Affordable Excellence: Advancements in High-End Fulldome Filming Technology

Presentation theme: fulldome

Until a few years ago, even 4K fulldome video filming was out of grasp except for the most sophisticated video cameras due to the high resolution. Onerous workarounds included shooting HD video in a green screen and embedding in larger fulldome scenes during post-production, or by shooting ultra-fast time-lapses with high-end photographic cameras (Matsopoulos, IPS 2016).

This presentation explores recent advancements in cost-effective high-end fulldome filming technology at up to 6k/60 FPS fulldome video, democratizing immersive content creation. Breakthroughs in commercial camera sensors, lenses, and post-production techniques empower creators to produce visually compelling fulldome narratives on a budget. Through case studies from work at NSF’s facilities in Arizona, Hawaii, Chile and the LIGO Hanford site we showcase the practical applications and creative possibilities of these innovations, highlighting their potential to expand access and engagement in fulldome filmmaking across diverse domains. Join us as we glimpse into the future, where affordable high-end off-the-shelf fulldome video filming can reshape the landscape of immersive storytelling. 

This work was facilitated by funding from the National Science Foundation’s GEMMA project (Gemini in the Era of Multi-Messenger Astronomy).

Lars Lindberg Christensen (NSF’s NOIRLab)