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 visualization Cinematic scientific visualization (CSV) is the visual presentation of scientific data in a way that is typically associated with non-scientific filmmaking techniques including cinematography, lighting, and composition. Cinematic scientific visua ...

s of large, three-dimensional, time-evolving data. The AVL has contributed to a number of scientific documentaries including the

IMAX IMAX is a proprietary system of high-resolution cameras, film formats, film projectors, and theaters known for having very large screens with a tall aspect ratio (approximately either 1.43:1 or 1.90:1) and steep stadium seating. Graeme F ...

films "

A Beautiful Planet ''A Beautiful Planet'' is a 2016 American documentary film directed, written, and produced by Toni Myers, and narrated by actress Jennifer Lawrence. It was originally released exclusively for IMAX theatres. Created in cooperation with the Nati ...

". and "

Hubble 3D ''Hubble'' (also known as ''Hubble 3D'', ''IMAX: Hubble'', or ''IMAX: Hubble 3D'') is a 2010 American documentary film about Space Shuttle missions to repair and upgrade the Hubble Space Telescope. It is narrated by the actor Leonardo DiCaprio. ...

", a number of fulldome films, 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" 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 Visualization or visualisation (see spelling differences) is any technique for creating images, diagrams, or animations to communicate a message. Visualization through visual imagery has been an effective way to communicate both abstract an ...

to create their imagery, the AVL relies primarily on visual effects tools and techniques to achieve a cinematic look 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).

References

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History

References

Further reading