Vioso brings its projection calibration technology to the world's largest dome

The German manufacturer has collaborated with Lumen & Forge in the projection made inside this dome in the shape of a 'pill', during the Super Bowl 2020, thanks to advanced calibration software technology.

The Super Bowl, the most important match that ends the National Football League season (Nfl), which celebrated its 54th edition last February 2020 at Miami's Hard Rock Stadium (Florida – USA), It had a spectacular projection system to match this event, which attracts millions of spectators around the world every year.

The System Design Consultant at Lumen & Forge He was chosen by Broadwell Airdomes USA, on behalf of the organiser of the show AG Entertainment, to help during this event to create an unforgettable experience for the more than 60.000 People who attended the stadium.

With the help of Vioso, German Projection Specialist, Lumen & Forge installed an immense dome, of 68,58 meters wide by 53 high, which has made it the largest projection made to date within this type of structure.

While many industry-standard projection domes have a hemispherical shape, The one that was installed for this project had a unique oval shape, in 'pill' form, designed by Broadwell Airdomes USA to have a greater capacity of visitors who later went to concerts and events.

In addition, Thanks to this 'pill' shape, an optimal location is also created for the twenty-four digital projectors of the Digital Projection, M-Vision Laser 18K model, installed inside to display without any interference or restriction of view.

In the face of these advantages, This unique design also had significant implications for both camera calibration and content creation. To combat this, Vioso was asked to provide a very advanced calibration frame, which included Lumen's Domemaster server & Forge, Six Display Drivers Datapath Fx4, as well as a tripod of 7 Meters high for calibration chamber.

"Although Domemaster is the most common format for traditional 180° and 360° video creation spaces, this dome was out of that specification because of its pill form," Misha Fradin now explains, Managing Partner of Lumen & Forge-. Content created in that format would have been distorted when projected and ruined the visitor experience.".

After designing the dome in a three-dimensional space, The teams were able to develop the content, who previously had a test run with virtual reality technology. Using this method, 16 Contents×9 It was modified to perfectly fit the shape of the dome, altering calibrations to fit the camera lens.

"We couldn't just stretch the image to create an oval, as that would have put too much stress on the sides and the contents would have appeared warped. Normally, The hemispherical dome shape perfectly matches the shape of the camera lens, But since there is no such thing as an oval-shaped lens, We had to make the view work for us.", Fradin points out.

The calibration achieved by Vioso "was carried out live from the view of the circular lens," he adds. To adjust the oval shape of the dome we used 3D mapping of it. This hybrid combination of the real and the virtual allowed us to achieve a perfect image.".

Vioso had used Lumen's Domemaster server before & Forge for calibration and playback within a dome. How this installation applies for concerts and events, Traditional media and videos weren't enough.

Instead, Domemaster was used with Vioso's Blackbox software to perform the calibration. Playback was powered by a separate server and captured by Lumen's & Forge, with two 4K inputs, before mapping inside the dome.

The teams had only two months to design the projection study and specify the technical aspects. For the moment of assembly before its inauguration, Construction of the dome was already underway and time was tight.

This meant that the team's first opportunity to operate the calibration was just three days before opening. In addition, It could only take place at night, as the field operations team was still completing the construction of the dome.

"Every night, The dome was a meter or two larger, making our calibration from the night before useless," recalls Kevin A. Zevchik, director of Vioso América-. We were there every night until its opening, calibrating and altering the projection as it was built.".

The teams only had one night for the final calibration, in which the size, The scope and shape of the dome would have to be reconsidered again. “It was only by working closely with our exclusive self-calibration partners at Vioso that we overcame the problems and had great success both, in the quality of it as well as in the deformation of the image for opening night", says Fradin.

Other articles on AG Entertainment, Broadwell Airdomes USA, DataPath, Digital Projection, Lumen & Forge, Super Bowl, Vioso, Vioso Projection Software