Dome Tools: Dome Creator and Dome Viewer

This repository contains two main components: Dome Creator and Dome Viewer.
Together, they allow you to create and review interactive, realtime fulldome video and audio, and stream it live to a dome system.

flowchart LR;
    Creator("**<a href="https://github.com/prefrontalcortex/dometools#overview-dome-creator">Dome Creator</a>**<br>Unity plugin for real-time dome production")
    NDI("**NDI Stream**<br>Audio and Video")
    Viewer("**<a href="https://github.com/prefrontalcortex/dometools#overview-dome-viewer">Dome Viewer</a>**<br>Virtual Dome for Quest and Desktop")
    P("**Projection System**<br>Dome, Planetarium, ...")
    AV(**AV System**<br>Pixera, Vioso, Resolume, D3, ...)

    Creator --> NDI --> Viewer
    Footage("**Video Files**<br>Dome Master format") --> Viewer
    NDI --> AV
    Creator .- n4("Alternative: Video Grabber") .-> AV
    AV --> NDI2("NDI") --> Viewer
    AV --> P

    style Creator stroke-width:3px
    style Viewer stroke-width:3px
    style P stroke-width: 3px
    style NDI stroke-width: 0px;
    style NDI2 stroke-width: 0px;
    style n4 stroke-width: 0px;
    style AV stroke-width: 0px;
    style Footage stroke-width: 0px;

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Overview: Dome Creator

Dome Creator is a Unity package that provides you with a highly efficient realtime fulldome toolkit.
It comes with a camera prefab that is completely set up for interactive fulldome production out of the box.

There are two rendering modes:

1. Dome Warp – a novel single-view rendering technique that's extremely fast at viewing angles ≤180°, and
2. A traditional Cubemap-based multi-view approach that allows for very wide viewing angles (180°–360°).

Dome Creator supports all Unity Render Pipelines – BiRP, URP, and HDRP – and is provided as easy-to-use UPM package.

It also includes helpers to stream both video and audio in realtime via NDI, ready for display on a physical dome or our virtual Dome Viewer.

Overview: Dome Viewer

Dome Viewer is a virtual planetarium compatible with Windows, Quest 2, 3 and more. It can play back local video and image files, receive NDI streams with audio and video, or play back local Spout sources.

With Dome Viewer, you can view the output from Dome Creator in realtime, but you can also view any other NDI stream – for example video and audio signals coming from Resolume, Notch or D3.

The viewer is provided as Quest App download, and as executable for Windows, as well as APK download on SideQuest. It can also be modified and compiled from source.

Dome Creator and Dome Viewer are developed and maintained by prefrontal cortex.

Getting Started

Use Dome Creator to produce real-time, interactive fulldome content. Stream it over the network with NewTek NDI and view your content in Dome Viewer and other NDI-enabled applications.

1. Add Dome Creator to your project. Add the Dome Creator package to your Unity project using the installer:
   Download Dome Creator for Unity – Package Installer 📦

2. Add the "Dome Tools" prefab to your scene.
   You can find the prefab under Packages / pfc Dome Tools / Runtime / Dome Creator.
   Position , rotate, and scale the object to fit your scene and content.
   See the Dome Creator section for more details on how to use this package.

3. Install the NDI packages Select Dome Tools and click Fix next to "NDI Package is not installed". This will install a modified version of the KlakNDI package that includes audio support and other improvements.

4. (Optional) Learn from the samples Open Window > Package Manager and select the pfc Dome Tools package.
   Unfold the Samples section, then import the sample labelled "Import this first!".
   Now, import the sample for your current render pipeline (BiRP, URP, HDRP).
   Samples will be copied to your project's Assets / Samples / pfc Dome Tools folder.

5. Create content.
   Create your scene, animate the dome rig or its parameters, create and animate postprocessing effects, place and animate audio sources, and so on. Iterate quickly by previewing your content in the Dome Viewer.

6. Preview and showcase your content
   By default, your content gets streamed with NDI on your local network for easy viewing. Use the Dome Viewer to display the output on a Virtual Dome either on desktop or in VR, or display the NDI stream on a physical dome directly.

Typically, you will use the Dome Creator package in your Unity project, and start the Dome Viewer app on Quest 2/3 in the same local network. Once you're ready, the same NDI stream can be received by many planetarium AV systems directly – in realtime.

Download Dome Creator

Download Dome Creator for Unity – Package Installer 📦

Manual installation instructions

Add the following entry to your manifest.json:
You can also add it via Edit > Project Settings > Package Manager.

