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Sky-Skan, Inc. began servicing the world with special effects projectors for
planetaria in 1967. In its contemporary form, Sky-Skan provides manual and
automated control systems for planetaria, IMAX, large film format theaters
and museums. In addition to their control systems, Sky-Skan also developed
the first fulldome video system called SkyVision in the early 90's. Today's
product line include SkyVision High Definition video and DigitalSky - a
real-time 3d planetarium and multi-media system for the domed environment.
The Graphics Department is kept busy producing SPFX DVD's boasting cutting
edge visualization of astronomical phenomena, as well as producing feature
SkyVision shows like the immensely popular 'Infinity Express'.
'Infinity Express' is currently playing at the Albert Einstein Planetarium at the National Air and Space
Museum in Washington DC and relied on Digital Fusion to stitch the image sequences together and using a
custom DF plugin written by Sky-Skan Graphic Artist David Miller, outputs to a full dome image.
'Infinity Express' has been incredibly well received garnering tremendous accolades from CNN, Discovery
Channel and the Washington Post. This 20 minute experience uses 12 projectors extending the dome image outside
of the viewer's peripheral vision to create the illusion of a 3D environment.
According to Sky-Skan, "Infinity Express takes the audience on an exciting journey of discovery, from the
search of the solar system to the mapping of the Universe. Some of the best space visualization agencies from
around the world including, the Space Telescope Science Institute and the Centre for Astrophysics and
Supercomputing as Swinburne University of Technology, contributed to the production, interpreting the script
developed between the writer and experts from the Smithsonian's Nation Air and Space Museum."
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This production truly expresses a contemporary twist to the developing relationship between art and science as well
as the benefit of the digital post process outside of Hollywood.
David Miller, Graphic Designer for Sky-Skan takes us through their process.
First let me describe to you our production pipeline so you can see how Digital Fusion fits in.
Initially we render five 1600x1600 images of each layer of each frame from our CG package, (cubic environment
map minus the bottom). We then stitch the sequence consisting of each set of five images into a dome master.
To do this we use a plug-in that I wrote for Digital Fusion. The input is five 1600x1600 images and the output
is one 3200x3200 fisheye full-dome view of that environment.
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We do the scene assembly within Digital Fusion, which includes the final composite and touchup of the 3d layers
resulting in our finished frames. We also do full show assembly in Digital Fusion since no NLE allows us to deal
with frames of this size and network render out the final results.
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So, as you can see, all 3d scenes go through Digital Fusion in order to make an image that can be displayed on a dome.
In addition to the above mentioned plug-in, I've also written another plug-in that takes a single input and places it
up on the dome in a number of ways. This allows us to take any video clip etc. and put it up on the dome as well as
move this around on the dome. This type of stuff just wasn't possible before we wrote the plug-in without going
through a 3d program. Essentially this plug-in now allows us to use Digital Fusion to composite in a dome environment
rather than a flat plane environment of which compositing applications are typically familiar with.
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There is an obvious dynamic regarding how a tool is used to manipulate digital content for differing form and
application. This dynamic is commonly over looked, as it is considered alternative to content creation for feature
film and television broadcast. However, the quick adaptation of existing tools like Digital Fusion for use in Museums,
educational facilities of varying sorts as well as theme parks etc. are making a definite impact on the progression
of the industry.
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For more information, including additional videos and stills please makes sure to visit the
Sky-Skan website at www.skyskan.com. 
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