Fulldome Professional Development Webinar this Monday & Tuesday

From David Beining here at ARTS Lab:

Dear Friends & Colleagues,

I'm writing in support of the unique opportunity you'll find below: It's a wonderful program dedicated to fulldome-based professional development in computer graphics as well as data-based archeological and cultural studies.  The presenting team, led by Kevin Cain, is an exceptional cast that have much to share with the fulldome producing community and the resources they're making available have great value in both production and research.  If you saw Kevin's talk at DomeFest2007, you'll have an idea of how clear the communication will be and how exciting the work is.  

Because of the usual bandwidth issues, there's a limited number of 'live' connections available and we invite those of you interested in fulldome content (and the many related tools and techniques Kevin and his team will discuss) to attend with us here at ARTS Lab.  The ARTS Lab will be hosting a group of interested participants here in our space (contact us at artslab@unm.edu if you'd like to attend). If you'd be interested in hosting a group at another venue here in New Mexico, please let us know and we'll help make arrangements.

The team here at ARTS Lab has had a great collaboration with Kevin and the folks at INSIGHT, and this is an excellent opportunity to take the continued success of NM-developed fulldome content even further.

  MAYA SKIES ON-LINE MASTER CLASS

 June 28th & 29th

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Greetings! 

Chabot Space & Science Center and INSIGHT are pleased to invite you to participate in the Maya Skies Online Masters' Class - a  FREE 2 day Webinar designed to introduce full dome producers and humanities researchers to the production tools and archive material available at the Mayaskies.net dissemination website.

The dissemination project, which was funded by a supplemental grant from the NSF, stemmed from our desire to share with others the expertise and learning -  both in terms of production techniques and archaeological archive material - that were acquired during the production of Tales of the Maya Skies.

Day one

of the Webinar is designed to help full dome producers produce immersive media from real-world environments.  Day two launches the Maya Skies Archive, a freely accessible repository of archaeological data from Chichen Itza, Yucatan, Mexico.  Both days keep the practical needs of full dome producers and humanities researchers front and center. 

The sessions are open to all - spaces limited to the first 100 applicants. Please RSVP to the address below and we will send you confirmation of your participation and details on how to join the Webinar:

RSVP, Chabot Space & Science Center:  TMS-webinar@chabotspace.org

A complete schedule is below - all times listed are Mountain Standard Time (adjustments made locally here at ARTS Lab).

The Maya Skies Online Masters' Class is presented by the Maya Skies production team from INSIGHT, an archaeological visualization group, listed at the end of this message.

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Day 1: Monday, June 28

Session 1
Introduction to Data-Driven Full Dome Production I:  Pipeline Overview
11am-12pm
Chris Bernal, Kevin Cain, Mark Eakle, Todd Gill, Jun Nagaoka

The full dome is highly immersive.  As a format, full dome excels at presenting real-world places with great immediacy.  But it's not simple to create realistic environments that hold up on the dome, especially for producers with limited budgets and experience.  This session introduces a pipeline for capturing data from the real world for use in full dome media.  2D and 3D reality capture are discussed, drawing on examples of time-lapse panoramic photography and 3D laser scanning.  While aimed at first-time dome producers, more experienced creators will also benefit.

Session 2
Introduction to Data-Driven Full Dome Production II:  Tech Walkthrough
Noon-1pm
Kevin Cain, Mark Eakle, Todd Gill, Jun Nagaoka

This session expands the discussion of Session 1's data-driven production pipeline.  We present a focused introduction to managing laser scan data in production, from initial capture through alignment, merging, surfacing, and painting.  Particular attention is paid to techniques for editing, UV layout and texturing steps, as conventional approaches generally fail with dense data-driven geometry.  This session is designed for full dome producers new to 3D reality capture techniques.

Session 2B
Live Session Follow-Up
1-1:45pm
Chris Bernal, Kevin Cain, Mark Eakle, Todd Gill, Jun Nagaoka

The speakers from the morning sessions will be on line to answer questions, provide detail, and connect with the web audience.



Session 3
Building Realistic Computer Graphics for the Full Dome
3-4pm
Chris Bernal, Kevin Cain, Mark Eakle, Todd Gill, Ali Jamalzadeh

From the start, the lion's share of full dome media content has been supplied as rendered images from 3D computer graphics.  Realism, long an object for CG images, is now becoming possible even with modest budgets.  This session explores two practical ways to increase realism for full dome graphics:  non-biased rendering of light, and efficient use of dome sampling in compositing.  Using the Tales of the Maya Skies production as a basis, we present suggestions for managing the complexity of rendering with natural light while remaining practical and efficient.  We also discuss new tools  to optimize color reproduction on the dome for rendered images and present an automated system for processing renders for collaborative review.