"scopedRegistries": [
   {
      "name": "OpenUPM",
      "url": "https://package.openupm.com",
      "scopes": [
         "com.pfc.jp.keijiro.klak.ndi",
         "org.nuget.system"
      ]
   }
]

Then open Package Manager and install the package com.pfc.dome-tools by name.

Supported Unity versions

• ✅ Unity 2021 LTS
• ✅ Unity 2022 LTS
• ✅ Unity 2023 LTS
• ✅ Unity 6.0

Supported Render Pipelines

• ✅ Built-In Render Pipeline (BiRP)
• ✅ Universal Render Pipeline (URP)
• ✅ High Definition Render Pipeline (HDRP)

Verified Dome Systems
Learn more about setting up your Dome System for realtime video and audio.

• ✅ Pixera 1.8+ and 2.x+
  Dome Master via NDI and multi-channel audio via NDI.

• ✅ Spatial Audio Designer by New Audio Technology
  Multi-channel audio via NDI-to-ASIO bridge or ASIO-to-Dante and object positions via ADM-OSC.

• ✅ Vioso Player 2.x+
  Dome Master via NDI. Currently no audio support, but NDI-to-ASIO can be used.

• ✅ L-ISA
  Multi-channel audio via NDI, object positions via ADM-OSC

• ✅ Brainsalt Backstage build 27d10725e, July 1st 2024 or later
  Dome Master via NDI and multi-channel audio via NDI.

• Other systems that support NDI video and/or audio should work as well.
  If you test them, please let us know so we can include them here!

👉 Learn more about using Dome Creator.

Download Dome Viewer

• Download Dome Viewer for Windows
• Download Dome Viewer for Quest 2/3/Pro from App Lab
• Dome Viewer on SideQuest

The Viewer supports Windows (with and without VR), Quest 2/3/Pro, and Pico 4.
The desktop version supports both Screen usage and VR usage with hands or controllers.

For VR support on Windows, use an OpenXR-compatible headset and runtime (for example, headsets supported by the Oculus App or Steam VR).

👉 Learn more about using Dome Viewer.

Dome Creator

This package provides a highly efficient realtime fulldome toolkit for Unity. It allows you to create, transmit and view fulldome video and audio in real-time. Together with Dome Viewer, it's part of the Dome Tools suite by prefrontal cortex.

It has two rendering modes:

1. Dome Warp ⚡ – A novel single-view dome-invariant rendering technique

   • Much faster (single view)
   • Can be used with postprocessing effects without visible seams
   • Can be used with volumetric effects
   • Excellent for real-time applications
   • Best suited for spatial content (content that is around the viewer, not just on the floor plane)
   • View angle is limited to 180°
   • Ability to art direct the perceived depth of the scene

2. Traditional Cubemap-based approach 🔮

   • Much slower (has to render 5 or 6 individual views depending on angle)
   • Postprocessing with local effects will lead to visible seams
   • Best suited for horizon-focussed content (e.g. streets, landscapes)
   • Fixed viewpoint (center of the dome)
   • Flexible view angle (up to 360°)

Both result in a fulldome projection in the common "Dome Master" format (formally known as Equidistant Azimuthal Fisheye Projection). The toolkit supports BiRP, URP, and HDRP render pipelines, and is provided as UPM package.

Content can be streamed via NDI to a physical dome or viewed on a simulated dome in VR or on a desktop monitor.

Camera Rig Usage

The Dome Creator prefab contains several components that together form your camera and streaming setup.

Use Dome (camera rig) prefab as camera to position in your scene.
The camera is your viewer's position. It can of course be animated, for example via Timeline / Playable Director.

Canvas (Dome Master) combines the rendered image with UI elements into the final dome master image.

Canvas (Final Output) is the final output for your dome. You can use it for testing or for rendering to disk.

NDI Sender streams out the dome master texture and the audio signal to a virtual or physical dome.

Note: NDI is a high-bandwidth protocol. For best results, use a wired network connection. Audio support is currently experimental.

Producing real-time dome content

We recommend streaming to your physical or virtual dome via NDI in 4k or higher (depending on your media server / machine).

Producing pre-rendered video content

Depending on your needs, you can either:

a) Use Unity Recorder and record the DomeMaster render texture into a video or image sequence b) Use a hardware capture card to capture the monitor output c) Capture the NDI stream directly using NDI Tools or an external software

Output to a AV System

Under construction 🏗️
This section will contain information regarding various dome systems and how to display NDI content on them.
If you want to provide steps for your dome system, please open an issue or make a pull request.

