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Context

It isn’t a mystery that the full dome industry is growing. Recent years bring constant and significant development of technologies supporting the immersive experience in full dome theatres ranging from stationary dome venues hardware, portable inflatable dome systems to advanced sound and vision projection systems.

More and more venues are transforming from astronomical planetariums to full-dome cinemas. Parallely, more and more shows are being produced, however still mostly these are either real time GCI presentations (for example navigating through the universe), GCI-based shows or non-omnimax films or programs adapted to full dome projection, but not taking advantage of the dome capabilities. The industry starves for real-life, story-driven and cinematographic content and probably as new technologies arise, the omnimax cimea programs will be converging with ‘standard’ theatres in terms of content type and subjects slowly moving from science or popular science shows through a mix of science and entertainment to more entertaining content.

Challenge

As a newcomer to the full dome industry with my strong expertise in motion-controlled timelapse cinematography which I have been pioneering for the last few years I got quickly fascinated by the medium and immediately wanted to take my timelapses under the dome. To my surprise, as a quick research shown, shooting high quality timelapse content suited for omnimax projection did not seem possible or at least did not seem easy technologically. Quickly I have identified the most commonly adopted approaches and their drawbacks.

With most dome projectors requiring the 180° x 360° fisheye-projection image at resolutions ranging from 4Kx4K (4o96 x 4096px) to 8K (8192 x 8192) it became clear that virtually no technology allows for that. Let’s have a look at a few approaches that I know have been taken:

1. DSLR plus a circular fisheye lens.
   Mostly adapted and commonly used approach.
   Advantages: relatively easy workflow for shooting and post.
   Drawbacks: low optical quality of images rendered by fisheye lenses, lack of resolution forcing to upscale (in the best case upscaling from ~3700 x 3700 px image from 5DMKII to 4K with about 20% quality loss)
2. DSLR + Wide angle + Stitching
   Build a custom-designed rig with a few cameras and wide angles or use a robotized head to shoot series of images. Stitch in post.
   Advantages: sufficient resolution and quality
   Drawbacks: very ugly and time consumig workflow, flares issues
3. Photos + timelapse assets + CGI
   Shoot panoramas or gigapanoramas, some timelapse assets, put everything together in post adding some camera movement w/ camera mapping
   Advantages: decent quality & flexibility
   Drawbacks: time consuming, difficult workflow, high production costs, limited application

Being a bit paranoic about quality of image (which is crucial to my cinematography style) I wasn’t a big fan of using the DSLR+Fisheye approach. Especially after my fisheye experiments in “Gothic and spring” shortfilm. The other approaches are interesting, but really risky and unreliable (2) when it comes to shooting on location and delivering on time.

What interested me mostly was being able to shoot high quality timelapse with a reasonable workflow and simplicity of setup w/out compromising the quality. Turning that situation into an opportunity I took up the challenge and started research.

Research

Reaching back in my memory to the times of analog medium format cameras that I used to work with years ago I started thinking why not use a medium format camera plus a decent digiback with a fisheye lens to get what I longed for. Again, not that easy unless you show me a full-circle fisheye suited for medium format capable of filling the digiback sensor. Impossible. To make things more difficult – working with medium format cameras for timelapse has nothing to do with the ease of use I am used to with my 5DMKIIs.

The setup

Let’s cut the long story short and skip to the results. After a few months of independent research and testing we’re pleased to share the successful results and a proof of concept of an unique camera setup that we have invented for shooting ultra-high resolution omnimax (fulldome) timelapse.

The setup is based on a great invention by Stefan Steib of Hartblei – the HCAM camera, a 35mm standard fisheye lens and a digiback. While the first part of the setup is crucial, the latter may be adjusted depending on the particular requirements and goals. The great thing about HCam is that it allows you to use ANY lens with any medium format digiback. As simple as that and it works.

What we used in the following tests was a Leaf Aptus 8 digiback at about 30 MP (with rectangular resolution of ~5400 x 5400 px) and a new Canon 8-15mm fisheye which is a breakthrough in the world of 35mm standard fisheye lenses. Future plans assume making use of an 80MP digiback and increasing the resolution to 7500 x 7500px – as easy as using another back with HCam.

As a motion control system of course the DitoGear™ OmniSlider Servo was used – but this time it is not about choosing the motion control system.

The workflow is demanding both in terms of shooting and post even comparing to my most complicated DSLR-timelapse workflows, but definitely is much more rewarding than the other approaches mentioned. Putting it simply – it delivers stunning quality of image in terms of optical quality as well as resolution and image aesthetics.

The results

Let’s have a look at a few stills first.

