Create a fulldome planetarium production

IFSRenderer is capable of exporting so called "dome master" animations that can be projected onto planetarium domes. This short guide is geared towards people with access to a planetarium projection system. Here are the recommended steps and settings to use.

Step 1 - Create a fractal

• This is up to you - start from scratch or generate randoms, here's the Getting Started Guide.
• You may want to look at the Starfield/Nebula tutorials for a space-themed fractal.

Step 2 - Add animations

• See the Animations tutorial for an introduction.
• Don't add any camera movement, this helps avoid dizziness feeling in viewers.
• Avoid too fast movements and flashing lights that may strain the eyes.
• Set the framerate to between 20-60 FPS.

Step 3 - Projection settings

• In the camera settings (bottom-left panel), set the Projection to Fisheye. This will also set the field-of-view to 90 and the image aspect ratio to 1:1 which is required for this projection to work correctly.
• Preview the animation and adjust the camera position/orientation: The center of the circle will get projected onto the top of the dome and the edges of the circle will get projected onto the side of the dome.

Step 4 - Export

• Switch to Final rendering mode in the top-right panel and set the resolution that fits your projector. A good starting point is 4K (3840x3840) or 8K (7680x7680) square.
• Review the animation export settings as described in the Animations tutorial.
• Don't forget to set the rendering mode to Final and rewind the timeline to the beginning.
• Hit Export/Export animations frames to select the output folder and let it cook.

Feel free to share your demo on the Discussions forum. And send feedback if you have anything to add to this short guide or need support.