NDI is a widely supported protocol for streaming video content. It is supported by many dome systems. Please refer to the docs of your dome system for instructions on how to receive NDI streams.

Audio Support

Select an audio mode from NDI Sender in your scene. You can either use your local PCs sound card to produce surround audio (e.g. 5.1 or 7.1), or you can use our Virtual Audio to stream an arbitrary amount of channels via NDI Audio in lockstep with the video signal. There are a number of predefined arrangements for Virtual Mics, but you can provide a custom one for your particular dome system.

Native Spatialization

If your sender system is capable of generating surround sound, you can use Unity's native AudioListener in 5.1 or 7.1 mode and stream the resulting tracks over NDI Audio.

Virtual Multi-Channel Audio

Often, the sender system is not capable of generating surround sound. In this case, you can use our Virtual Audio to stream an arbitrary amount of channels via NDI Audio in lockstep with the video signal.

You can change the audio send settings in NDI Sender component from the Dome Creator prefab:

Default Quad, 5.1 and 7.1 channels are ordered by the SMPTE ST 2110 channel order convention (L, R, C, LFE, Lss, Rss, Lrs, Rrs)

This system will places virtual microphones in the scene to capture the audio and mixes it to the outgoing NDI audio channels. To capture the audio from the AudioSources, it's important that all AudioSources must have the AudioSourceListener component. Per default, when starting playmode, the NDI Sender component will search for all AudioSource components and add the AudioSourceListener component to them. When you load at runtime prefabs which contains AudioSource, you should add the AudioSourceListener component by yourself. There is also a add button on the AudioSource component for this.

This Virtual Audio system supports most of the AudioSource settings. Not supported are:

• Audio Mixer
• Spatializer Plugins
• Ambisonic Audio Files (can be played, but get handled as mono)
• 3d Sound Settings: Spread, Priority, Stereo Pan

When you want to use filters/effects, you can use the legacy Unity filter components. Just make sure the components are ordered before the AudioSourceListener component.

Is it also possible to create custom speaker setups when 5.1 or 7.1 is not enough. Just select "Speaker Config Asset" as Audio Send Mode in the NDI Sender component. Then you can create a Speaker Config Asset (Assets > Create > SpeakerConfig) and assign them to the NDI Sender.

Here you can add your speaker positions (positions are relative to the center in meters). They are organized in groups for better overview, but it's not necessary to use more than one group. Regardless of the groups, the first speaker will have channel number 0, the second speaker channel number 1 and so on. With audio mode "Custom Virtual Audio Setup" you can setup the speaker by script. In C# use "VirtualAudio.AddListener" method to add a speaker. You will also find some settings in the VirtualAudio static class.

The speaker positions will be included in the Audio Metadata when sending audio with Ndi. The Dome Viewer automatically creates a setup from this data to simulate the corresponding speaker setup.

Object Based Audio

Object Based Audio also uses the Virtual Audio system. For AudioSource setups and limitations please read the "Virtual Audio" section

Products like the Spatial Audio Designer Processor from New Audio Technology is capable of receiving individual audio objects as separate tracks and placing them in a 3D space. This moves the spatialization to the end of the audio processing stage and cam improve acoustic quality considerably.

To send audio to the SAD Processor, you need to send the audio as separate tracks. This can be done by change the "Audio Send Mode" at the NDI Sender component to "Object Based" in the Dome Creator prefab.

The audio object positions will be send within the NDI Audio Metadata or optional with ADM-OSC over the network. To use ADM-OSC, you will need to install the OSC Jack Package (install button can be found on NDI Sender when "Object Based" is selected) and also add the Adm Osc Sender component (can also be added via NDI Sender with the "Add ADM OSC Sender Component" button)

Please don't forget to create a OSC Connection asset and assign them to the Adm Osc Sender component!

The ADM-OSC position data will contain both the spherical and the cartessian position. Distance will be send normalized by the range from near and far distance settings.

The Dome Viewer doesn't need ADM-OSC to play Object Based Audio from the Dome Tools. The NDI Receiver uses the included Audio Meta Data for object positions.

ASIO output

We also support ASIO output on the sender and on the receiver side. Just add the ASIO Out component, and select the sender/receiver mode. Enter a "Default Device Name" to automatically start the ASIO output with playmode. Othewise call the "SetAsioDevice" method on this script.

