Presenter: John Power, RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia

This paper will discuss models for collaboration in post graduate study within real-time 3D media. I will ask examine:
* How real-time 3D media may be used as a platform for collaborative project work in post graduate courseware.
* Benefits to students in applying organisational frameworks for the production of complex, real-time 3D spaces.

Data has been gathered from four case studies within the Master of Arts by coursework (Animation and Interactive Media) students at RMIT University, Melbourne, run annually with successive groups over the past four years involving some 90 students. Students are given a plan for an organisational framework and a thematic brief or the production of a real-time 3D space. The nominated authoring platform, UnrealEd, published by Epic Games, was chosen for its accessibility and popularity in the public domain. Other platforms will also be briefly reviewed.

Course work has been adapted since 2002 to respond to the growing area of real-time 3D production and experimentation. In presenting this adaptation, I will ask if real-time 3D can effectively expose students to the wide range of roles that must be embodied in any media production. The structure within the Group Project was planned to simulate a commercial production studio and also fostering leadership, communication, problem solving, studio practice and forming links with alumni. There will be an examination of how effectively the Group Project activity met these criteria.

Each group of students was polled for both oral and written feedback, and this feedback has contributed to the evolution of the course. An overview of the feedback reveals changing approaches and attitudes to the medium. Patterns were observed with regard to organisation of teams around tasks and prior knowledge.

This practice-based research uncovers opportunities in education, training and Arts-based collaboration in the emerging field of networked real-time media. Observations and suggestions will be made about current developments in the field, particularly with respect to the collaborative possibilities of multiuser environments such as Linden Lab’s Second Life and Epic Games’ soon to be release Unreal 3 Engine.

I will conclude with suggestions of future directions in the field and recommendations will be offered to assist artists and educators planning collaborative project work in real-time 3D media.

Key words:
Practice Based Research
Real Time 3D
Unreal Tournament
Online Collaboration
Studio Practice
Games Engines

John Power has used mostly paint and computers to make pictures since 1981. Completing a Fine Art BA in 1988, he continued studio practice, various minor design roles and plenty of scenic art, for TV, film, museum exhibition, opera, ballet, theatre, and private commissions. In 1995 he completed a post-graduate diploma in Animation and Interactive Media at RMIT University. 1996 saw John at Planet X studios, producing TV commercials and digital effects. In 1997, John worked as Art Director for Olivetti Multimedia Studio. That year also saw a number of collaborations with artists and producers on video installation and web-based art. John returned to RMIT in 1998 as a lecturer and research supervisor. A residency as vision mixer at Centriphugal nightclub, in collaboration with Kim Bounds, became known as 2Loops. This live video collaboration performed over 100 shows in four years, including tours of Australia, Europe and the Undercurrents Tour with Toy Satellite, which opened the 2001 Taipei Arts Festival. John completed an MA (Animation and Interactive Media) at RMIT in 2002. Recent linear work has screened at the Not Still Art festival in Brooklyn, and the Australian Centre for the Moving Image. John continues to research the use of real-time media in performance contexts and gives regular audio visual performances in Melbourne with Son of Science.

Son of Science:
http://www.toysatellite.org/agarton/2005/06/video_performance_engine.html