LOS ANGELES, Calif.—The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced that 14 scientific and technical achievements, represented by 37 individual award recipients, will be honored at its annual Scientific and Technical Awards ceremony, which has been rescheduled to Tuesday, April 29, 2025, at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures.

“As part of the Academy’s mission to celebrate artistry and innovation in filmmaking, we are honored to recognize the exceptional contributions of this year’s Scientific and Technical Awards recipients. Their work has powerfully driven advancements in our industry,” said Academy CEO Bill Kramer and Academy president Janet Yang. “Also, we are deeply honored to present the Academy Award of Merit to the individuals who created and supported the development of captioning for films. This is an essential technology that plays a vital role in making the cinematic experience accessible to all.”

“Each year, our international committee of industry professionals conducts thorough evaluations of the innovation and impact of technologies developed for the motion picture industry,” added Darin Grant and Raymond Yeung, co-chairs of the Academy’s Scientific and Technical Awards Committee. “This year’s awards encompass a wide range of film production advancements, from fire stunt safety, stabilized hand-held camera operation, and animation to post-production innovations in dialogue capture and CG imagery rendering systems. These vital technologies have expanded the visual possibilities of cinema, creating new and compelling experiences for moviegoers.”

The Academy stressed that achievements receiving Scientific and Technical Awards must demonstrate a proven record of contributing significant value to the process of making motion pictures.

In addition to the other Awards, an Academy Award of Merit (an Oscar statuette) will be presented at the ceremony to collectively recognize “all the individuals who have developed and supported captioning technology, whether open or closed, for film.” The statuette will reside at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures.

TECHNICAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS (ACADEMY CERTIFICATES):

• To Essex Edwards, James Jacobs, Jernej Barbic, Crawford Doran and Andrew van Straten for the design and development of Ziva VFX. Ziva VFX is a system for constructing and simulating muscles, fat, fascia, and skin for digital characters. An artist-friendly interface that emphasizes easily understood physical metaphors, coupled with a robust, physically accurate solver, has enabled a broad range of studios to bring visually rich creatures to life.
• To Javor Kalojanov and Kimball Thurston for the creation of Wētā FX’s ML Denoiser. This denoiser prioritizes temporal filtering using innovative optical flow techniques to preserve crucial details. Novel training strategies allow its machine learning algorithms to denoise computer-generated imagery to the most exacting standards.
• To Neeme Vaino for the development of Fireskin360 Naked Burn Gel. This widely available gel allows longer targeted burns directly on the skin, broadening the range of fire stunts performed across the industry.
• To Dustin Brooks and Colin Decker for the development of naked burn gel. Fire for Hire’s gel first publicly demonstrated a “naked burn,” where fire appears directly on the skin, enabling a new form of safe fire stunts in motion pictures.
• To Attila T. Áfra for the creation of Intel Open Image Denoise, and to Timo Aila for his pioneering work at NVIDIA applying U-Nets to denoising. Open Image Denoise is an open-source library that provides an elegant API and runs on diverse hardware, leading to broad industry adoption. Its core technology is provided by the widely adopted U-Net architecture that improves efficiency and preserves detail, raising the quality of CG imagery across the industry.
• To Mark Noel for adapting and enhancing the safety and reliability of transportable six-degrees-of-freedom motion base technology for motion picture use. The NACMO series of modular motion bases enables filmmakers to dynamically control simulated actions, providing precise movements, enhancing special effects, and enriching the visual experience for audiences worldwide.
• To Su Tie for the development of the sensor analysis and stabilization software, to Bei Shimen for the electrical engineering, and to Zhao Yanchong for the mechanical design and engineering of the Ronin 2 gimbal system. Utilizing three-axis stabilization through multiple sensors, the DJI Ronin 2 has achieved broad adoption. It is controllable from a diverse set of input devices, enabling filmmakers to create complex, dynamic camera moves.
• To Tabb Firchau for the conception and development, to John Ellison and Steve Webb for the attitude control system, to David Bloomfield for the motor design, and to Shane Colton for the motor driver system design of the Mōvi gimbals. Freefly Systems’ introduction of handheld stabilized gimbals provides single-person or collaborative remote camera operation with various controllers, enabling previously difficult shots without dolly or crane-supported stabilized heads.

