Workshop at the Virtual Reality Labor
September 8, 2011

In cooperation with the TU Dresden the SL: MIMA offers a several hours lasting workshop in the Virtual Reality Lab in January 2011. Try the CAVE itself and let yourself be taking in a beautiful 3D world. Just like us.
First, we focused the 3D scanning technology of the university. With this technique real objects are optically scanned in order to manufacture digital and three-dimensional models. Force feedback devices have been tried and 30-inch 3D displays with an almost real-time Raytracing calculation has been fancied.
Finally we went to the highlight of the day, called the CAVE (Cave Automatic Virtual Environment), a virtual reality laboratory. It consists of five rear projection screens, on which a section of a virtual scene is projected. The individual images are assembled in a rectangular space as three-dimensional projection and can be seen through 3-D glasses. With the help of a tracking system at the glasses the virtual perspective of the viewer's position is adjusted, so that the space and its objects are experienced as one would be right in the middle. We tested it and found out: you should definitly try it, too.
And that's why there will be more info about the workshop program of the SL: MIMA soon!

SL:music by Heinrich Mende
August 30, 2010

Heinrich Mende is a fascinating young musician from Saxony/ Germany, travailing nationwide and even abroad as a DJ and live act performer. He provides the soundtrack for this year SL:MIMA.

SL: Hi Heinrich, good to see you. Straight away how would you describe your music yourself?

HM: Theme music: emotional, mysterious and atmospheric piano combined with electronic beats and textures
Music dance for: a driving minimal, electro and drum'n'bass beats with playful melodies.

SL: How did you come up with the idea of using classical piano music and
combine it with electronic sounds?

HM: I had a classical piano training, but always found electronic sounds fascinating. Later I gave it a shot and produced various electronic music such as tech house and Drum'n'bass. I like the emotional impact of the piano, but also the experimental and driving beats and atmospheres sounds you have in e.g. drum'n'bass. Therefore, I tried to unite these two quite different components as elegantly as possible.

SL: What do you like about the Swan Lake Awards?

HM: The fact that this is professionally organized by students to promote young talents on a international basis.

SL: You are supporting the Swan Lake Awards over years now. This year you are a great cooperation partner by providing each video, podcast and every radio spot your own sound and this even custom - and handmade. How did the team
management convince you to take part in the Swan Lake Awards considering that you are in the middle of your final exam? And what was so convincing in the end?

HM: Since I was a student in Mittweida myself, I am connected with the university and found the SL has always been an innovative project. So it was not difficult for me to support the SL:MIMA. I also think the international orientation of the Awards is very good to bring the awareness outside of Germany.

SL: Already, a huge thank you for the work from the whole SL:MIMA team.
We see and hear us later at SL:MIMA Open-Space party.

Gamecast TV meets SL:MIMA 2011
August 25, 2010

With Gamecast TV the SL: MIMA 2011 have found a perfect partner project. It supports the Swan, especially in the field of animation, 3D and storytelling with specialists and know how.

Gamecast TV is a young research project, which crosses the medial borders between TVseries and online games. Together with the German Fraunhofer IIS research labs and Pixable animation studios a prototype of the Gamecast framework is developed, which allows producing animated TV-series and films through flexible real time computer graphics and linking these series to an online video game. Now the player has the chance to become a virtual TV hero who is able to influence the plot by his acting in the game. Gamecast aims to offer real time based animation techniques to standardize animation film production in order to make this process more economic. Emotion Recognition, data
mining and recommendation systems are used to enhance the experience of producers and gamers, as well as to make animated formats and games more adaptable and flexible.

The swan lake under new patronage
August 17, 2010

The great Oscar winner Jan Andrzej Paweł Kaczmarek is the patron of the Swan Lake Awards 2011th.

Since 1980 the Polish composer has written approapriate music for numerous films. Since the late eighties, he lives in Los Angeles and composes for international film productions very successfully. The biggest success he had so far was with the score for the film "Finding Neverland" For this he received the 2005 Academy Award for "Best Score".

We are proud and delighted that we won Jan A.P. Kaczmarek for the patronage.