It’s been fascinating to see IMERSA evolve and mature over the last few years. And since things are moving so fast, I wanted to document the challenges being faced in the immersive community with a series of interviews.
Last year at IMERSA there were nervous murmurings of VR, but this year there is clear excitement. It’s particularly interesting to see fulldome producers realize that they already possess the tools, skills, and ultra high resolution workflows to create polished VR experiences.
An interview with the man that needs no introduction! Andrew Hazelden and I discuss the many vital production tools that he has been creating for fulldome and VR. We discuss in-depth tools such as: Domemaster3D, PlayblastVR, RocketComp, Domemaster Fusion Macros.
An interview with Ethan Bach discussing some of his recent work on Morphos (Fulldome Artist in Residence), IFAA (International Fulldome Arts Alliance), and BETA – Emerging Technology Arts.
The IMERSA Summit 2015 was intense, fascinating, and gave me a fresh breath of air of where fulldome is headed. Each of the presentations/panels were well prepared and technical problems were solved quickly. And the amount of attendees is just at that equilibrium where you can still meet a fair amount of people.
I ran into many people that are clearly passionate about fulldome and it was inspiring to hear their unique perspectives and experiences. So I realized that I should document a slice of these conversations with one interview question:
What challenges have you recently faced?
Teaching 3D animation is no simple task. Especially if the center of interest is astronomy and fulldome! So in September 2013, I was asked to teach my astronomy visualization techniques as a visiting artist at OSU.
Shane Mecklenburger is the 3D animation professor of a class called “The End & the Beginning of Everything”, which received a Battelle Endowment. Participating OSU astronomers and astrophysicists paired with the animation students to create a dialogue and help inspire their artwork.
