Post tags: Exhibit, Gesture Based Interface, Gigapixel, Ideum, Kinect, Multi-Touch, Musuem, NUI, Open Exhibits, ZUI

The presentation xRez Studio made for the “Fine International Conference on Gigapixel Imaging for Science” 2010 at Carnegie Mellon is now on-line.(...)
Read the rest of FINE 2010 Presentation (166 words)

©xRez Studio, 2011. | Permalink | |
Post tags: Carnegie Mellon, Computational Photography, Digital Set, Fine International Confereence on Gigapixel Imaging for Science, Gigapan, Gigapixel, HDRI, Panoramic Photography, Photogrammetry, Science

While doing work on the National Geographic special “Sunken Treasures of the Nile” a significant archaeological find was made. Philippe Martinez discovered what we have been calling “Stela M” that contains the first description ever found of how the 1000 ton obelisks were moved. Philippe needed gigapixel detail documentation of the surface so that he could have a good record of the surface for later study. Unfortunately the Stela had fallen over from it’s original position and was facing the ground making a “head-on” photo impossible.(...)
Read the rest of Photogrammetric Gigapixel Images (249 words)

©xRez Studio, 2010. | Permalink | |
Post tags: Cultural Heritage, Digital Set, Egypt, Gigapixel Texture, Gigatexel, Laser Scan, LIDAR, Lost Treasures of the Nile, National Geographic, Photogrammetric Gigapixel, Photogrammetry, Photosynth, Stela M

While working on the National Geographic Special “Sunken Treasures of the Nile” we were very interested in how we could represent the terrain of the surrounding area. Unfortunately there were no DEM (Digital Elevation Models) of this remote area and we were unable to charter an aircraft due to the designation of military air-space. The only method we had available to us for re-creating this kind of terrain was through the use of Kite Aerial Photography and Photogrammetry. We were able to capture 57 million 3D points of the terrain from this simple aerial platform and a DSLR.(...)
Read the rest of Photogrammetry from Kite Aerial Photography (KAP) (443 words)

©xRez Studio, 2010. | Permalink | |
Post tags: 3D, Cultural Heritage, DEM, Digital Elevation Model, Digital Set, DSLR, KAP, Kite Aerial Photography, National Geographic, Photogrammetry, Point Cloud, s3d, stereo reconstruction, Stereoscopic, Sunken Treasures of the Nile

xRez’s Eric Hanson was invited to give a workshop on Digital Set and Visual Effects Techniques at Hunan University in Changsha, China. Hunan University is one of the oldest universities in the world, established in 976 AD. At the conclusion of the workshop the university generously offered Eric an honorary professorship. In over a thousand years of operation Eric was the first Westerner granted this honor at Hunan University.(...)
Read the rest of Worlds Oldest University (湖南大学) & Avatar Hallelujah Mountain (阿凡达-哈利路亚山) (171 words)

©xRez Studio, 2010. | Permalink | |
Post tags: Avatar, Avatar Hallelujah Mountain, Hunan University, UNESCO, Visual Effects, 湖南大学, 阿凡达-哈利路亚山

In November of 2008 xRez Studio was asked to join Insight Digital on an expedition to Egypt to help create a documentary for the French Channel 3 Television show “Le secret des Pharaons bâtisseurs” on “Des Racines & Des Ailes” directed by Frédéric Wilner. Now there is an American version of this film on the National Geographic Channel called “Sunken Treasures of the Nile” The show will be airing August 3rd 2010 at 1PM, and November 8th 2010 at 4pm.(...)
Read the rest of Sunken Treasures of the Nile (650 words)

