15 May 2015
PRESS FILE
Creation of new 3D Guild and 3D Guild Award
3D Guild
What?
The "3D Guild" is an international non-profit association registered in Belgium.
While initiated in Europe, the 3D Guild welcomes members from all over the world.
Let's take a look at the components of "3D Guild", i.e. "3D" and "Guild".
What is 3D?
Defining "3D" is a challenge, but experts recognize "3D" when they see it! The domain of
interest of the 3D Guild is all aspects and all applications of all forms of 3D. The aspects
include those of science, engineering, technology, art, and business. The applications include
entertainment, inspection, robotics, medicine, remote sensing, space, and defense. The
forms include stereoscopy, multi-view, holography, sound/audio, ranging, and printing.
What is a guild?
The notion of "guild" goes back to medieval times. Here are the definitions from two
sources:
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An association of artisans or merchants who control the practice of their craft in a
particular town. (From Wikipedia.)
An association of people with similar interests or pursuits; especially a medieval
association of merchants or craftsmen. (From Merriam-Webster dictionary.)
The notion of "guild" goes back to medieval times and denotes an association of craftsmen
and merchants with similar interests and pursuits. Guilds project professionalism, strength,
determination, pride, and respect.
In the US, the term "guild" is usually very strong, certainly much stronger than in Europe.
We certainly did not choose the word "guild" to give to the new association the sense that
the term generally projects in the US. We choose the word simply to emphasize that "3D" is
a very particular domain - that has managed to fascinate generations after generations since
the invention of the stereoscope by Wheatstone back in 1838 - and to place the emphasis
on the members of the guild, mainly individuals, and on what they do, i.e. on the craftsmen
of 3D.
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Why?
The 3D Guild was conceived to link the professionals from all over the world who share a
passion for "3D", with the goal of helping them to join forces and keep pushing back further
the fascinating and often surprising frontiers of "3D".
True to its meaning, the 3D Guild is designed from the start to be an "association of people
for people", devoid of any corporate influence or pressure.
Genesis and creation
The idea of creating a new association, as well as a new award, for "3D" was initially put
forward by the two organizers of 3D Stereo MEDIA (www.3dstereomedia.eu) - a major,
internationally acclaimed event -, i.e. Prof. Jacques G. Verly (University of Liège, School of
Engineering) and Alain Gallez (Image&3D Europe).
These instigators of this pair of concepts received full support for this initiative from several
key actors of 3D in Europe, and they defined with these actors the details of the new
association and award.
They also consulted with the "Advanced Imaging Society" from Hollywood, California, formerly called the "International 3D Society" - to work synergistically with it, in the best
interest of 3D worldwide.
The international non-profit association named "3D Guild" was officially created on 8 May
2015 in the Capital of Europe, Brussels. It is registered in Belgium as an "Association
Internationale sans But Lucratif" or "ASBL internationale" (i.e. non-profit organization), and
is thus administered and managed under Belgian law.
The founding members of the 3D Guild are, by alphabetical order:
1.
2.
3.
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5.
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7.
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10.
11.
Angus Cameron (Vision3, United Kingdom)
Gallien Chanalet-Quercy (CowProd, France)
Joséphine Derobe (Stereographer, France)
Alain Gallez (Image&3D Europe, Belgium)
Sylvain Grain (N3DLand, France)
Florian Maier (Stereotec, Germany)
Ludger Pfanz (Beyond 3D, Germany)
Wlodek Popinski (3D Image Foundation, Poland)
Fabien Remblier (The 3DTV, France)
Kathleen Schröter (Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Institute, Germany)
Jacques Verly (University of Liège and Image&3D Europe, Belgium)
These 11 founding members thus come from 5 countries in Europe: Belgium, France,
Germany, Poland, and the United Kingdom.
It is important to note that these founding members joined the association as individuals,
and not as representative of a particular company. The affiliations are listed above solely
for completeness, and to give an idea of the background and occupation of each founding
member.
It should be clear that the founding members come from the areas of entertainment and
research, which are the sectors of activity that the 3D Guild will focus on initially (as further
discussed below).
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While (1) the concept of 3D Guild and (2) all of its founding members originate from Europe,
the 3D Guild is designed to be accessible and of service by people (and non-profit
organizations) from all over the world.
Management
The 11 founding members of the 3D Guild constitute its initial Board of Directors.