The sequences were captured during the rig testing session in Poland in Jan, 2012. Unfortunately we had only 2 days to get this thing to work and the weather was pretty ugly, therefore this time the content itself is not particularly mind-blowing. However, the purpose of this test is to showcase the technology capabilities and deliver quality samples.

Note. This is a DOWNSCALED preview. The original footage resolution is 5400 x 5400 px and is also available as a 4K (4096×4096) Dome Master.

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Download full resolution still images at: http://bit.ly/Omnimax_Samples_Page

Let’s have a look at quick preview of motion-controlled shots. I wish the weather was more allowing to shot exterior night shots.

Is that a breakthrough?

To some extent. With this camera setup we’re able to capture equidistance mapping hemispherical timelapse shots of ultra high quality and extreme resolutions ranging from 4K (4096×4096) to almost 8K (7500×7500) suited for most demanding fulldome projects. That was not possible before.

I can’t wait to use this setup for a full dome show production as the results, especially paired with motion-controlled timelapse will definitely bring a new quality to the dome shows.

Learn more about our fulldome & motion controlled timelapse cinematography services at:
http://bit.ly/omnimax-timelapse
http://bit.ly/LookyCreative_Timelapse

If you’re interested in discussing potential cooperation or just want to say hello, please do not hesitate to get in touch.

Here’s our latest test with camera projection and timelapse explained.

The camera projection technique allows to create timelapse shots where the camera is moving in such way that is impossible to achieve in the real world.

In this technique, the static timelapse shot is projected onto a recreated 3D geometry and the virtual camera is created to film the scene.

The geometry may be either recreated manually, generated basing on DEM models, LIDAR data or photogrammetricaly.

Many thanks to Greg Downing @ XREZ studio for inspirations.

The Chapel, a short film that I shot last year will get a sequel. Actually, a new, experimental film is on it’s way.

“The Chapel: Rebirth” will be an experimental short film telling the story of the amazing temple in Zeliszow, Poland, combining realtime footage, pointclouds animations based on 3D Scanning results that we did recently with EKG Baukultur and probably also timelapse footage.

A few weeks ago we did a shooting of dance scenes with Irena Lipińska. Enjoy a few BTS shots by Maciej Siemieniuch below:

Many thanks to Studio SO Interactive for making the RED ONE available to us. The guys over there have a neat set for the RED One, but I was told that a brand new EPIC is on its way. Look forward to it. It will be the 2nd EPIC in Poland as far as I know, so in case you need it for a production do not hesitate to get in touch with Paweł Idzi of SoInteractive.

Here are some stills from Jan of EKG Baukultur with the initial pointclouds views. You might have seen them already.

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I am working hard now on the postproduction of the pointclouds and exploring different possibilities of turning datasets into aesthetically pleasing and engaging visuals. Check some of the early tests below:

More to come, so stay tuned. The post of this project will take time, but it’s worth it not to rush it

Since March, 2011 we have been working on producing, shooting and post producing our first feature-length documentary film, Muzyki (Musics). Summarizing the project: 5 days of shooting, 2 music videos (separate and incorporated in the film), a few shorter music clips, and the result is a 55-minute long creative documentary.

Muzyki (Musics) is a creative documentary about the stimulative process of making music, materialized in an artistic collaboration of the musician Michał Zygmunt and filmmakers Aga Gonczarek & Patryk Kizny. It explores the inspirations, the quest for one’s roots, the artistic meetings and the musical journey into the unknown, which all lead to the creation of a unique music album and a series of exceptional live music performances. It reveals a modern interpretation of Polish roots culture by means of music and imagery.

The main characters are three artists: a contemporary Polish musician, Michał Zygmunt, a Swiss music producer, Roli Mosimann and a Polish folk musician of older generation, Zdzisław Jamborski, who have learnt to to read the score late in his life. Each of these characters tells his own story, shares his fascination for the music and brings his own unique attitude and personal charisma to the recording studio, influencing the work on the album. Each of them has different goals and spreads different message.

Those three different perspectives build up an interesting story about the multidimensional meaning of music and leave the audience with numerous unanswered questions about the old world that passed away and contemporary human condition.

Watch the trailer of the documentary.

The premiere of the film will take place at Camerimage festival in Bydgoszcz, on December 1 st, 2011, at 9.00 PM, Opera Nova Festival Center, documentary screening room. Save the date.

Plus Camerimage is the most recognized festival dedicated to the art of cinematography and its creators – cinematographers. The 19th edition of the Festival will be held from November 27th till December 3rd, 2011 in the City of Bydgoszcz, Poland. For more information visit: http://www.pluscamerimage.pl

Download press & sales pack:

1. Muzyki Press & Sales pack (PDF)

Learn more about the project:

1. www.muzyki.org
2. www.facebook.com/muzyki