ARRI’s Curt O. Schaller has been awarded the Scientific and Technical Award for the TRINITY 2 camera stabilizer system from the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences. This award marks the 20th time ARRI has received such recognition from the Academy.
The Scientific and Engineering Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is for the concept, design, and development of the TRINITY 2 camera stabilizer system. Dr. Roman Foltyn is also recognized for the software and hardware design of TRINITY’s motorized stabilized head. The Academy’s Scientific and Technical Awards honor the individuals and companies whose discoveries and innovations have contributed in significant and lasting ways to motion pictures.
According to the Academy, the ARRI TRINITY 2 is being awarded a Scientific and Engineering Award for “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.”
In 1984, Curt O. Schaller began training as a camera assistant and then as a cameraman at the Bavaria film and television studios in Munich, Germany. Following his training, Schaller worked as a cameraman in series productions and as a Steadicam operator in TV series, films, shows, and documentaries. In the mid-1990s, Schaller used his experience as a cameraman and Steadicam operator and began to develop his own camera stabilization systems, from which the ARTEMIS series of the company Sachtler / Vitec Videocom emerged in 2001. In 2015, Schaller developed the TRINITY system together with Roman Foltyn, a Doctor of Engineering. TRINITY is the world’s first camera stabilization system to combine a mechanical and electronic stabilization system. In April 2016, ARRI took over the stabilizer business from Vitec. Since then, Schaller, as Product Manager Camera Stabilizer Systems, has been responsible for driving the further development of ARRI’s stabilizer portfolio.
Curt O. Schaller and other award recipients will be honored at the Academy’s Scientific and Technical Awards ceremony in Los Angeles on April 29, 2025.