Session 3B
Live Session Follow-Up
4-4:45pm
Chris Bernal, Kevin Cain, Mark Eakle, Todd Gill, Ali Jamalzadeh, Jun Nagaoka 

The speakers from the afternoon session will be on line to answer questions, provide detail, and connect with the web audience.

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Day 2, Tuesday, June 29

Session 4
Introduction to Digital Cultural Heritage and Digital Capture Research
11am-Noon
Kevin Cain, Mark Eakle, Greg Downing, Greg Ward

Archaeologists and art historians have been practicing digital field techniques for at least the past decade.  However, the recent proliferation of good, cheap digital cameras and affordable processing power has enabled humanities researchers to take on more ambitious digital documentation projects.  In this session we survey research from the worlds of computer graphics and computer vision, showing approaches that can be directly applied to cultural heritage work.  We present the computer vision research for Tales of the Maya Skies as the core of our discussion, with emphasis placed on open source tools and off-the-shelf equipment that will work in the difficult field environments found at archaeological sites around the world.

Session 5
Maya Skies Archaeology Case Studies and the Maya Skies Data Archive
Noon-1pm
Chris Bernal, Kevin Cain, Falken Foreshaw, Ali Jamalzadeh, Jun Nagaoka

All of the data gathered on site at Chichen Itza, Mexico for Tales of the Maya Skies has been gathered into a public repository, which the team launches in this final session.  Using archaeological case studies from the archive, we introduce this archive and the web application built to navigate it.  The archive tools are themselves available for download; in this session, we walk through the steps to build your own humanities 'data dashboard'.

Session 5B
Live Session Follow-Up
1-1:45pm
Chris Bernal, Kevin Cain, Mark Eakle, Todd Gill, Jun Nagaoka

The speakers from the morning sessions will be on line to answer questions, provide detail, and connect with the web audience.



Suggested reading:

New Heritage: New Media and Cultural Heritage
Theorizing Digital Cultural Heritage: A Critical Discourse (Media in Transition)
Digital Technologies and the Museum Experience: Handheld Guides and Other Media

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Speakers participating live at Chabot Space and Science Center, Oakland, California, USA:

Chris Bernal: Core member of PalmaVFX, Digital Modeling Lead has worked with INSIGHT on archaeological film projects for several years, including two full-length documentaries on Egypt

Kevin Cain: INSIGHT founder and Director, has introduced digital tools to archaeological projects around the world for the last ten years.

Mark Eakle: Xenexus founder and long-time INSIGHT collaborator, photographer  shot on location for Tales of the Maya Skies.

Falken Foreshaw:Archaeologist - has assisted the Tales of the Maya Skies team in archaeological review, notably for the Caracol and Osario structures.

Todd Gill: INSIGHT Technical Director brings a career of visual effects to his digital field work and pipeline development for Tales of the Maya Skies, from CG work for feature film to web interactives.

Ali Jamalzadeh: Lead Artist has been at INSIGHT for two years; for Tales of the Maya Skies he has been focused primarily on painting the reconstructed structures of ancient Chichen Iza.

Jun Nagaoka:INSIGHT Technical Lead is responsible for guiding the development of the Maya Skies Data Archive and for much of the tool chain used in the production.

Follow Them at:

Special NM Screening of Maya Skies (7/7)

We welcome you to a special screening of "Tales of the Maya Skies," a fulldome film co-produced by UNM's ARTS Lab.  Please join us to celebrate the work of renowned New Mexico professionals like Hue Walker and Michael Stearns - and rising-star Jonathan Strawn - as well as the fabulous student artists and technologists who contributed greatly to this unique production.  Meet these merry makers and see this NSF-funded immersive film on the astronomy and culture of the Maya on the big dome:

Wednesday, July 7th
5:30pm reception; 6:30 screening (40 minutes)
The Planetarium at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science (aka LodeStar)
1801 Mountain Rd, NW, ABQ

Kids welcome!  We hope to see you there.

best,
Crew: ARTS Lab
http://artslab.unm.edu

**The film opens to the public July 2nd at the Planetarium.  Please help us spread the word to get as many New Mexicans to see this film as possible!  Learn more at: http://nmnaturalhistory.org/

DomeFest 2009 Starts Today!

