Grant: Applied Research Tools and Instruments Grants

With the movie, television, and gaming industries now based on end-to-end digital processes, innovation within IT support processes can dramatically impact production efficiency and capacity. Extensive opportunities for remote collaboration that can leverage the strength of individual companies working together are also now available. The proposed equipment will be part of a research network with shared services being established by Sheridan College and industry partners to address the screen industries' transformational needs. The proposed compute/render infrastructure will be housed at Sheridan's Hazel McCallion Campus Data Centre (Mississauga, Ont.) and connected by dedicated fibre optic links to 151 Front Street, Toronto's central hub for telecommunications providers. Animation, visual effects, and post-production companies will connect to the data centre through this Toronto hub, enabling collaborative research that will link Sheridan's advanced programs in animation, IT, and business studies with industry partners. The proposed remote collaboration network will: establish a secure, shared media render and storage infrastructure for research, enabling development of new business and technical solutions, particularly in remote collaboration among companies from beginning to end of the production value chain; create a research platform for IT expertise to address the needs of Ontario's movie and TV industry; allow design and execution of collaborative professional development and training of Highly Qualified Personnel, and provide a test bed for 2D/3D workflow pilots/demonstrations that use broadband and storage capabilities of the network. By creating a shared IT infrastructure and initiating collaborative pilots on all aspects of the value chain, this project will meet the cluster's needs as identified - fostering innovation at the company level through applied research and training; enabling collaborative innovation by allowing firms to interact securely through shared assets on the IT hub; and linking the region's content production/design expertise and its IT strengths through a vibrant industry/government/academic partnership.