©xRez Studio, 2010. | Permalink | |
Post tags: Des Racines & Des Ailes, Egypt, Microsoft, National Geographic, National Geographic Channel, Photogrammetry, Photosynth, Polynomial Texture Mapping

xRez Studio will be presenting innovations in “DIY Time-Lapse Motion-Control Systems” in “The Studio” at Siggraph July 26th from 12:30 to 1pm in room 150. We will be joined by Chris Church from OpenMoco and Dynamic Perception LLC. He will be showing some of the latest hardware for the DIY Motion Control photography audience.
(...)
Read the rest of Siggraph 2010 Presentation: DIY Time-Lapse Motion-Control Systems (31 words)

©xRez Studio, 2010. | Permalink | |
Post tags: DIY, Motion-Control, OpenMoco, Siggraph, Time-lapse

This is an interactive 33k by 16.5k pixel (550 megapixel), with 28 stops of exposure. The photo is of the interior of the Bradbury Building in Downtown Los Angeles. One of this building’s claims to fame is that the interior was used in the classic science fiction film “Blade Runner“.

(...)
Read the rest of Bradbury Building High Resolution HDRI (247 words)

©xRez Studio, 2010. | Permalink | |
Post tags: Bradbury Building, HD View, HDRI, High Resolution, Panorama

Our friends at CGchannel.com have just posted an interview video with us illustrating some recent work, namely the Yosemite Extreme Panoramic Imaging Project, Native American rock art PTM capture, and spherical animation done for the Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historic Park. Thanks guys!

©xRez Studio, 2010. | Permalink | |
Post tags: CG Channel

The new Gigapan Epic Pro (the gigapan for your DSLR) is out! We hadn’t seen any reviews yet and we have gotten so many questions about it after twittering that we had the Gigapan Epic Pro that we have decide to post a “first look” for our friends.
(...)
Read the rest of Gigapan Epic Pro Video Review (521 words)

©xRez Studio, 2010. | Permalink | |
Post tags: DSLR, Gigapan, Gigapan Epic Pro, Microsoft Ice, Photosynth, Point Dume, Review

xRez Studio’s award-winning “Crossing Worlds” was one of the selected screenings for “Dome Day Asia 2010″ on March 9, 2010. Dome Day Asia was a special event to explore the new possibilities of the world’s highest resolution fulldome digital projection theaters.  (...)
Read the rest of 8K Stereoscopic “Crossing Worlds” Screens at “Dome Day Asia 2010″ (687 words)

©xRez Studio, 2010. | Permalink | |
Post tags: 8k, Crossing Worlds, Fulldome, Hong Kong, IMAX, Laser Projectors, Macao, muenster, s3d, SkySkan, Sony T110, Stanley Ho Space Theatre, Stereoscopic, Visual Effects Society

©xRez Studio, 2010. | Permalink | |
Post tags:

Park visitors at Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historic Park intending to learn about the Wright Brothers often visit Huffman Prairie, an unassuming open space where the Wrights did much of their formative testing. The field, a large open expanse, challenges a visitors imagination as to how they flew there. In 2010, the park will unveil a unique and unprecedented historic interpretation tool for it’s visitors, the VR Flight Viewer, conceptualized and produced by xRez Studio. (...)
Read the rest of Dayton Aviation Heritage VR Flight Viewer (135 words)

©xRez Studio, 2010. | Permalink | |
Post tags: Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historic Park, Huffman Prairie, On Great White Wings, Spherical Animation, Spherical Video, Virtual Reality, Wright Brothers

Yosemite Valley experiences numerous rockfalls each year, with over 600 rockfall events documented since 1850. Due to the pulverization of the rockfall mass, evaluating and quantifying rockfall characteristics has proved challenging without any high-resolution baseline imagery of the Valley walls, which could act as a useful datum for before/after comparisons. (...)
Read the rest of Yosemite Extreme Panoramic Imaging Project (453 words)

©xRez Studio, 2010. | Permalink | |
Post tags: Camera Mapping, Cultural Heritage, Curry Village, Geology, Gigapan, Gigapixel, LIDAR, Microsoft, Mircrosoft, Rockfall, Siggraph, Yosemite, Yosemite Extreme Panoramic Imaging Project, Yosemite Panoramic Imaging Project

