Penn is entering a partnership that will create the largest academic motion-capture studio in the region.

The University’s Center for Computer Graphics is partnering with Susquehanna International Group LLP to build a new computer graphics center and gallery, which will include a motion-capture studio.

Motion-capture is a popular method of animation that has been used by movie studios to create such characters as Gollum from “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy and the giant ape from “King Kong.”

The SIG Center for Computer Graphics and the SIG Gallery at Penn will open in the spring of 2009 and provide a state-of-the-art Vicon Motion Capture system and laboratory for projects such as 3D motion picture special effects, computer graphics design and animation, simulation and modeling of large-scale human crowds and research into the interrelationships of human movement, language and communication.

The gallery will serve as the public entrance to the Center and will include a virtual companion wall that will be programmed to interact with visitors, indicating the interactive nature of the program and its research. These will be housed in the School of Engineering and Applied Science, next to Penn’s first computer, ENIAC.

Many graduates of the Penn program who don’t end up entering the entertainment, game or design industry actually end up in financial markets and firms like SIG, where an emphasis is placed on solutions and collaboration between technologists who are able to work on multi-expert teams.

Originally published May 22, 2008.