Uniview Dome Software

Uniview

Uniview is a computer graphics platform bringing information data- bases to life in a 3D environment much like an immersive computer game.

Loaded with scientific content, Uniview brings your audience to the science and makes your stories truly meaningful and engaging. While completely interactive, Uniview is powered with technologies that make sure every presentation is smooth, intuitive and engaging to the audience.

As the leading platform on the planet in recent years, Uniview has been developed by industry leaders from museums, science centers and academia. Experiencing the size of the universe in the same context as familiar sites is an enthralling and immersive experience.

Uniview :: Usability

The standardized user interface – based on normal Windows com- ponents – makes Uniview an easy to use and accessible tool for both experts and beginners, minimizing your initial and ongoing training costs.

The smooth, cinematic motion, paired with the immersive nature of Uniview, brings quality to your interactive presentations and ensures a highly satisfying visitor experience.

The advanced computer graphics engine makes Uniview as visually spectacular as any modern computer game, capturing the attention and meeting the demands of your visitors.

Uniview :: Flexibility

The highly evolved interactivity in Uniview lets you do live presen- tations and virtually travel anywhere, at any time, in the universe; giving you control of your own show and allowing you to interact with your audience.

Uniview can record live interactive sessions and save to sequences for later playback, providing a simple yet powerful production tool that can reduce costs by orders of magnitude and allow you to update your linear programming more frequently.

Uniview can produce pre-rendered output in most standard formats, allowing you to produce linear shows and mix live footage with music, narration and post production effects for high end shows that makes your facility stand out.

Uniview :: Scalability

Uniview visualizes science of vastly different scales – from Earth Science and regional GIS data to large scale structures and cosmology, increasing the usability of your display venue and multiplying your target groups.

Uniview scales to vastly different platforms; Windows PC laptops to large scale cluster installations in public venues, allowing you to use the same tool for all your visualization needs and reuse your knowledge throughout operations.

Uniview allows remote collaboration and shared experiences between display venues, schools and field experts, giving you the tool to integrate with your local or global community.

Immersive Film Festival, IFF11, Espinho, Portugal

Navegar Foundation would like to invite you to the second edition of the Immersive Film Festival, IFF11, that will be held at Centro Multimeios Espinho, Portugal, from 29th April to 1st May, 2011.This festival is an event that will gather international productions in the Immersive Cinema field. It is an open invitation to all, producers, animators, filmmakers, artists, students, teachers and planetarium professionals, in order to be part of this unique event.

To attend is rather easy. Espinho is located close to the International Oporto Airport, served by the major international Airlines and by a large number of low cost carriers.

To participate, simply submit a work following the guidelines in the memorandum of understanding (MOU).

IFF will be focused on presenting productions in this media, along with a competition among submitted productions.It is also intended to be a place to captivate active members of cinema in general into this new media, to discuss ideas and create partnerships, but above all, to promote the development of this cinema field.

Espinho Planetarium

The planetarium seats inside the Centro Multimeios de Espinho, a modern and original building where visitors can also find a movie Theatre (35mm and IMAX), a public Internet Room, an Exhibition Gallery, an astronomy library, a cafeteria and an Astronomical Observatory.

It is managed by Navegar Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the development of scientific, educational and cultural activities. Navegar Foundation has been dedicating substantial efforts in the digital planetarium field. It has been organizing conferences, developing content, software tools for dome content creation.

The planetarium is located in the center of the city, close to the hotels and restaurants.


Immerse Yourself! Hope to see you all at IFF 11.

The Science & Entertainment Exchange

The Science & Entertainment Exchange is a program of the National Academy of Sciences that provides entertainment industry professionals with access to top scientists and engineers to help bring the reality of cutting-edge science to creative and engaging storylines.

Established in 1863 by Abraham Lincoln to provide crucial scientific advice to the nation, the National Academy of Sciences is uniquely positioned to draw on the expertise of thousands of men and women who have distinguished themselves in their respective fields in science. Relying on the special connections available to the Academy, the Science & Entertainment Exchange can quickly and efficiently make introductions, schedule briefings, and arrange for consultations to anyone developing science-based entertainment content. By constructing an informational nexus between science and entertainment, The Exchange is able to facilitate a valuable connection between the two communities.

Making a Difference through Collaboration

The portrayal of science – its practitioners, its methods, its effects – has often posed a challenge to the entertainment community. Though it has inspired some of the most intelligent and compelling storylines, science’s many complexities have confounded even the most talented writer, director, or producer, time and again pitting creative license against scientific authenticity and clarity.

