Digistar 3
Encyclopedia
Digistar 3 is a dome-based projection technology created by Evans & Sutherland
- to offer audiences immersive entertainment and education experiences that integrate fulldome video
, real time 3D computer graphics, and a digital planetarium
facility. Digistar 3 is fully scalable to meet up to >4k by >4k resolution video across a dome.
Digistar 3 is installed in a range of configurations from single lens projection systems for domes up to 9 m in diameter, such as the Argus Planetarium, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA, through to multi-projector installations such as the giant 24 m diameter dome at Nehru Centre, Mumbai, India.
Digistar 3 incorporates the Direct3D
real-time rendering standard to allow variation of shows based on audience interaction and presenter controls. The console comes equipped with a dialbox, a joystick and a palm pilot to making tailoring the show to the audience intuitive. The video is also distorted in real time to allow for multiple projector configurations without having to re-encode the video for each graphics processor.
Digistar 3 comes bundled with software to aid any planetarium in developing their own programs, though fulldome video
, being a new medium, requires a new skill set to keep all the dome active. The Digistar Users Group
focuses on creating content specifically for this system. Because of the new technical hurdles in creating 3D video content for the dome many planetariums opt to lease programs from institutions that have already gained ground in the fulldome field such as the Hayden Planetarium of New York or the Clark Planetarium in Salt Lake City, or from vendors such as Starlight Productions and Loch Ness Productions.
Evans & Sutherland
Evans & Sutherland is a computer firm involved in the computer graphics field. Their products are used primarily by the military and large industrial firms for training and simulation, and in digital projection environments like planetariums.-History:...
- to offer audiences immersive entertainment and education experiences that integrate fulldome video
Fulldome
Fulldome refers to immersive dome-based video projection environments. The dome, horizontal or tilted, is filled with real-time or pre-rendered computer animations, live capture images, or composited environments....
, real time 3D computer graphics, and a digital planetarium
Planetarium
A planetarium is a theatre built primarily for presenting educational and entertaining shows about astronomy and the night sky, or for training in celestial navigation...
facility. Digistar 3 is fully scalable to meet up to >4k by >4k resolution video across a dome.
Digistar 3 is installed in a range of configurations from single lens projection systems for domes up to 9 m in diameter, such as the Argus Planetarium, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA, through to multi-projector installations such as the giant 24 m diameter dome at Nehru Centre, Mumbai, India.
Digistar 3 incorporates the Direct3D
Direct3D
Direct3D is part of Microsoft's DirectX application programming interface . Direct3D is available for Microsoft Windows operating systems , and for other platforms through the open source software Wine. It is the base for the graphics API on the Xbox and Xbox 360 console systems...
real-time rendering standard to allow variation of shows based on audience interaction and presenter controls. The console comes equipped with a dialbox, a joystick and a palm pilot to making tailoring the show to the audience intuitive. The video is also distorted in real time to allow for multiple projector configurations without having to re-encode the video for each graphics processor.
Digistar 3 comes bundled with software to aid any planetarium in developing their own programs, though fulldome video
Fulldome
Fulldome refers to immersive dome-based video projection environments. The dome, horizontal or tilted, is filled with real-time or pre-rendered computer animations, live capture images, or composited environments....
, being a new medium, requires a new skill set to keep all the dome active. The Digistar Users Group
Digistar Users Group
- History :The Digistar Users Group began in the mid-1980s as an informal gathering of planetarians. This first gathering took place in St. Louis, Missouri . At the time there were only five Digistar systems worldwide. Today there are more than 100 Digistar equipped planetaria on four continents...
focuses on creating content specifically for this system. Because of the new technical hurdles in creating 3D video content for the dome many planetariums opt to lease programs from institutions that have already gained ground in the fulldome field such as the Hayden Planetarium of New York or the Clark Planetarium in Salt Lake City, or from vendors such as Starlight Productions and Loch Ness Productions.
Installations
Digistar 3 is now installed at over 61 locations worldwide, including:- National Space CentreNational Space CentreThe National Space Centre is one of the United Kingdom's leading visitor attractions that is devoted to space science and astronomy. It is located in the city of Leicester, England, next to the River Soar on the A6.-History:...