Conceptualized over a spirited conversation at a campfire in the High Sierras, Digital Storytelling has evolved to be one of Scandinavia’s leading visual effects annual seminars, co-founded by xRez Studio’s Eric Hanson and Kim Baumann-Larsen of Oslo-based Placebo Effects.  (...)
Read the rest of Digital Storytelling (139 words)

©xRez Studio, 2010. | Permalink | |
Post tags: Digital Storytelling, Norway, Oslo

The USC School of Cinematic Arts has had an ongoing relationship w/ TBS producer Norico Wada, specifically in the Division of Animation and Digital Arts, where xRez Studio partner Eric Hanson instructs 3d computer graphics and visual effects classes. She introduced USC to the work of Mr. Masaaki Tanabe, a Japanese filmmaker who lived as a child adjacent to the famed “Peace Dome” building at the time of the blast. (...)
Read the rest of Japan-US Hiroshima Reconstruction Project (370 words)

©xRez Studio, 2010. | Permalink | |
Post tags: Cultural Heritage, Hiroshima Reconstruction, Peace Dome

In November of 2005, xRez Team member Greg Downing was asked to take part in an intensive documentation project of the world heritage site of Tikal. Tikal is an ancient Mayan site located in a wildlife preserve in the Petén region of Guatemala. This was a special opportunity to explore the application of xRez Studio technology for world heritage and to work with teams from UC Berkeley, Cyark, and UNESCO. (...)
Read the rest of Tikal Documentation for UNESCO (279 words)

©xRez Studio, 2010. | Permalink | |
Post tags: Archeology, Cyark, Fulldome, HDRI, Photogrammetry, Temple IV, Tikal, Time-lapse, UNESCO, VRMag

BlackboxFX is a sister company of xRez, acting as a collaboration with ace 3D artist Ethan Summers. BlackboxFX’s mission is to employ highend creative visual effects talent toward socially meaningful projects, both in the entertainment, scientific, and environmental action sectors. (...)
Read the rest of BlackboxFX (90 words)

©xRez Studio, 2010. | Permalink | |
Post tags: 3d Animation, BlackboxFX, Scientific Visualization, Visual Effects, xRez Studio

One highly compelling method to reveal the vast level of detail contained in a gigapixel image is to print it in large format over a very long length. Based on our 2008 Yosemite Extreme Panoramic Imaging Project, xRez Studio printed a continuous 40 foot x 5 foot print at 300 dpi for exhibition at Siggraph 2008.(...)
Read the rest of Large-Format Gigapixel Printing (190 words)

©xRez Studio, 2010. | Permalink | |
Post tags: Gigapixel, Gigpixel Print, HP z6100PS 60, Los Angeles Convention Center, Maya, Mental Ray

xRez principal Greg Downing has been at the forefront of photogrammetry technique for some time, having worked on the seminal ImageModeler while at RealViz. Later consulting and working with major effects studios, Greg has applied photogrammetry in several major feature films, including “Spiderman 3″, and “I Am Legend”.(...)
Read the rest of Sparse/Dense Photogrammetry (187 words)

©xRez Studio, 2010. | Permalink | |
Post tags: I am Legend, Image Modeler, Panorama, Panoramic Image Modeling, Photogrammetry, PhotoModeler, Photosynth, Point Cloud, Spiderman 3

One problem surrounding the needs of cultural heritage research is the acquisition of static on-site photography, which may limit perceived detail in the artifacts later upon inspection. One method which allows re-lighting of artifacts post-shooting is HP Labs researcher Tom Malzbender’s work in polynomial texture mapping, or PTM. (...)
Read the rest of Polynomial Texture Mapping (PTM) (98 words)

©xRez Studio, 2010. | Permalink | |
Post tags: Cultural Heritage Imaging, feature extraction, Normal Map, Polynomial Texture Mapping, PTM, Rock Art

xRez Studio has long utilized infrared capture of gigapixel panoramic scenes, using modified digital camera backs. Used primarily for aesthetic reasons, IR can also be used in service of cultural heritage documentation work, helping reveal hidded details. Similarly, color matrix de-correlation software such as Jon Harman’s excellent Dstretch has been employed by xRez Studio to help analyze Native American rock art on the Colorado Plateau.