Likewise, the scientific community has struggled to find an effective conduit through which it can communicate its story accurately and effectively. Though many of the world’s biggest problems require scientific solutions, finding a way to translate and depict scientific findings so that reach a wide audience has required a sounding board that has often been missing.

The Science & Entertainment Exchange bridges this gap and addresses the mutual need of the two communities by providing the credibility and the verisimilitude upon which quality entertainment depends – and which audiences have come to expect. Drawing on the deep knowledge of the scientific community, we can collaborate on narrative and visual solutions to a variety of problems while contributing directly to the creativity of the content in fresh and unexpected ways.
What Does The Science & Entertainment Exchange Do?

Spanning the range of science topics, The Exchange can find experts that will work with you to identify and effectively portray the science details that complement a storyline. We can help flesh out ideas that depend upon accurate details relating to insects, extraterrestrial life, unusual Earth-based life forms, or the mysteries of oceans. We can refine concepts relating to emerging science concepts in areas such as space travel, multiple dimensions, nanotechnology, computer technology, and engineering. We can find experts in environmental and ecological issues, health, medicine, and disease, and U.S. educational practices. We are also well positioned to work with you on public policy issues that relate to science such as stem cell research, global climate change, and teaching about evolution and the nature of science.

HOLLYWOOD'S NEXT BIG THING

IMERSA LINK

Immersive entertainment specialist Ed Lantz to address Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on the future of cinema.

Beverly Hills, Calif. USA - When the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences meets at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater on Thurs, Dec 2, at 8 p.m. to explore what could be in the future for motion pictures in "Where Do We Go from Here?" presented by the Academy's Science and Technology Council and hosted by writer-director-producer Jerry Zucker, one of the people they'll hear from will be entertainment technology engineer/entrepreneur and digital cinema pioneer Ed Lantz, president of Vortex Immersion Media and co-founder of IMERSA.

FROM THE ACADEMY PRESS ANNOUNCEMENT:

'"Where Do We Go from Here?" will examine topics ranging from artificial intelligence to performance capture, 3D and non-traditional theatrical venues. Joining Zucker will be Council member and production designer Alex McDowell ("Watchmen," "Minority Report"), immersive art and entertainment expert Ed Lantz, neuroscientist Eric Haseltine and transmedia storytelling expert Jordan Weisman. Zucker's interest in the future of cinema is evident in his role as a co-founder of the Science & Entertainment Exchange, a program of the National Academy of Sciences that provides entertainment industry professionals with access to scientists and engineers. His feature film credits include "Airplane!," "Ghost," "My Best Friend's Wedding," "Rat Race" and "Fair Game."'

Tickets for "Where Do We Go from Here" are $5 for the general public and $3 for Academy members and students with a valid ID. More information at www.oscars.org.

ABOUT IMERSA.ORG

IMERSA - Immersive Media, Entertainment, Research, Science & Arts - is an international non-profit professional organization that celebrates and promotes immersive and fulldome media for education and entertainment in planetariums, schools, museums, cinemas, events and attractions. Mandated to raise the profile and professionalism of its members, IMERSA bridges many disciplines including researchers, artists and technicians. IMERSA is a driver and nexus for communication, collaboration, experimentation, education and promotion of digital immersive media in a variety of formats and functions. Visit www.imersa.org.

ABOUT THE ACADEMY

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is the world's preeminent movie-related organization, with a membership of more than 6,000 of the most accomplished men and women working in cinema. In addition to the annual Academy Awards - in which the members vote to select the nominees and winners - the Academy presents a diverse year-round slate of public programs, exhibitions and events; provides financial support to a wide range of other movie-related organizations and endeavors; acts as a neutral advocate in the advancement of motion picture technology; and, through its Margaret Herrick Library and Academy Film Archive, collects, preserves, restores and provides access to movies and items related to their history. Through these and other activities the Academy serves students, historians, the entertainment industry and people everywhere who love movies.

Press release from IMERSA

LOCHNESS PRODUCTIONS: FULLDOME SHOWS

Loch Ness Productions is an innovative company that features the talents of several of the planetarium community's "stellar attractions".

