Brand New Reality
Moments in Nature
A look at the creation of 鈥� and the inspiration for 鈥� Moments in Nature.
U of I VTD Program Shows a New Way to Blend Animation with Virtual Reality
In an effort to spend more time outside during the COVID-19 summer of 2020, Jean-Marc Gauthier spent many hours riding his e-bike around Paradise Creek between Moscow and Pullman, filming the landscape and a pair of herons he ran into on a daily basis.
He later finished his passion project, Moments in Nature, and turned it into a short video production that was recognized by SIGGRAPH Asia RTL as one of the 11 best submissions worldwide in the Real-Time Live category.
Gauthier, an associate professor and head of the Virtual Technology & Design department in U of I’s College of Art and Architecture (CAA), shot all of the footage with his cell phone camera. Then he and VTD graduate student Payton Finney ‘22 used video game controllers and software that allowed them to manipulate the characters in real time – a relatively new use of that t