In some cases, you can’t use a fisheye camera to render a domemaster. So the solution is to create a hemicube camera rig.
But what is a hemicube camera rig? By setting up 5 different cameras into a specific arrangement you can seamlessly capture 180° of footage. And then with some stitching software you can later on merge the hemicube renders into a domemaster.
The tutorial to the right was created for Maya users, but the concepts could easily be replicated within in any CGI toolset.
After you have completed the tutorial and rendered out footage from the hemicube cameras, now you’re ready to stitch them together.
Maya Download
hemicube camera rig for Maya
— Check out my custom Maya camera for fulldome production which has the hemicube rig included.
— Here is a hemicube camera for Blender
CubeMap Camera Rig & Lens Shader
A cubemap is a typical hemicube camera setup where all the camera output their renders into one combined image (instead of outputting one image per camera). Since fulldome producers are often dealing with large resolutions, a cubemap can be a little too cumbersome to work with. But they can still be helpful for environment maps and such.
— CubeMap camera rig – Maya
— CubeMap lens shader – Maya, 3DS Max, or Softimage. (Mac build)
