The Data Arena is a cutting edge 360 degree 3d cinema housed at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS). It contains a high end motion tracking system, 6 HD stereoscopic projectors and 16 speakers to create a seamless 3D experience. To launch the Data Arena, UTS asked their friends at Animal Logic to create a 5 minute CGI animated 3D short film in 360 degrees to showcase the technology.
Rollerchimp teamed up with Andrew Johnston to create the immersive 16 channel soundtrack and sound effects to accompany Animal Logic’s stunning 3D visuals. The musical score and sound designed elements were created in Ableton Live. To spatialise the soundtrack, Rollerchimp developed a custom MAx4Live plugin which funnelled the audio and 3D panning information to a custom Max/MSP patch which utilised ambisonic technologies to move the sound objects through 3D space using the 16 speakers mounted in the Data Arena. The Data Arena was still being constructed while this launch piece was being created, so Rollerchimp also created a simple 3D video software system that would allow the video to be synchronised to the ableton project for spatialisation and mixing within the 360 cinema setup.