Dante output

Dante can be bridged with external tools, either from ASIO or from NDI to be sent over the network.

Dome Viewer

The Dome Viewer can be used for screening realtime dome content while creating it, without having a physical dome available. It's unique main feature is receiving a NDI livestream from any source of your network, which allows to simultaneously edit your dome content and watching it with any number of people in VR headsets. They can all receive the same NDI stream coming from your authoring system.

Features

• Receive high-resolution NDI streams with video and audio, live from Dome Creator or your NDI capable editing software
• Test surround sound in a virtual dome environment
• Review content in first-person view
• View your dome from the outside as miniature
• Choose between different dome sizes and seating setups
• Both VR and Screen support
• Supported on Quest 2, 3, Pro, Pico 4, and Windows (OpenXR)
• Present content with Desktop and VR modes at the same time
• Play back video files and images from your local storage
  • on Quest, put content in the Downloads/DomeViewer folder
  • on Desktop, put content in the StreamingAssets folder

Controls

Menu Overview

• Media Sources: (choose between ndi and local files) - don't forget to refresh!
• Environment: select between domesize / seating setup / projector on-off
• Real Size View / Miniature View: toggle between first person and outside view
• ? / About: Description and version number

Desktop Controls

• WASD - Move
• Mouse Drag - Rotate
• Mouse Wheel - Field of View / Zoom

VR with Controllers

• left menu - dome viewer menu
• right menu - system menu
• right stick front - teleport
• right stick left - rotate 90° left
• right stick right - rotate 90° right
• right stick back - rotate 180°
• left stick - movement in all directions

VR with Hands

• left menu gesture - dome viewer menu
• right menu gesture - system menu
• teleport gesture - teleport

Viewing Content in Dome Viewer

Content can either be viewed via NDI stream from your local network, or by playing back local video files and images.

We generally recommend the NDI workflow, as it's more flexible and allows multiple users to view the same content at the same time.
NDI streams need to be on the same network as the receiving device. You can send streams from any device (PC, Mac, etc.) that supports NDI.

Video Playback with VLC Player and the NDI Plugin

1. Make sure the PC where you're playing video from and the receiving device (Quest or PC) are on the same network.
   You can also play back the video on the same PC where the Dome Viewer is running.

2. Install VLC Player

3. Install NDI Tools

4. In VLC Player, go to Tools > Settings > Video > Output and set it to NDI Video Output

5. Repeat the same with Audio and set it to NDI Audio Output

6. Play your video. The screen will be black, and there will be a new NDI Stream named YOUR COMPUTER / VLC.
   You can view the NDI stream with the "Studio Monitor" or "Video Monitor" app that comes with NDI Tools.

7. On Quest or in Dome Viewer, select Media Sources > NDI and choose the new stream there.

Local File Playback on your Quest Device

1. Connect your Quest with your Computer via USB

2. Open the device storage with your Explorer/Finder

3. Place your media files in Download/DomeViewer. Supported formats are jpg, png and mp4.

4. In Dome Viewer, click the Refresh Button next to the media dropdown on media sources

5. Choose the media file you want to show.

Contributing

Testing and developing the Dome Tools package

The package folder contains the UPM package for Dome Tools.
To work on the package, open one of the test projects inside projects/DomeTools*, for example DomeTools-2021.3.
These projects already contain a local reference to the package, so all changes to the package will be shared between the test projects.

Before making a package release, make sure to rename the Samples folder to Samples~. This will hide the folder inside Unity, and allows users of the package to install the provided Samples from the Package Manager window. When installing a sample, Unity will copy the files to the project's Assets folder, out of the immutable package folder.

Testing and developing the Viewer

The projects/DomeViewer folder contains the Unity project for the Virtual Dome Viewer. It currently uses Unity 2021.3 LTS.

Before opening the project, make sure you have git installed since the project references a git package – learn more. To work on the viewer, open the project inside projects/DomeViewer. Required packages will be installed automatically.

Note: If you get a warning regarding the klak.ndi package not being installed, please install git first as described above.

Building for Android / Quest

When building for Android, make sure to provide a unique application identifier and either your own signing key or a development key. A custom Android manifest is provided that allows network access to receive NDI streams.

Further Reading

• Interactive Domes – Fulldome Festival Presentation 2020/2024
• NewTek NDI
• Fulldome on Wikipedia

Contact Us

• Send us an email: dometools@prefrontalcortex.de
• Open an issue: Create new Issue
• Ping @prefrontlcortex or @hybridherbst on X/Twitter