It was started in 1977 by Mark C. Petersen, then the Composer-in-Residence at Boulder's Fiske Planetarium. Many pleased planetarium patrons came up to the console after the shows, asking where they could obtain the music they had heard during the programs. Since it was original music composed just for the shows, Mark noted the most-requested selections, and released the first of the GEODESIUM series of albums.

Over the years, Loch Ness Productions has added other planetarium production materials to the catalog. Since its founding, nearly 900 planetaria in the U.S. and 48 other countries have purchased programs, images, and/or music from Loch Ness Productions — an unsurpassed and ongoing record for an independent planetarium production company.

More than a million planetarium patrons have experienced Loch Ness Productions planetarium programs. "ALL SYSTEMS GO!", "The Mars Show", "The Voyager Encounters", "Larry Cat In Space", "More Than Meets The Eye", "'Tis The Season" have each sold in excess of 100 copies, and many are still presented at planetaria both large and small.

Today, Loch Ness Productions is focused on creating digital print, video and audio media for fulldome theaters, museum exhibits, Webcasts, software and more.





Contact Them @
Loch Ness Productions, Inc.
Post Office Box 924
Nederland, Colorado 80466-0924 USA
1-888-4-NESSIE (1-888-463-7743)
+1 303 642 7250
info@lochnessproductions.com
www.lochnessproductions.com

KENJI WILLIAMS

Creative Director and Composer, Kenji Williams is an award winning filmmaker, music producer, theatrical show director, and classically-trained violinist. A world bridger of music, visual arts, science and unique storytelling, Williams has collaborated with international DJ John Digweed, evolutionary philosopher Ken Wilber, world famous painter Alex Grey, the Gates Planetarium (Denver Museum of Nature & Science), and is exposing his solo work from big music festivals around the world, to mainstream television, and film soundtracks. His current live multimedia show, “BELLA GAIA”, involves collaborating with institutions such as NASA and The Smithsonian. In addition to public and critical acclaim, Pioneer, Panasonic, and Sony corporations have sponsored Williams with technology to support his artistic vision.

Combining unique skills in film and music, Williams has earned international film awards from the CSC to Sundance and has been featured in the media from European publications and BBC radio, to mainstream Japanese press, to NPR, Tricycle, XM Radio, AV Revolution, XLR8R, and Apple.com. Composer and producer of 6 music albums, Director of 15 films and music videos, 3 feature length projects, and 3 multimedia theatrical live shows, Kenji Williams is respected as pushing the boundaries of audio visual art and theatrical performance..

Classically trained in Violin since the age of 7, Kenji Williams performs live ethereal- style violin, with a laptop, keyboard and drum machine. Tracking Kenji’s multimedia career, from classical violin training, to his early influences in Detroit and European techno, to a BFA in Film Production, and touring with Dub Hip Hop Reggae bands and trance group Medicine Drum, while simultaneously producing and directing films and music videos, the combination of ingredients that make Williams’ art fuse into an exotic and tantalizing audio visual experience.

Kenji Williams is booked from Europe to America to Japan, performing at major music festivals, to international conferences, to high end Full-dome theaters and museums, to 300,000 person outdoor events. Williams has also collaborated with visionary artists as Alex Grey in the ‘Worldspirit’ project, critically acclaimed by revered philosopher, Ken Wilber.

Collaborating with the most respected artists of our time, Williams is re-shaping the context of communication arts by pioneering new worlds of musical composition and performance, while simultaneously pushing the boundaries of film & visual communication, and combining them on the stage. Considered by many as a "next level" multimedia artist, Kenji Williams delivers unique and out-of-this- world experiences to audiences worldwide.

Bella Gaia - Planetarium Show from Light Harvest Studio - Ryan Uzi on Vimeo.

MIT>CENTER FOR ADVANCED VISUAL STUDIES

The Center for Advanced Visual Studies is a fellowship program that commissions and produces new artworks and artistic research within the context of MIT. A laboratory for interdisciplinary art practice, the Center facilitates exchange between internationally known contemporary artists and MIT’s faculty, students, and staff through public programs, support for long-term art projects, and residencies for MIT students.

Established in 1967 by Gyorgy Kepes, the Center provided long-term appointments in its first decade to artists such as Maryanne Amacher, Stan van der Beek, Lowry Burgess, Peter Campus, Charlotte Moorman, Nam June Paik, Yvonne Rainer, Alan Sonfist, and many others.

