Joyce Towne
Sales/Marketing
Spitz, Inc.
[Note: this article, written in October, 1999, contains out of date product names and information. For the latest show information and news from Spitz please visit http://www.spitzinc.com ]
I joined the Sales and Marketing team at Spitz about a year ago. Prior to that time, I was Producer and Program Developer at the Franklin Institute/Fels Planetarium in Philadelphia. I was surprised to find so much going on at the Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania facility. Not only was there dome and star projector manufacturing, but also further development of advanced visualization systems, and a very intuitive Windows®-based automation system in use called ATM4. I found that the full-service company offers theater planning services, business planning for theater venues, training and custom show production - a service I was most familiar with.
I noticed some big differences in the show production process, since all of the shows in development at Spitz are immersive video shows, designed for use in domed ElectricSky theaters, and their wide-screen cousin, the ElectricHorizon. Spitz offers a three-channel video panorama, as well as four-channel and full-dome immersive systems.
Production tools such as 3D StudioMax, plug-ins, and rendering farms take the place of the still cameras, opaquing fluid and rotating wheels I have used in the past. The main focus is video production, with all-skies, laser images and sound track playing major, complementary roles. Though there are some variations to the production process to get used to, the overall result is powerful, stunning visuals the kinds of sequences we've been imagining and longing for over the years with no way to make them a reality.
I felt that other producers and theater staff would like to be exposed to these new production processes and results, since so many theaters are considering the acquisition of immersive systems, and lots of content will be needed. Spitz' ImmersaVision is a format that invites users to create their own sequences and shows (as well as involve 3rd-parties in the process, if desired). So the Creative Media department at Spitz began offering workshops to provide an introduction to this new production process.
Our animator, Brad Thompson, played a key role in presenting the workshop. He covered the steps in digital show production: storyboarding this step has become more critical in digital graphics production. 3D modeling, texture mapping, 3D animation, rendering and compositing were all covered during the two workshops.
Brad shared lots of samples from the Spitz immersive library. Clients subscribe to the library, then draw sequences to use in shows. The library currently consists of planet fly-bys, satellites, catastrophic events, and deep sky objects.
A big topic of discussion at the workshops was the extent of immersive visuals to include in shows and the overall cost of show production using the new formats. It's difficult to make up, or generalize a price for a planetarium immersive video production for a few reasons. Immersive visuals can be sprinkled into shows- shows which may still make use of the same slides, effects, or single-screen videos you use now, with stars or constellation identification. In this case there is an easing-in to the use of immersive graphics. Or, shows can utilize immersive video from start to finish! They may vary greatly in overall length depending on the desired purpose and goal. In a 30-minute, all-immersive video show, existing graphics perhaps from Spitz' library or another source, as well as custom graphic sequences might be used that are either produced in, or out of house. Producers can be conservative or extravagant in the amount of custom graphics or modifications they make to shows. Those are just a few of the factors that make show cost estimation tricky, until clear goals and storyboards are designed and discussed in detail.
Brad spends considerable workshop time covering off-the-shelf software for animation and production, such as 3D Studio Max and SoftImage, as well as plug-ins which Spitz has developed to augment this software, and in particular, to better shape the objects and sequences for use on a dome.
Workshop participants got a look at shows currently in production. One is a remake of an earlier Spitz production called "Oasis in Space", a show for general audiences and school groups. It's a search for water in the solar system. The show will be entirely reproduced for video panorama in the 10 to 3 aspect ratio that equates to 200-degrees by 60-degrees in the ElectricSky format. This show will be finished in early 2000.
Another interesting project is an entertainment show Spitz is producing with the new Science City at Union Station in Kansas City, MO. This new museum has done rigorous marketing to promote not only their daytime programming, but also a full evening schedule of shows and events for adult groups. They wanted a unique evening entertainment show for their new ElectricSky theater, making heavy use of music and immersive visuals. The result is PopMania! a show about fads and music of our century. It combines and overlaps video panorama with full-dome laser visuals, all-skies and multi-channel sound. A large number of our staff has been in Kansas City in October and November finishing the new theater and installing the show which opens in just a few weeks.
More ElectricSky shows are in production at the Northern Lights Centre in the Yukon. They are entering their third year of ElectricSky operation; Dave Leverton reports that the system has performed very reliably. We're currently planning the Leicester, England ElectricSky Theater with the National Space Science Centre staff. We expect to see lots of shareable content come from the additional three ElectricSky theaters that have recently signed on.
If any of you would like to attend an immersive workshop at Spitz, please contact me about scheduling. We would like to invite you to visit any time to see a demonstration of ElectricSky or our other products, and to meet our staff.
Our 40-foot demonstration theater houses 3-channel and 4-channel versions of ElectricSky. The graphics are really remarkable.
Spitz is pleased to be able to play a key role in the development of new technology and to make it, and new show production skills, available to you. Since we plan to stay on the cutting edge we'd like to hear feedback from you about what you need for your theater in the new millenium. It has been my pleasure to share with you my personal journey thus far into the Spitz realm.