SCIENTIFIC AND ENGINEERING AWARDS (ACADEMY PLAQUES):

• To Jayson Dumenigo for the development of the Action Factory Hydrogels. Action Factory hydrogels are engineered to allow longer burns at higher temperatures with quick turnaround times, increasing the safety and efficiency of fire stunt performances.
• To Thijs Vogels, Fabrice Rousselle, David Adler, Gerhard Röthlin and Mark Meyer for the creation of Disney’s ML Denoiser. This sophisticated machine learning denoiser features a ground-breaking kernel-predicting convolutional network and temporal stability. It has been adopted far beyond its original domain of animation and is an essential tool for creating computer-generated imagery in feature films.
• To Nir Averbuch, Yair Chuchem and Dan Raviv for the concept, design and development of the Auto Align Post 2. Sound Radix’s Auto Align Post 2 allows the seamless blending of multiple moving microphones during film post-production, eliminating phase distortion, saving significant time over manual alignment methods and raising the reproduction quality of dialogue recorded on set.
• To Curt Schaller for the concept, design and development of the Trinity 2 system, and to Dr. Roman Foltyn for the software and hardware design of its motorized stabilized head. The ARRI Trinity 2 is a body-worn system that combines a traditional inertial camera stabilization system with electronic gimbal technology, allowing unprecedented freedom of camera movement for acquiring shots with multiple transitions that are otherwise unobtainable.
• To Steve Wagner for the initial concept and software, to Garrett Brown for the design, and to Jerry Holway and Robert Orf for the engineering of the Steadicam Volt stabilization system. The Tiffen Steadicam Volt revolutionizes inertial stabilization with its advanced two-axis motorized design, creating artificial inertia and simulated friction while providing adjustable tactile feedback. Different modes allow the operator to alter the physical feel of the rig. The Volt empowers filmmakers to achieve dynamic shots with more complex camera movement while maintaining a stable roll axis.
• To Dave Freeth for the design, engineering and development of the hand-held Stabileye three-axis motorized camera stabilization system. The compact size and live adjustment of operating parameters of these devices facilitate subtle and dynamic camera moves closer to actors, and in tighter quarters than previously possible. Its low latency allows for instinctive operation whether controlled by a single operator or remotely.

BEVERLY HILLS, CALIF.—And the Technical Oscar goes to… The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences’ (AMPAS) annual Scientific and Technical Awards may not have had the drama of the Academy Awards set to take place in a couple of weeks, but it still was a celebration of individuals and companies who had earned Technical Oscars for their past work.

AMPAS describes the Technical Oscars as a proven record of contributing significant value to the film and television industry, with recipients from around the world.

Here is the full list of Scientific and Technical Award Winners:

Technical Achievement Awards (Academy Certificates)

• Thomson Grass Valley for the design of the Viper Film Stream digital camera
• Larry Gritz for the design, implementation and dissemination of Open Shading Language
• Carl Ludwig, Eugene Troubetzkoy and Maurice von Swaaji for the development of CGI Studio renderer at Blue Sky Studios
• Brian Whited for the development of the Meander drawing system at Walt Disney Animation Studios
• Mark Rappaport, Scott Oshita, Jeff Cruts and Todd Minobe for the creation of the Creature Effects Animatronic Horse Puppet
• Glenn Sanders and Howard Stark for the design and engineering of the Zaxcom Digital Wireless Microphone System
• David Thomas, Lawrence E. Fisher and David Bundy for the creation of the Lectrosonics Digital Hybrid Wireless Microphone System
• Parag Havaldar for the development of expression-based facial performance-capture technology at Sony Pictures Imageworks
• Nicholas Apostoloff and Geoff Wedig for the development of animation rig-based facial performance-capture for motion pictures at ImageMovers Digital and Digital Domain
• Kiran Bhat, Michael Koperwas, Brian Cantwell and Paige Warner for the design and development of the ILM facial performance-capture solving system