In just a few hours, DomeFest 2009 arrives in Albuquerque with premieres, shows, talks and demos exploring the past and exciting future of the fulldome medium.

Info on schedules and more is at our DomeFest site, but meanwhile a few highlights from Today's schedule:

Friday Night @ the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science
9:00 - 11:30 AM

'Touching the Edge of the Universe'

US premiere screening and talk on the making of "Touching the Edge of the Universe," a new European fulldome film produced at the creative department of the "Mediendom" of the University of Applied Sciences Kiel (Germany). It involved up to 100 people and innovative techniques like 360° digital Red-One video camera filming.

Two Space 2009: The Dome Version
By Larry Cuba

In 1979, at the dawn of the computer-graphics age, Larry Cuba made a short, experimental film called Two Space. The film was released in the 16mm film format, a relatively inexpensive exhibition technology that (at the time) fell into a sweet-spot on the spectrum between the highest resolution available and the most affordable. Although accepting the limitations of 16mm, the artist imagined the film as a totally immersive experience, completely encompassing the audience's field of view, perhaps to be exhibited someday in a venue of the future --- a sci-fi speculation he thought of as The Ideal Theater.

As technology advances, wild speculations such as these turn into daily reality. In 2009, the artist was able to transfer the original film to digital form and then replicate each frame to fill the expanse of the Full Dome Master. This presentation will briefly review the processes involved in the film's original production in '79 and current rebirth as a full dome experience, finally realizing the artist's original vision, 30 years later. TRT ~6.5min.


Friday Night @ the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science
6:30 - 9:00 PM

'DomeFest Retrospective'
A 50-minute reel of the best of DomeFest from the first five years (2004-08). Includes some celebrated NM works and show some of the progress and directions in fulldome since 'the early years.' Produced in partnership with the Adelaide Film Festival with the support of the Australian Network for Art & Science.


'Celestial Mechanics'
Gabriel Dunne
Scott Hessels

Celestial Mechanics is a planetarium-based artwork installation that visualizes the statistics, data, and protocols of manmade aerial technologies -- a graphic display of the paths and functions of the machines hovering, flying, and drifting above our planet. The sky is filled with aircraft that transport people from place to place, perform utilitarian duties, assist in communications, enact military missions, or wander above us as debris. Celestial Mechanics combines science, statistical display, and contemporary art by presenting these mechanical patterns and behaviors as a dynamic visual experience. TRT ~10-min

DomeFest Returns to New Mexico (9/25-27)

DomeFest Returns to New Mexico this Fall

ALBUQUERQUE -- DomeFest 2009, the global festival for fulldome, runs September 25-27 with its 2009 program of artistic and technological innovations for large-format, immersive digital dome theaters -- “fulldome.”

After sold-out shows during DomeFest 2008 when it premiered in Chicago during the International Planetarium Society’s biannual conference, in its sixth year, DomeFest returns to New Mexico with a program that celebrates the medium’s past, exciting new works and bright future.

“With all the major Hollywood studios now producing 3D content, continued improvements in processing power and projection capabilities the fulldome medium is reaching critical mass,” says DomeFest founder David Beining. “This year’s DomeFest will really define where we are now and the promise of the future.”

The 2009 festival includes Friday’s “Real-Time Rodeo” and the US Premiere of “DomeFest Retro5pective,” including some of the “best of” and audience favorites from previous DomeFest juried shows, Saturday’s global premiere of the DomeFest 2009 juried show and coveted “Domie” awards, and a special Sunday night performance of J-Walt’s new 3D “Omnicentric Universe” for DomeFest Plus attendees. Each day includes several other premieres and much unique content. Main shows and making of talks will be held at the NM Museum of Natural History & Science (NMMNHS), Technical talks, discussions and Small Dome presentations will be held at UNM’s ARTS Lab.

The tentative schedule for DomeFest 2009 includes the following:

Friday, September 25:

9:00 AM - 12:30 PM

Making Of Talks; Shorts & Real-Time (NMMNHS)

1:30 - 4:30 PM

Small Domes, Talks and Technology Demonstrations (ARTS Lab)

6:00 - 10:00 PM

DomeFest Retro5pective; Real-Time Rodeo (NMMNHS)

Saturday, September 26:

9:00 AM - 12:30 PM

Making Of Talks; Shorts & Real-Time (NMMNHS)

1:30 - 4:30 PM

Small Domes, Talks and Technology Demonstrations (ARTS Lab)

6:00 - 10:00 PM

Juried Show & Domie Award Presentations (NMMNHS)

Sunday, September 27:

9:00 AM - 12:30 PM

Making Of Talks; Shorts & Real-Time (NMMNHS)

1:30 - 4:30 PM

Small Domes, Talks and Technology Demonstrations (ARTS Lab)

6:00 - 10:00 PM

“The Omnicentric Universe” J. Walt 3D Performance* (NMMNHS)


The festival is produced by the University of New Mexico’s ARTS Lab with support from Sky-Skan, Inc., the City of Albuquerque, IMERSA, Elumenati, Global Immersion, and others.