(...)
Read the rest of Multi-Spectral Imaging (0 words)

©xRez Studio, 2010. | Permalink | |
Post tags: Digital Infrared, Dstretch, IR

A revolution is currently underway in digital photography with time-lapse capture. Showcased in earlier films such as Koyannisquatsi and Baraka by DP Ron Fricke, filmmakers had to previously rely on cumbersome large-format film-based techniques, where film cameras were advanced incrementally. (...)
Read the rest of Time-Lapse Photography (117 words)

©xRez Studio, 2010. | Permalink | |
Post tags: Baraka, Koyannisquatsi, Ron Fricke, Time-lapse

One emerging technology with great promise is spherical video, which is an extension of spherical panoramic imagery, but displaying full rate playback of live footage. Spherical video solutions have been available for some time, but lack resolution and quality. One alternative xRez Studio is developing is spherical animation, using emerging panoramic players to deliver interactive pre-rendered sequences for online or site-specific purposes. (...)
Read the rest of Spherical Animation (151 words)

©xRez Studio, 2010. | Permalink | |
Post tags: Spherical Animation, Spherical Video

High Dynamic Range imagery (HDRI) is creating a revolution in digital photography, where the full tonal range of a scene’s lighting can be faithfully captured and recreated. xRez Studio has been at the forefront of this technology development, interacting with key researchers Paul Debevec and Greg Ward. (...)
Read the rest of High Dynamic Range Imaging (166 words)

©xRez Studio, 2010. | Permalink | |
Post tags: HDRI, High Dynamic Range Imaging

One innovative technique developed at xRez Studio is the integration of digital elevation models (DEM) with high-end 3d rendering and gigapixel images. Another innovation we have developed is to integrate time lapse sequences with DEM data, allowing new, inventive cinematography where a virtual camera can dolly deeply into the image while lapsing in time. (...)
Read the rest of Digital Terrain Rendering (75 words)

©xRez Studio, 2010. | Permalink | |
Post tags: Camera Mapping, DEM, Digital Terrain, LIDAR, Projection Mapping, Terrain

Digitally projected full dome theaters are a new and growing form of immersive cinematic presentation for small audiences. There are 1000s of these theaters worldwide (see an incomplete list here), and many are domed planetariums that have been retrofitted w/ high resolution digital projectors that “stitch” multiple projections together into one large surround image, allowing very high resolutions at 4 or 8k. (...)
Read the rest of FullDome Theatre Production (217 words)

©xRez Studio, 2010. | Permalink | |
Post tags: Crossing Worlds, Dome, DomeFest, Fulldome

With skillsets culled from 15 years of producing feature film visual effects in major effects facilities, we have high level expertise in concept design, digital environment creation, lighting and rendering, matte painting, compositing, and photogrammetry. We have experience from companies such as Digital Domain, Sony Imageworks, Rhythm & Hues, Dream Quest Images, and Walt Disney Feature Animation. (...)
Read the rest of High-End Visual Effects Production (314 words)

©xRez Studio, 2010. | Permalink | |
Post tags: Foundry Nuke, Maya, PTGui, Renderman, Visual Effects

xRez Studio has been one of the pioneers in digital gigapixel photography for the last five years, moving it from academic exercises into a viable production methodology for use in multiple applications and markets, while at a price point comparable to conventional professional photography. (...)
Read the rest of Gigapixel Panoramic Photography (379 words)