The initial presidency of the Guild was entrusted to Prof. Jacques G. Verly (University of
Liège and Image&3D Europe, Belgium), and the initial co-presidency to Mr Angus Cameron
(Vision3, United Kingdom) and Ms Joséphine Derobe (Stereographer, France).
Scope
Right from the start, the scope of the 3D Guild was defined to be "all aspects and all
applications of all forms of 3D". The forms of 3D include, without limitation: stereoscopic,
multiview, lightfield, autostereoscopic, holographic, range, audio, print, immersion, virtual
reality, augmented reality...
The scope of the 3D Guild also covers, without limitation, the following facets of 3D: science,
technology/engineering, art, and business.
By design and strategy, the instigators and the founding members of the association decided
to initially focus the activities of the association on two important domains of 3D:
entertainment (cinema, television, virtual/augmented reality, videogames...) and
research, the latter cutting across all applications of 3D. Quite logically, and as previously
indicated, the 11 founding members of the Guild all originates from these two domains.
However, entertainment is only the tip of the iceberg of 3D. Indeed, for decades, there has
been intense activity in 3D in many other domains.
Some of the main sectors of activity in 3D are:
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Aerospace
Architecture
Event organization
Defense
Design
Education
Entertainment
Equipment
Industry
Information technology
Marine
Medical
Printing
Research
Service.
In fact, when a person decides to become a member of the 3D Guild, the membership form
they fill asks them to choose up to two sectors of activity from the above list (or "other").
These sectors then appear on their "index card" in the directory of the association.
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Although one of the two initial sectors of activity of the 3D Guild is "entertainment", it is
important to note that the 3D Guild is NEITHER an entertainment Guild NOR a 3D Guild! It
is what its name says: a 3D guild!
Goals
The long-term goals of the 3D Guild are as follows:
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Federate the forces in 3D worldwide, with an emphasis on (the creation of) artistic
3D contents and of 3D technology;
Be "people oriented" as opposed to "business oriented";
Give international visibility to all 3D activities, actors, and know-how worldwide;
Give an endorsement label to (3D) events that have a strong connection with, and a
strong commitment to, 3D; respect the autonomy of each such event; and provide
common visibility to all such events (in particular via the association's website);
Provide a common voice for all 3D activities worldwide, and for answering question
that might arise about 3D, e.g. in the press and from journalists;
Provide a central directory of people with an interest in 3D, and, thus, of most of the
available expertise and services in 3D worldwide;
Provide an up-to-date list of all 3D contents produced worldwide in the past and up
to the present;
Provide an up-to-date list of all on-going 3D content projects (moviemaking) for
each current year, worldwide;
Recognize the talents of people active in all areas of 3D, with an emphasis on the
creation of artistic 3D contents and of 3D technology;
Provide news about 3D;
Provide services to members (within the limits of available resources, especially
initially);
Manage a new set of awards, referred to as the "3D Guild Awards" (further
described below).
These (long-term) goals provide a vision, as well as guidelines, for the long-term
development of the 3D Guild.
Membership
The 3D Guild provides for two distinct types of members: individual and (non-profit) legal
entities.
We expect the our individual members will mainly fall in the following categories of
occupation:
 Actor, actress
 Artist, designer
 Business(wo)man
 Engineer
 Moviemaker
 Producer, investor
 Professor
 Provider of service or equipment
 Researcher
 Scientist
 Stereographer
 Student
 Technician.
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In fact, when a person decides to become a member of the 3D Guild, the membership form
they fill asks them to choose up to two categories of occupations from the above list (or
"other"). These sectors then appear on their "index card" in the directory of the association.
Services
Since the financial means of the 3D Guild are/will be extremely limited at the beginning, the
association will initially provide limited services to its members, but these services are
judged to be very important.
Initially, the 3D Guild provides the following services for its members:
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A directory of its members, with detailed information about each member in a
systematic format;
A list of major up-coming 3D events, with emphasis on those by individual legal
entities that are members of the 3D Guild;
The management of its award called the "3D Guild Award" (further described
below).
Later, for the near term, the 3D Guild plans to provide the following additional services:
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News about 3D
List of 3D contents available (first in Europe, then worldwide)
A "voice of 3D".
For the longer term, if/when financial means allow it, the 3D Guild plans to initiate and/or
encourage joint projects by and for its members.
Although the initial focus of the 3D Guild is entertainment and research, the association
plans to progressively build up its activities in all other areas of 3D.