Scientific and Engineering Awards (Academy Plaques)

• Arri for the Super 35 format Alexa digital camera system
• Red Digital Cinema for the Red Epic digital cinema camera
• Sony for the F65 CineAlta camera
• Panavision and Sony for the Genesis digital motion picture camera
• Marcos Fajardo for the Arnold Renderer and Christopher Kulla, Alan King, Thiago Ize and Clifford Stein for geometry engine and ray-tracing algorithm for rendering at Sony Pictures Imageworks and Solid Angle SL
• Vladimir Koylazov for the V-Ray from Chaos Group
• Luca Fascione, J.P. Lewis and Iain Matthew for the FACETS facial performance capture and solving system at Weta Digital
• Steven Rosenbluth, Joshua Barratt, Robert Nolty and Archie Te for the Concept Overdrive motion control system

The ceremony was held on Feb. 11 in Beverly Hills and was hosted by Leslie Mann and John Cho. 

LOS ANGELES–Annie Chang, vice president of technology for Marvel Studios, has accepted an invitation to join the Science and Technology Council of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, bringing the Council’s 2016–2017 membership roster to 25.

Annie Chang (second to left) has joined AMPAS' Science and Technology Council. During Chang’s 11 years at Disney, Marvel’s parent company, she has shaped technology standards and strategies, helped research and implement new technologies into feature post-production and mastering pipelines, and helped the studio transition from tapes to files and launch consumer distribution platforms. A fellow of the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE), Chang also is the co-chair of SMPTE’s 10E Essence Technology Committee and was a five-year chair of SMPTE’s Interoperable Master Format (IMF) standardization project. Chang joined the Academy as a Member-at-Large earlier this year.

The returning Council co-chairs for 2016–2017 are two members of the Academy’s Visual Effects Branch: Academy Governor Craig Barron, an Oscar-winning visual effects supervisor; and Paul Debevec, a Senior Staff Engineer at Google VR, adjunct professor at the USC Institute for Creative Technologies and a lead developer of the Light Stage image capture and rendering technology, for which he received a Scientific and Engineering Award in 2009.

The Council’s 22 other returning members are Wendy Aylsworth, Academy vice president John Bailey, Rob Bredow, Lisa Zeno Churgin, Elizabeth Cohen, Douglas Greenfield, Don Hall, John Hora, Jim Houston, Rob Hummel, Randal Kleiser, Academy governor John Knoll, Beverly Pasterczyk, Cary Phillips, Joshua Pines, Douglas Roble, Milt Shefter, David Stump, Steve Sullivan, Academy governor Bill Taylor, Academy governor Michael Tronick and Beverly Wood.

Established in 2003 by the Academy’s Board of Governors, the Science and Technology Council provides a forum for the exchange of information, promotes cooperation among diverse technological interests within the industry, sponsors publications, fosters educational activities and preserves the history of the science and technology of motion pictures.

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y.—The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers was honored over the weekend with a special award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The special award plaque was presented at the Academy’s annual Scientific and Technical Awards presentation, which took place Feb. 13 in Beverly Hills, Calif.

Barbara Lange and Robert Seidel accept the special award on behalf of SMPTE

The plaque read: “For one hundred years, the Society’s members have nurtured technology, provided essential standards, and offered the expertise, support, tools and infrastructure for the creation and post-production of motion pictures.”

Robert Seidel, SMPTE president, and Barbara Lange, SMPTE’s executive director, accepted the award.

This is the third time SMPTE has been honored by the Academy. It previously received a special Oscar for recognition of its first 40 years in 1957, and then in 1989 it received an Award of Commendation for the contributions of the members of SMPTE engineering committees.