©xRez Studio, 2010. | Permalink | |
Post tags: Gigapan, Gigapixel, Panoramic Photography, PixOrb, Rodeon

National Geographic Magazine contracted xRez principal Eric Hanson in 2006 for an artwork assignment to create the pull-out poster insert for the April 2006 issue commemorating the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. A mix of 3d modeling and matte painting techniques were used to create this hypothetical west coast city, while illustrating some of the core science of earthquake dynamics and urban infrastructure preparedness.(...)
Read the rest of National Geographic Magazine Illustration (0 words)

©xRez Studio, 2010. | Permalink | |
Post tags: Earthquake Dynamics, National Geographic Magazine, Scientific Visualization

A standard way to view a gigapixel image is with a zooming interface on a conventionally-sized computer monitor. An alternative method, though rarified, is to display and span the image across a large mosaic of montiors arranged into a single grid. (...)
Read the rest of Calit2 HIPerWall (37 words)

©xRez Studio, 2010. | Permalink | |
Post tags: Calit2, HIPerWall, Tiled Displays

One highly compelling method to reveal the vast level of detail contained in a gigapixel image is to print it in a large format over a very long length. xRez Studio displayed a 28 foot x 4 foot gigapixel print at 300 dpi of Yosemite Valley, at the 6Sight 2008 Future of Imaging conference in Monterrey. The image shown was sourced from a 150,000 pixel render from Maya and Mental Ray, having been derived from several hundred images shot during the Yosemite Extreme Panoramic Imaging Project in 2008.

LINK to 6Sight Press Release

©xRez Studio, 2010. | Permalink | |
Post tags: 6Sight, Gigapixel Print

One highly compelling method to reveal the vast level of detail contained in a gigapixel image is to print it in a large format over a very long length. xRez Studio displayed a 40 foot x 5 foot at 300 dpi gigapixel print of Yosemite Valley, dubbed the “AIE Mega-Print” at the Photo Marketing Association 09 conference in Las Vegas. (...)
Read the rest of PMA 2009 Print (39 words)

©xRez Studio, 2010. | Permalink | |
Post tags: AIE Mega-Print, Gigapixel, Gigpixel Print, PMA

One highly compelling method to reveal the vast level of detail contained in a gigapixel image is to print it in large format over a very long length. Based on our 2008 Yosemite Extreme Panoramic Imaging Project, xRez Studio printed a continuous 40 foot x 5 foot print at 300 dpi for exhibition at Siggraph 2008.(...)
Read the rest of Siggraph 2008 Print (87 words)

©xRez Studio, 2010. | Permalink | |
Post tags: Gigpixel Print, Siggraph, Yosemite

Digital Storytelling (co-founded by xRez Studio Pricipal Eric Hanson), is an annual seminar on visual effects and story in Oslo, Norway for the last 4 years. In 2009, we staged the first gigapixel photography exhibition adjacent to the event, in the wonderful Filmens Hus complex of the Norwegian Film Institute. (...)
Read the rest of Ekstremfoto: Gigapixel Images in Print (89 words)

©xRez Studio, 2010. | Permalink | |
Post tags: Digital Storytelling, Gigapan, Gigapixel, Gigpixel Print, Oslo, Stave Church

Ars Electronica, the world’s pre-eminent art and technology organization and festival in Linz Austria, recently completed construction of a new and remarkable dedicated building. In 2009, xRez Studio was asked to provide imagery for the January 2009 grand opening of the new Ars Electronica Center building, with our work to be featured within the central immersive Deep Space installation. The space is projected with 8 stitched stereo Barco 2k projectors, resulting in an amazing amount of detail at 4k x 4k. The audience sits on the floor that is also a projection surface or they can view the work from a balcony. Running for a 5 year duration, our work is shown daily as one of 5 featured artists providing content for the high resolution Deep Space projection area. In the first year of the installation 305,000 visitors saw our images in Deep Space. We also spoke and showed work at the Ars Electronica Festival/Human Nature 2009 as a session on Deep Space- Behind The Scenes. We were honored to be featured alongside such remarkable work of fellow digital artists.