Sponsoring
Although the 3D Guild is a (international) non-profit organization, places the emphasis on
its members, and avoids corporate influence and pressure, the association encourages
companies to sponsor it, mainly by placing commercial banners on its website.
Given that the membership fees are very limit, this sponsoring is very helpful for the 3D
Guild to progress and to propose significant activities and projects for its members.
Further information about sponsoring can be found on the website of the association.
Logo
The graphical rendering of the logo of the 3D Guild can be found elsewhere, including on its
website.
About the logo
With the exception of the leading golden star, which represents the awards given out by the
3D Guild, the logo alludes to the depth map, also called depth image or range image,
where dark gray typically means "close", light gray "further away", and white "very far
away". The depth math embodies the essential characteristics of 3D imaging, i.e. the ability
to characterize the distance to objects along the third dimension, here on a pixel-by-pixel
basis.
References: "Range imaging", "Depth map", Wikipedia, accessed April 2015.
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Website
The link/url of the 3D Guild website is www.3Dguild.eu.
About the homepage background
We chose the owl as background because this bird of prey has one of the highest capabilities
at performing 3D stereoscopic vision across the animal kingdom, even surpassing humans
by its ability to see in 3D at very low light levels, mainly as a result of its large, front-facing
eyes. Like humans, owls use their vision to separate objects of interest from background.
For owls, 3D is a matter of survival!
Reference: "Owls see in stereo much like humans do", by Robert F. van der Willingen, J Vis., June
2011
Award
The new Award of the 3D Guild is described next.
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3D Guild Award
What?
The graphical rendering of the logo of the 3D Guild can be found elsewhere, including on its
website.
As of 15 May 2015, the award exists only as a software model in a computer! In other words,
no physical model has been produced so far. The first real awards will be unveiled on 17
Dec 2015 during the corresponding award ceremony.
For whom?
Just as the 3D Guild was conceived to be "an association of people for people", the 3D Guild
Award is destined to recognize and honor people for their contributions to 3D.
In the case of (stereoscopic) 3D content, the winners are determined on the basis of the
screening of content by the jury, but the awards go to persons - such as the stereographers,
the post-stereographers, the directors, or the producers involved in the production of the
contents.
It is important to stress that the 3D Guild Award will also go to people who significantly
contribute to the world of 3D, not only for entertainment, but for progressively more sectors
of activity.
By whom?
The award was commissioned by the instigators of the 3D Guild, Prof. Jacques G. Verly and
Alain Gallez, and the design was carried out by a young Belgian designer, Mr Thien Vo, from
the city of Liège, Belgium.
Interpretation
Different people may have different interpretations of the award piece. Some may first see
a star, and some others a person. One can even use the double interpretation of a "star
person", or of a "person who is a star".
Originally, the award was conceived in the form of a star, as an allusion to the stars of the
European flag, as a reminder of the fact that the idea of the 3D Guild and of its awards
originated in Europe.
The piece makes several subtle allusions to 3D. The "star" indeed exhibits several geometric
facets that are a reminder of the fact that 3D objects are often represented by triangular
facets in a computer. Another allusion to 3D is that the award has volume and holes, the
latter connecting different regions of (3D) space.
The award can also be seen on the logo of the 3D Guild, placed to the left and above of the
symbol combination "3D". Some even think that this graphical feature of the logo is a
representation of the owl seen on the back of the homepage of the website of the 3D Guild:
an owl "perched" on "3D", or a star shining on "3D"... that is the question.
Competitions for stereoscopic 3D (S-3D) contents
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Many of the awards given out in December 2015 will go to individuals who significantly
contributed to S-3D contents.
The competitions for the corresponding awards will take place in the context of the
International 3D Festival (I3DF) of 3D Stereo MEDIA, and the awards will be given out
during the Awards ceremony of this same event.
All the necessary information to participate, including the regulations and entry form can
be found on the webpage of I3DF: www.3dstereomedia.eu/festival.
Contacts
Prof. Jacques G. Verly
jacques.verly@ulg.ac.be
Alain Gallez
mobile: +32 (0)495 54 55 90
info@3dguild.eu
alain@3dstereomedia.eu
Alexandra Gérard-Piret
mobile: +32 (0)492 04 08 98
info@3dguild.eu
alexandra@3dstereomedia.eu
Headquarters:
3D Guild AISBL
Rue Borrens, 51
B-1050 Brussels
Belgium
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