Let me see if I have this correct.
You want to take a flat image and project it using projector with a conventional lens onto the inside of a dome so that it covers the inside of the dome completely and looks correct?

If so I don't see how that's possible, the image would have to have been taken with a fisheye lens to get the matching 180deg field of view.
The Sphere plugin for AE will do project an image into / onto a sphere however you need an image that's prepared for that process. The few times I've done that to create spinning worlds I've used images already prepared by NASA. There's a tutorial here:
http://www.videocopilot.net/tutorials/glass_orbs/
that shows how to prep a texture using Photoshop however I think that's not going to give you what you want at all.

You could try using a displacement map in Vegas. The trick would be to get the correct spherical gradient. What I'm not at all certain about is how Vegas hadles the edge pixels. Even then though I cannot fathom how this would work optically, sorry. It all seems to come back to the original simply not fitting into a sphere.

Bob.

Just found a moment to try that Polar Coordinates plugin in AE.
Set it to rectangular to polar and would the slider up. Sorry I don't see anyway to do that in Vegas but I'd love to be proved wrong.

I assume this gets projected through a fisheye projection lens to cover the inside of the dome. Could look quite effective with the right footage.

How much do you need to process?
If it's not too much and it could be compressed down to a couple of GB you could FTP it to me to do for you or maybe some closer by person from here will be so kind as to put their hand up.

Bob.

Yes, this create "dome masters" that would be projected via a fisheye lens projection system or a mutl-projector all-sky system for larger domes.

Having this ability allows one to create multi-screen video shows with titles and graphics that would utilize the dome, not warp a single video clip or image to fit the entire dome, within the dome master. I create 3D scenes that are render as spherical panoramas. I have a special utility that converts them from rectalinear to polar more easily that the polar coordinates filter in After Effects. The goal is to combine these complete immersive scenes with 2D video and graphics into a complete multimedia presentation.

I am currently using After Effects to do this, but it is so cumbersome to work with and is less than intuitive. I have not yet found a utility that will allow me to create the warp effect in Vegas Pro. I guess there is always hoping.

Thanks,

Troy

I wonder if Satish has any plugins in his package that would do this?

Dave T2

I am currently using After Effects to do this, but it is so cumbersome to work with and is less than intuitive.

I've been pleasantly surprised by how much easier the recent versions of AE are to learn, compared to say AE7 which was TOUGH.

"I am currently using After Effects to do this, but it is so cumbersome to work with and is less than intuitive."

It drove me nuts for years. Now that I'm getting into the 'groove' of it more the previous grief I had with it is hard to fathom. I now find it easier to work with for comps than Vegas. Null objects, adjustment layers, expressions and getting enough of the keyboard shortcuts memorised made all the difference. Using a 3D camera which seemed to me like overkill initially has made things easier too. Over 100 layers of HD in one simple comp no sweat, the workspace was still responsive enough to be realtime. Same project in Vegas, by 30 tracks it was like swimming in treacle.

Bob.

Download and install AnyFX DEMO from here:
http://www.pixelan.com/afx/demo.htm
And this AnyFX preset:
http://anyfx.info/downloads/Polar.afxa
Then load Polar.afxa in AnyFX filter. It is a polar coordinate filter similar to what AE have. If this is what you search for, I can add a better interpolation.

Ivan

Ivan,

That's close, but what I need is a filter that does not warp the image into a complete circle, but rather an arc where the left and right edges of the clip draw an imaginary line through the zenith. Would it be possible to add some controls that would control the amount of polar projection? Instead of say, 360 degrees like it currently does, allow one to select from 0 to 360? This would definately be a great solution!

Thanks,

Troy

I've been given this some more thought, just to keep the old grey cells active. I'm not so certain Vegas is the right tool for this. The resolution might be a problem. In Vegas I think we're limited to 4K, in AE some absurdly large number.

So assuming 4 panels of 16:9 HD.
Four comps 1920x1080, one for each panel. Do anything specific to each image in those comps. Final comp 10,000 x 2,400. That'd give me a bit of room to add some background(s) to use to hide the joins or fill the apex of the dome. Apply the polar FX as an adjustment layer. You bring the 4 HD comps into that. Reason for working in such a high res comp is to get all the pixels into the polar FX.

Many years ago I did see a full dome system at Ceasars Palace in Vegas. I think its gone now. What made it look so impressive was probably because it was using IMAX 70mm. Even then as the image got towards the rim of the dome it did get noticeably softer. The rim of the dome would have been over 100' and that equates to one big screen. Trying to do that using digital projection would be a challenge as the pixels are stretched so much. Probably need 4x 2K projectors fed into some fancy optics and then into the projection lens.

Bob

Believe it or not, 4K x 4K is usually (not always) the maximum resolution for the planetarium industry standard dome master. The idea behind this filter is not to take a 16:9, 4:3 or any other aspect image or clip and warp it into a circle to cover the entire dome, but to curve (distort) the media along the arc of the dome. It should not change the original aspect of the clip just allow it to project correctly in its own space within the dome.

When creating a complete immersive sequence 360 x 180 degrees it would be done via a 3D application or a camera rig that either had a very precise lens to create the polar fisheye image, or a series of cameras that would be able to be stitched back together.

This is simply a way to create a complete multimedia experience similar to the older traditional planetarium shows with multiple slide projectors, video projectors and special effects in a single movie format. Most full dome shows are a mixture of immersive 3D renderings, SD and HD video clips and still images that have been woven together. After Effects has been the tool of choice and can't be ignored. I'm just looking for another tool that might work better in some cases.

Troy

Version with more controls is uploaded, but may be still not exactly what you want.
http://anyfx.info/downloads/Polar2.afxa
Please contact me via AnyFX tech support at http://anyfx.info/help/techsupport.htm

Ivan

Hi Ivan,

I have installed AnyFx yesterday and now I'm playing with plugin. Is there more hidden specials on : http://anyfx.info/downloads/***.afxa :-) ?

Best regards,