Click here to view the embedded video.

LINK to Ars Electronica Deep Space Site

LINK to Ars Electronica Vimeo Page

LINK to Linz Gigapixel Image

©xRez Studio, 2010. | Permalink | |
Post tags: Ars Electronica, Barco, Boston, Deep Space, Gigapixel, Linz, Yosemite

In 2007 Tierra, a top Swedish outdoor clothing manufacturer, made the decision to create a new website that would vividly reflect the companies connection to the outdoors. Tierra understood the value of deeply engaging their customers. They were looking for a way to go a step beyond the status quo of outdoor product photography.

Tierra enlisted the marketing and interactivity expertise of the award-winning Swedish advertising agency Goss. Goss proposed an innovative design that would both engage the customer in a beautiful and “sticky” website to impart Tierra’s unique brand. Echoing Tierra’s relationship to the outdoors, Goss proposed embedding the product photography and catalog into various regions of a large gigapixel landscape. This interface provokes exploration of the landscape, much as their core market will do in the real world with their products: running, hiking and climbing over the landscape in Tierra outdoor gear.

Goss turned to xRez Studio for its imagery, choosing from our large catalog of gigapixel landscape photography to find the image that would perfectly convey it’s client’s message.

LINK to Tierra Site

©xRez Studio, 2010. | Permalink | |
Post tags: Gigapixel, Gigapixel Advertisement, Tierra

xRez Studio has had a longstanding working relationship with both Microsoft Live Labs and Microsoft Research, having supplied them with content and feedback for their innovative and cutting-edge gigapixel viewing technologies such as HD View, Seadragon, and Silverlight Deep Zoom. (...)
Read the rest of Microsoft Technology Alliance (68 words)

©xRez Studio, 2010. | Permalink | |
Post tags: HD View, Microsoft, Microsoft Surface, Photosynth, Seadragon

One of the advantages of gigapixel images is the versatility they can provide for a wide range of applications. In 2008, xRez Studio was contracted to provide licensing of several panoramic images for an animated display system for the lobby of the HP Executive Briefing Center in Cupertino, CA. (...)
Read the rest of HP Executive Briefing Center Gigapixel Graphics (13 words)

©xRez Studio, 2010. | Permalink | |
Post tags: Corporate Art, Gigapixel, HP Executive Briefing Center

Gigapixel images can provide stunningly high resolution large format prints, and are a perfect solution for corporate or hospitality-based corporate art installations. In 2008, xRez Studio was contracted to provide a large 12′ long gigapixel print for the main boardroom of the new headquarters of Intech Investment Management LLC in West Palm Beach, Florida. (...)
Read the rest of Intech Corporate Art Print (42 words)

©xRez Studio, 2010. | Permalink | |
Post tags: Corporate Art, Gigapixel, Intech

The Digital Catalina Island Project is an ongoing effort to aid research at the USC Wrigley Institute of Environmental Research, a marine biology lab on the island near Two Harbors. (...)
Read the rest of Digital Catalina Island (62 words)

©xRez Studio, 2010. | Permalink | |
Post tags: Bathymetry, Catalina Island, Gigapixel, Massive Software, Scientific Visualization, Terrain Modeling, Two Harbors, USC, Wrigley Institute of Environmental Research, Xfrog

“On Great White Wings” is an historic documentary produced by Aperture Films which re-creates the key events of the Wright Brothers development of the airplane. (...)
Read the rest of On Great White Wings VFX (77 words)

©xRez Studio, 2010. | Permalink | |
Post tags: Aviation, Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historic Park, Wright Brothers

