Category Archives: Technical Resource

Submit Video & Audio Separately

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To simplify some ongoing issues, please give me the 1024×1024 quicktime video and the stereo wav separately. I will then combine all the shows into one big continuous piece and it will be a smoother experience in the dome.

Therefore it is imperative that you check the final video/sound syncing prior to giving it to me. So please drop the MOV and WAV into Final Cut or Premiere and test the syncing.

Explanation: Several groups are handing off the finalized video to the sound person. Then the video was getting its aspect ratio and fps adjusted since their sound software was  re-exporting it with different settings. Of course you should feel free to continue bringing the video into your sound software for editing/playing with sound, but then only export a wav for your final sound piece. The video should come directly from After Effects, Fincal Cut, Premiere, etc. And the audio should come directly from software of choice. If this is confusing, then we can chat in person to smooth it all out.

Class at MOS – March 20 2013

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Testing video drafts in the dome tonight.  You can see the 3 groups in the dome player interface below. Jason has been renaming all the students files in an organized way so that he can keep track of each version. 2 out 3 groups managed to get there files uploaded to the class’ dropbox folder earlier in the day so that Jason could get everything downloaded in time for class.

 

class3_21

$60 Fisheye Lens

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I just ran across this inexpensive fisheye lens. Its not at all clear from the manufacturer website, but from the blog I can gather that APS-C & APS-H sensors (most digital cameras) would probably work just fine and project the full fisheye circle with no cropping onto the sensor. I know that some newer Nikon and Canon cameras can record video… perhaps this will interest some of you.

http://www.newtonscannon.com/2010/10/18/inexpensive-fisheye-for-small-digital-cameras/

http://opteka.com/20X.aspx

Cosmix – Immersive Media Festival

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Here is an excellent resource for all types of fulldome production. http://stardust.ringling.edu/cosmix/fulldome/index.html

The Cosmix initiative is a community building effort on the part of the Ringling College of Art and Design, Bishop Planetarium at the South Florida Museum, and Riverview High School Planetarium to lay groundwork for a number of potential collaborations that would extend the reach of these institutions into relationships with new audiences.

Cosmix 2013 Festival – http://stardust.ringling.edu/cosmix/

Stellarium, Free Open Source Planetarium Software

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This is free for anyone who wants it. It’s an interactive and very detailed program that provides a vast amount of information about the night sky at various times of day and points on earth. I’ll probably bring it into class today to show it for real if there’s time. It’s a lot of fun to play around with, but i know that not all of what we’re doing has to do with space. But even just in terms of informational purposes and images it’s a useful tool.

 

Here is the link for the download: http://www.stellarium.org/

Charles Hayden Planetarium in Boston – Review – NYTimes.com

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This was written in 2011 at the launch of new renovations done at the Planetarium. It’s useful to have some background about our new theater space!

Charles Hayden Planetarium in Boston – Review – NYTimes.com.

“Though the Hayden in Boston is now billed as “the most technologically advanced digital theater in New England,” it does not pursue thrills for their own sake, or with some exaggerated notion of what is required to lure media-sodden children into space.

The show, instead, begins with a firm sense of place. And as it surveys the discovery of planets beyond our solar system, the old human-centered cosmos is never completely left behind: it actually motivates and guides the odyssey.”