, Leicester, England (Official site) - Kendall Planetarium, Oregon Museum of Science and Industry, Portland, Oregon, USA
- London PlanetariumLondon PlanetariumThe building known as the London Planetarium is in Marylebone Road, London. It is adjacent to Madame Tussauds and is owned by the same company. A famous London landmark, it was once a notable tourist attraction, housing a "Planetarium", which offered shows relating space and astronomy...
- closed in April 2006 - Thinktank Planetarium, Birmingham, England
- International Centre for Life, Newcastle, England
- Armagh Planetarium, Armagh, Northern Ireland
- Adler PlanetariumAdler PlanetariumThe Adler Planetarium & Astronomy Museum in Chicago, Illinois was the first planetarium built in the Western Hemisphere and is the oldest in existence today. Adler was founded and built in 1930 by the philanthropist Max Adler, with the assistance of the first director of the planetarium, Philip Fox...
& Astronomy Museum, Chicago, Illinois, USA - Nehru Planetarium, MumbaiNehru PlanetariumThere are five planetariums in India named after India's first Prime Minister, [Jawaharlal Nehru]. Nehru Plantariums are located in Mumbai, New Delhi and Bangalore and there is a Jawahar Planetarium in Allahabad. Nehru Planetarium in Pune was the first one in Asia, established in 1954...
(Official site) - Planetarium Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
- Mediendom, Kiel, Germany
- Science Center of Iowa, Des Moines, Iowa, USA
- Exploration Place, Wichita, Kansas, USA
- Sci-Port Discovery Center, Shreveport, Louisiana, USA
- Sheila M. Clark Planetarium, Salt Lake City, Utah, USAClark PlanetariumThe Clark Planetarium is situated within the Gateway District at the intersection of 400 West and 100 South in downtown Salt Lake City, Utah, USA...
(Official site) - Goto Optical Manufacturing Co., Tokyo, Japan
- Centro Cultural de Merida Olimpo, Merida, Yucatan, Mexico
- Don Harrington Discovery Center, Amarillo, Texas, USA
- Jacksonville State University, Jacksonville, Alabama, USA
- South Carolina State University, Columbia, South Carolina, USA
- Eugenides Planetarium, Athens, Greece
- Planetarium Praha, Prague, Czech Republic
- Cite de l'Espace, Toulouse, France
- Planetarium de Bretagne, Pleumeur-Bodou, France
- The Planetarium at Fair Park in Dallas, TX, USA
- The Planetarium at the University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, Texas, USA
- Daniel M. Soref Planetarium, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA
- The Lamar Bruni Vegara Planetarium, Laredo, Texas, USA
- The Planetarium of Institute of Physics of Jan Dlugosz Academy, Czestochowa, Poland
- Griffith Observatory, Los Angeles, California, USA
- Planétarium de Vaulx-en-Velin, Vaulx-en-Velin, France
- Peter Harrison PlanetariumPeter Harrison PlanetariumThe Peter Harrison Planetarium is a 120-seat digital laser planetarium, situated in Greenwich Park, London and is part of the National Maritime Museum. It opened on May 25, 2007....
, National Maritime Museum, London, England - Skyler Mobile Planetarium, CAFAM, Bogota, Colombia
- Science Discovery Center, SM Mall of AsiaSM Mall of AsiaSM Mall of Asia is a shopping mall owned and developed by SM Prime Holdings, the largest mall developer and owner in the Philippines. SM Mall of Asia is the 2nd largest mall in the Philippines after SM City North EDSA, 3rd largest shopping mall in Asia and the 4th largest shopping mall in the world...
, Pasay City, Manila, Philippines - Ho Tung Visualization Laboratory, Colgate University, Hamilton NY, USA
- Planetario Sergio González de la Mora Museo Tecnológico de la CFE, México DF
- Kingman Museum and Planetarium, Battle Creek, Michigan, USA
- SUNY Oneonta Planetarium, Oneonta, NY, USA
- Planeterium, Museum & Science Centre Surat, Surat Municipal Corporation, City light road, Surat, Gujarat, India
- Infini.To - museo dell'astronomia e dello spazio, Turin, Italy