“Magnificent Desolation” is a 3D IMAX feature produced by Play Tone/Tom Hanks which faithfully re-creates the Apollo moon landings in stereo 4k high resolution. xRez Studio was sub-contracted from prime VFX vendor Sassoon Film Design for a difficult hero shot which depicts flying through Hadley Rile, a deep trench visited by the Apollo 15 astronauts. (...)
Read the rest of Magnificent Desolation IMAX (48 words)

©xRez Studio, 2010. | Permalink | |
Post tags: Apollo 15, Hadley Rile, IMAX, Magnificent Desolation, Moon Landing, Photogrammetry, s3d, Stereoscopic

A highlight of the 2009 Art Basel Miami Beach event was Cartier’s premiere of David Lynch’s fulldome film on “Diamonds, Gold and Dreams”, shown in a 60′ custom dome pavilion. xRez Studio was contracted to produce the interstitial imagery to play between his hourly showings. (...)
Read the rest of Cartier @ Art Basel Fulldome Interstitials (39 words)

©xRez Studio, 2010. | Permalink | |
Post tags: Art Basel, Cartier, David Lynch, Fulldome

Our 2010 Showreel is a broad overview of the work we have been producing.

Click here to view the embedded video.

©xRez Studio, 2009. | Permalink | |
Post tags: 3d Animation, Camera Mapping, Camera Projection, Gigapixel, HDRI, LIDAR, Photogrammetry, Polynomial Texture Mapping

A visual tone poem designed for the emerging fulldome planetarium format, “Crossing Worlds” utilizes spherical photography from the American desert west to immerse the viewer in a transcendent spectrum of austere landscapes. xRez Studio’s first dome format film, “Crossing Worlds” won a coveted “Domie” for Best Design in a Dome at DomeFest 09 in Albuquerque, NM.(...)
Read the rest of Crossing Worlds Fulldome Film (156 words)

©xRez Studio, 2009. | Permalink | |
Post tags: 350.org, Canyon, COP15 Global Climate Summit, Crossing Worlds, Domie, Elumenati, Fulldome, Glendale Community College, Global Climate Summit, KlimaForum, Native American, Paul Buehler, Spherical Time-lapse

The Colorado River through the Grand Canyon is the life blood of the Western United States, both spiritually and literally.

Grand Canyon By Nature: River of Life shows the story of the Grand in stunning visual artistry as we join a journey through the heart of one of the planet’s greatest wonders. It’s a journey of adventure — and a metaphor of our journey of life.(...)
Read the rest of Grand Canyon By Nature Film (126 words)

©xRez Studio, 2009. | Permalink | |
Post tags: Fulldome, Gigapixel, Grand Canyon, Grand Canyon By Nature, Time-lapse

Just a short drive from the southern entrance route to Yosemite National Park, is a remarkable but less-visited deep-carved river gorge in the Sierra Nevada foothills. In spring of 2008, xRez Studio was contracted by BLM park manager Tracy Rowlands to shoot the beautiful San Joaquin River Gorge in gigapixel resolution for the Bureau of Land Management’s visitor center, where a 14′ long high-resolution print was subsequently installed in a new visitor center later that summer.(...)
Read the rest of San Joaquin River Gorge Visitor Center Print (56 words)

©xRez Studio, 2009. | Permalink | |
Post tags: BLM, Gigapixel, Gigpixel Print, Print, San Joaquin River Gorge

One problem surrounding the needs of cultural heritage research is the acquisition of static on-site photography, which may limit perceived detail in the artifacts later upon inspection. One method which allows re-lighting of artifacts during research is HP Labs researcher Tom Malzbender’s work in polynomial texture mapping, or PTM.(...)
Read the rest of Native American Rock Art (146 words)

©xRez Studio, 2009. | Permalink | |
Post tags: Capitol Reef, Colorado Plateau, Gigapixel, Horseshoe Canyon, Multi-spectral, Native American, Polynomial Texture Mapping, PTM, Rochester, Rock Art, Sego Canyon, Sinbad