I believe MIT would be a perfect place to setup shop as a Planetarium Content Creator. For one the East Coast is very connected and what better place to pursue advanced video technology than MIT. With their forward thinking and larger than life alumni I makes me think of going to Graduate school there... Basically to whip them into shape if they are not already there...

In 2004-2005, the Center embarked on an ambitious revitalization program. Visits by twelve artists including Marjetica Potrc, 16 Beaver Group, Seth Price, Miranda July, and Michael Smith doubled as site visits, "seeding" proposals for future long-term residencies. In 2005-2006, the visiting artists series continues as the Center also produces major new projects by Michael Smith and the Center for Urban Pedagogy and adds student residents to its community of working artists.

Black Holes: the Other Side of Infinity

WATCH

Currently in distribution to more than 100 theaters worldwide, Black Holes: the Other Side of Infinity is one of the most successful fulldome shows ever produced. Narrated by Academy-Award nominated actor Liam Neeson, this cutting-edge production features high-resolution visualizations of cosmic phenomena, working with data generated by computer simulations, to bring the current science of black holes to the dome screen.

Audiences will be dazzled with striking, immersive animations of the formation of the early universe, star birth and death, the collision of giant galaxies, and a simulated flight to a super-massive black hole lurking at the center of our own Milky Way Galaxy. The program is accompanied by an extensive Educator's Guide.

Thomas Lucas Productions in collaboration with Denver Museum of Nature & Science, NOVA and the National Center for Supercomputing Applications; supported by grants from NASA's high-energy GLAST telescope project and the National Science Foundation. 24 minutes.

Languages: English, Spanish, Greek, Swedish, Mandarin, Italian, German, Finnish, Japanese, Korean

Black Holes is one other most popular astronomy based full dome shows on the Planetarium Market. It is packed full of exciting and dramatic content that warps your perspective of time and space.

It is a must see for anyone looking to gain knowledge of what is known of the unknown.

One day feature films will be on the charts in dome venues... Probably be a few years still till Hollywood gets there head around full dome content as a productive medium. But, Thanks to Ed Lantz and Vortex Immersion the learning curve want be as long.

IMILOA, HI FULLDOME FILM FESTIVAL HELD IN OCTOBER

An International line-up of over 50 digital planetarium films will be showcased at ‘Imiloa Astronomy Center’s first Fulldome Film Festival, October 5 to 10, 2010.
“We are very excited to host this international fulldome film festival in Hilo,” says Shawn Laatsch planetarium manager, “this will showcase the passion and artistry of the digital technology in the planetarium industry. Endorsed by the International Planetarium Society this will be the largest planetarium film festival in the world.”
The festival is a unique chance for planetarium and museum professionals from around the world to preview and evaluate the latest content available for digital planetarium theaters. It will showcase a variety of production types including CGI (computer generated imagery), time-lapse photography, and full dome videography.

Vortex Immersion Dome Experience, LA

Vortex Immersion Media (VIM) delivers visionary immersive entertainment venues and related products and services. With decades of experience in immersive art and entertainment technologies, an extensive advisory network, and worldwide relationships with leading media and special effects professionals, VIM is uniquely positioned to usher in the next generation of highly compelling group interactive attractions. VIM clients include leading casino resorts, theme parks, nightclubs, lounges, urban developers and corporate marketing, events and tradeshow planners.

Come experience the magic of 360-degree fulldome movies! This premiere Immersive Cinema series takes place in the Vortex Dome located in downtown Los Angeles at Los Angeles Center Studios. This special engagement runs from November 4th to November 12th culminating in a special presentation of Bella Gaia performed live by classically trained violinist Kenji Williams. For showtimes and ticketing click here and for directions to the Vortex Dome

FULLDOME A comprehensive Plugin For Immersive Environments

Fulldome for Adobe After Effects is a plugin that converts the standard rectangular workspace into a spherical or cylindrical one.

This allows the user to easily produce content for spherical screens, such as planetarium domes, which can occupy all 180°x360° of the spectator field of view, or even the entire 360°x360°.

The workspace in Fulldome is a projection of the spherical screen, usually a circular one.

Fulldome converts the standard rectangular workspace to a panoramic one, allowing the user to have a different view of the content produced, or producing content for panoramic projection. In this case, the Master Projection selected is cylindrical and the workspace becomes rectangular.

Fulldome manages all the transformations and projections of the media content (whether video, images or text), which now have their positions referenced in angular coordinates instead of the typical rectangular ones, although these are also available.