For those submitting work, submission details are at the domefest site. Deadline is August 21st. Another great world-class jury will be selecting pieces for the show on September 9th.

More information on the festival, including program details, registration, submission applications, sponsorship opportunities and more is available at www.domefest.org

WHEN: September 25-27, 2009

WHERE: NM Museum of Natural History & Science (NMMNHS)

UNM ARTS Lab

COST: $175 DomeFest (Standard)

$195 DomeFest Plus (includes special J-Walt Show Sunday Night)

REGISTER: http://www.domefest.org

More information on public showings and performances will be posted soon.

DomeFest 2008 Comes Home: October 14th

The ARTS Lab produced juried show for fulldome work premiered to capacity crowds at Chicago's famed Adler Planetarium -- and has since been seen in cities around the world.

We're proud to share DomeFest with our friends at home, with the support of the City of Albuquerque and in association with Motion08 with public showings at 6:30 PM and 8:30 PM; $10 suggested donation.
More info at: http://domefest.org/

What: DomeFest 2008
When: Tuesday, October 14th at 6:30 and 8:30 PM
Cost: $10 Suggested Donation
Where: NM Museum of Natural History and Science
1801 Mountain Road, NW
See Map Here

More DomeFest: NM Business Weekly Coverage

From the NM Business Weekly:
Peripheral Vision
New Mexico Business Weekly - by Megan Kamerick NMBW Staff

DomeFest, Albuquerque's homegrown digital media festival for full-dome theaters, has made its first debut outside its native soil.

The festival usually premiers in Albuquerque before hitting various venues around the world. But this year it premiered in Chicago at the nation's oldest planetarium, the Adler, following a July 3 meeting of the International Planetarium Society.

The timing seems just right for the festival to hit a bigger and more influential audience. DomeFest, the only worldwide festival devoted to content produced for full-dome (curved overhead screen) theaters, received a record 40 entries this year from all over the world. By tying the showcase to the biannual IPS conference, it has raised its profile significantly among the people looking for the content DomeFest provides: the 700-plus members of IPS from 35 countries around the world.

DomeFest and the related full dome summit packed the 270-seat Adler Planetarium for hours, said Hue Walker Bumgarner-Kirby, multimedia development specialist with the ARTS Lab at the University of New Mexico. The festival's jury selected 13 pieces for the final program and two alternates.

David Beining, founder of DomeFest, which is housed at the ARTS Lab, said the contacts he made in Chicago are already taking hold.

The DomeFest program is showing the week of July 5 in Germany, and it will show in at least two venues in the United Kingdom and in Montreal...

DomeFest 2008 will show in New Mexico on Oct. 14 as part of Motion08, an animation and digital media conference.

Visit the full article here: http://albuquerque.bizjournals.com/albuquerque/stories/2008/07/14/story1.html?ana=e_ph

DomeFest 2008 Update: Playing Next in Hamburg

DomeFest 2008 continues to spread its wings. After selling out the fulldome conference sessions (held in association with the International Planetarium Society's biannual conference in Chicago), DomeFest 2008 played to overflow crowds at the famed Adler Planetarium.

Winners include both established names and some newcomers -- including the Best of Fest prize, which went to a student production (that's truly awesome, btw). More on all of that later.

For now though, if you're on the other side of the Atlantic this coming week (or have friends who are), the digital media festival bitfilm 08, will be having its closing events in Hamburg, including the EU premiere of DomeFest 08 at the Planetarium Hamburg on July 10th and 11th.

Thursday, July 10
6pm: Machinima
7pm: 3D Space 1
8pm: 360° - Domefest nominees
9pm: Best of 360°
10pm: FX Mix 1
11pm: Realtime

Friday, July 11
6pm: Flash
7pm: 3D Space 2
8pm: FX Mix 2
9pm: 360° - Domefest nominees
10pm: Best of 360°
11pm: 360° - Alien Action
12pm: Stuttgart Tricks - Highlights from the Stuttgart Festival of Animated Film

More info available at bitfilm 08.