the Ashes and the Portal is an immersive stereoscopic animated short capturing the burned library after a fire disaster at Mzuzu University, Malawi, Africa, and it also witnesses the new design of the library from Virginia Tech architecture students. This animated short recreates the burned library and presents the new library design with photo-real image sequences which can immersively bring the audiences onto the site. The Ashes and the Portal utilizes the Cyclorama system, which is a 32 feet diameter and 16 feet tall cylindrical screen with four projectors that can display visual content. The surrounding panels with rendered footage could provide an immersive experience within this semi-public space. This is a collaboration project between the School of Visual Arts and the School of Architecture + Design, also with technical support from the Institute for Creativity, Arts, and Technology. This project explores the potential use of Cyclorama system as a platform for CG works, especially for stereoscopic animation. / Master of Fine Arts / The Ashes and The Portal is a computer generated animation tells a story about burned library at Mzuzu University, Malawi, Africa and a new library design from Virginia Tech architecture students. Audience is required to wear a pair of 3D goggles to view the animation inside a giant curved screen which is surrounding the viewer. The photo-real footage of burned library and new library design can visually bring audiences onto the site and provide an immersive experience. This project is a collaboration project between the School of Visual Arts and the School of Architecture + Design, also with technical support from the Institute for Creativity, Arts, and Technology. This is an educational project that explores the potential use of the Cyclorama system as a platform for computer generated media works, especially for stereoscopic animation.