The plugin also possesses a set of astronomical features, as since potential users will be digital planetarium show producers. Fulldome allows the user, to input a date, time and location, and from there on to reference his media contents in astronomical coordinates in the celestial sphere.

The plugin supports network rendering and GPU acceleration for improved performance.

The Fulldome Plugin is available for PC and Mac, and is compatible with the different versions of After Effects, including CS5.

FullDome Plugin users are entitled to a copy of DomeView Standard version, for an enhanced preview of Dome content in the computer screen. DomeView is only available for PC

Various output projections:

* Azimuthal Equidistant (Fisheye)
* Azimuthal Equidistant Off-Axis
* Gnomonic
* Stereographic
* Ortographic
* Vertical perspective
* Cilindrical equidistant and equal area
* Spherical Mirror
* Sinusoidal

Various input projections:

* Azimuthal Equidistant (Fisheye)
* Aitoff
* Hammer-aitoff
* Gnomonic
* Stereographic
* Ortographic
* Vertical perspective
* Cilindrical equidistant, equal area and center
* Panoramic equidistant, equal area and center
* Spherical Mirror

Real time interaction
Astronomical coordinates (layers can be referenced in a local (dome) space, or in an global (celestial sphere) space)

Using The FULLDOME Plugin makes Fulldome content creation a snap. With a few adjustments after applying the plugin a designer can be ready to test content on a dome at a consistant rate.

IMERSA FULLDOME SUMMIT OCT 26-28, 2010

Symposium 2010 & Fulldome Summit
Plan to participate in the upcoming

The Fulldome Summit is to be held concurrently with the Symposium for Media and Museum Professionals October 26-28, hosted by the Denver Museum of Nature & Science (at the Gates Planetarium) and the Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival (Symposium). The Symposium 2010 & Fulldome Summit will bring content creators together with media executives from museums, theme parks, aquariums, zoos and other public organizations. More than 300 delegates are expected to participate in this 3-Day conference featuring; workshops, panels, screenings, exhibits and pitching opportunities. Session strands will be focused on the newest in 3D, Fulldome, Content To Go and creative fundraising options

IDOME

iDOME is a proprietry hardware/software platform developed by the iCinema Centre that offers a cost-effective and compact immersive visualisation environment for panoramic and spherical representations, video and/or computer generated. Ideally suited for museological applications, it is configured as a three to five meter fibreglass hemisphere that stands vertically in front of the viewer, with a projector, computer, surround audio equipment and user interface.

iDome Applications from UNSW iCinema Centre on Vimeo.

DOMEMASTERS

I'm a fulldome content producer and with that title comes a lot of computer and render farm technology. My knowledge of how to do this type of business came from a Undergraduate Research Opportunities Grant I received from University of Colorado College of Arts and Media with Bryan Leister in 2007. Since the Grant I have become very savvy with the work flow of getting fulldome content from concept to rendering then processing it to show on the dome. I have to thank Dan Neafus Gates Planetarium Operations director for the support and creating a Planetarium Research position for me at Denver Museum of Nature and Science. Having one of the most advanced planetariums in the world to test fulldome content on is definitely a privilege. This is a picture I took of the 36 clients of the renderfarm. For a Demo of the dome or if you have any questions contact Timmy Edens timmy@domemasters.com 303-478-8068

DOMEMASTERS CURVING YOUR PERSPECTIVE

THE MANIFESTO

"Domemasters provides a foundation for artists to take their vision and expressions from a normally flat surface into an immersive dome experience. This service is set into place so artistic digital dome content can be created and liberated from its natural astronomical category to be experimental art. This innovation carries the dome medium into uncharted and unpredictable realms.

The strategy for Domemasters is to offer dome demonstrations to artists with the intent to inspire them to create immersive dome content for audiences with there own art and unique styles. By implementing this type of strategy, channels of artistic influence are opened and a foundation is created for artists that can easily transcend cultures and continents."


Timmy Edens
APRIL 2010.
UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO DENVER COLLEGE OF ARTS AND MEDIA



A Link to the full thesis paper.
http://docs.google.com/document/edit?id=1s6GsK6fOru9aKBUcJ42JTkfWXrCNC0MKyxlkw2oyeHI&hl=en#

Timmy Edens
A Link to the full thesir. http://docs.google.com/document/edit?id=1s6GsK6fOru9aKBUcJ42JTkfWXrCNC0MKyxlkw2oyeHI&hl=en#