Dome-projection
How to make a
WHAT IS IT
A dome-projection is…. usually half spherical but may extend further (latitude)
Here are the existing full dome artists and projects that you get look up
Diana Reichenbach
The Illuminauts
THEORY (WHY & SO WHAT)
Lorep ipsum
Visual grammar of the dome
Cross-section view of a dome
Latlong composition
Dome master
Responsive 3d model embedded
FILE TYPES
Size: 4K x 4K (4096 x 4096 pixels), no less than 2K x 2K (2048 x 2048 pixels)
Format: png sequence, jpg sequence
Frame Rate: 30fps
Sound: Stereo or 5.1 mix
Rendering tests
Size: 2k x 2k (enlarged to 4k in using plugins or other software such as Red Giant’s Instant4k, Nuke’s 4k upscale node, Gigapixel, ON1)
Format: H264 Mp4
h264 at 30fps
How to view your dome animation
Dome players – amateras
How to make it
AE: VR Comp editor C4D: Spherical camera & Output settings Render full but lose quality Render 0 latitude & fit frame? Recommended settings – follow dome projectionist requirement Fulldome standards
Best practices & Things to consider
Designing the animation for the viewer
The north of the Dome player is at the bottom part of the composition, so when you are building the visuals keep in mind that everything should be reversed, otherwise people won’t see anything… unless you are working for a 360 dome player, where the audience has access to all angles.
Speed
We will experience a different speed of our visuals at the Dome compared to playing back from the computer screen. For most cases, what you have animated will be faster on the dome. This matters as the scale of the dome is immense larger; making small details more apparent.
Contras, luminescence, blacks
For Dome-projections, it is best to work with a black background with high contrast on the colors of your visuals. The light of the projectors will bounce around, therefore, making it hard to see the visuals if there isn’t enough contrast or the highlighters are too bright.
As the screen is spherical, a lot of the projected light bounces off the white surface and lights up the entire room. Then all black becomes grey.
In order to keep a decent contrast, the average level of bright pixels has to stay low, and large bright areas must be avoided (ie: bright skies).
Safety
Be aware of not causing your audience epilepsy or motion sickness. We are creating an extrasensory experience for everyone to enjoy, without making them physically sick.
Delivery to your team editor
Organization is paramount in a large-scale collaboration. The Illuminauts film was a 15 people project. To ensure the safe delivery of you r completed aniamtions or visuals to your editor, please follow the following guidelines.
Render out and upload a 4K x 4K .mp4 video file of your sequence. This will ensure that the entire sequence is uploaded and that we aren’t missing any parts of your sequence.
Please ask your project manager on the best way to upload the files eg. Google Drive, email, wetransfer,etc.
Naming convention
PLEASE LABEL YOUR MP4 USING THE FOLLOWING CONVENTION ACT#_LASTNAME_FRAME-NUMBERS For example: Act1_Reichenbach_0001-5000.mp4 This tells me that this sequence belongs in act 1, that Reichenbach created it, and that if I was cross checking the file against a png sequence, I would need frames 1-5000 (5000 frames total). *If your Act has a specific order for the various parts, please indicate that in your file name, or send Paola and Desmond your desired order. If you are having trouble rendering at 4K at this time, please export and upload a 2K x 2K .mp4 for Paola/Desmond to work with in their edit, that they can later replace with a 4K x 4K .mp4 when it is finished rendering on your end.
Delivering the film to the projectionist
Based on The Illuminauts‘ film at the Macon Dome Film Festival 2019 held at the Museum of Arts and Sciences, the ideal delivery format for the museum was png sequences.
When working remotely with your peers and team, and you need to pass each other renders to the main editor, please ensure that
the entire image sequence are zipped or compressed into a folder to avoid missing frames due to upload issues on an individual basis. and ensuring faster online upload
Always render an mp4 (even if lowre res) as a reference and backup, for the image sequences
Also, be prepared to submit the files at least 2 days earlier than the deadline to avoid being late.
TUTORIALS
PREMIERE PRO
360 video to fulldome workflow in Premiere Pro
AFTER EFFECTS
Stabilizing Footage and Tracking 3D elements in a 360 scene
https://www.premiumbeat.com/blog/vr-comp-editor-360-video/
using VR Comp Editor
Creating a 3D environment to use 3D effects
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRjY8o2Ypg0
How to use Camsphere (good for blending effects such as trapcode)
https://vimeo.com/125726168
This is an after effects project set up for export to fulldome and VR. Please reference the tutorial for instructions on how to use the project file. The scripts associated with the project do a great job of blending Trapcode and other AE 3D effects (sometimes you can see the seams in the Adobe immersive plugins)
NOTE: To use the project you will need to install the plugins in the folder: FTUVPass, DuplicatewithConnections,
PHOTOSHOP
Creating a 360 spherical painting
https://magazine.artstation.com/2017/04/360-pano-painting-tutorial-jama-jurabaev/
https://studiobehind90.com/2018/11/01/how-to-360-virtual-reality-vr-illustration-photoshop-cc17-cc18/
**Using multiple layers when painting in 3D: https://forums.adobe.com/thread/2401296
DOME PLAYER
Amateras Dome Player – Drag and drop player
https://www.orihalcon.co.jp/amateras/domeplayer/en/
PARASITIC LIGHT CALCULATION TOOL – TO COMPENSATE FOR LIGHT BOUNCE
http://nestimmersion.ca/parasit.html
PLUG-INS:
UNITY – Dome Tools: https://assetstore.unity.com/packages/vfx/shaders/fullscreen-camera-effects/dome-tools-62664?fbclid=IwAR3lAbMQRkytVRTZQ8TBpDbO_iJ0HipQfaENWbxsxNYU6t9FDNscAElMZQ0
C4D
http://blendy360cam.com
https://www.cineversity.com/vidplaylist/cv-vrcam/cvvrcam_install
Resources
Latlong grid PNG
Written by Desmond Du, Paola Baiz, and Diana Reichenbach Drag widget herePrevPREVIOUSHow to pass Adobe Certified Expert Exam
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