Stellarium resourcesWritten by Paul Bourke
Please note that the configuration options discussed here have only been tested on the Mac OS-X version of Stellarium. The config file on that platform is located in the directory (~/Library/Preferences/Stellarium). In general they have also only been tested with the projector-mirror-dome are arranged in the orientation preferred by the author, it is also the optimal setup for a number of reasons.
Stellarium warped for spherical mirror projectionThe following are some brief notes and recommendations on how to configure Stellarium so that it warps images correctly for projection using a spherical mirror. For more details on this form of projection see the following: dome projection on a budget. It is not intended for this document to discuss details of dome design, what projector models work best, what mirror size to choose, or how to source first surface mirrors, and so on .... for a discussion of these and other questions please contact the author. At the time of writing the latest version of Stellarium was 0.8.2, as such these comments refer to that version. This was the first version with spherical mirror distortion support and there are still issues to be resolved, hopefully in the release of the next version at which point this document will be updated. The current implementation is at least functional. Recommended configurationThere are a large number of ways the spherical mirror and projector can be arranged within the dome space. One of the key advantages of this technique, compared to fisheye solutions, is that the projection gear can be moved to the edge of the dome thus freeing up the best viewing position, the center. Therefore the recommended mirror position is up against the rim of the dome, the projector will be placed some distance along the line from the mirror center to the dome center. The exact position depends on the size of the mirror, the throw and zoom of the projector, and the degree of dome coverage you with to achieve. Typically I use and recommend mirrors with a radius of 0.37m or larger (smaller than this limits the choice of projectors due to focus limitations). The projector, if it has the throw of most commodity projectors, will typically be located around 1m away from the mirror. In the case of Stellarium, and indeed for almost all spherical mirror style projection, the center of the mirror, the center of the dome, the center of the light source, the zenith of the dome and the optical axis of the projector, are all assumed to lie in the same plane. The coverage of the projector frustum on the mirror is of course variable and controls the amount of dome coverage. There is a tradeoff between dome coverage and the pixel efficiency (ie: image resolution and therefore perceived quality). In other words, if only a small portion of the mirror is used the dome coverage will be lower but at a higher resolution than if a larger portion of the spherical mirror is used. As a starting point and the coverage recommended by the author as a good compromise is as follows: align the lower row of pixels from the projector to lie along the mirror equator, position and/or zoom the projector so that the center of the upper row of pixels lie along the top of the mirror. Note that the mirror shown is of the security/safety type that is less than a 1/4 sphere, for images and measurements see this.  Stellarium configuration 0.8.2 In Stellarium V0.8.2 the option for running in spherical mirror mode can be found in the configuration menu (video tab), the option can be made permanent within the config.ini file. The later file also allows one to set up the geometric parameters required for a correctly warped result. In general, for a successful result you will need to run Stellarium in full screen mode. [video] fullscreen = true distorter = fisheye_to_spheric_mirror One usually will want to limit the fisheye image to the unit circle, this option (viewport) is also available through the configuration window. [projection] type = fisheye viewport = disk The screen width and height options should be set to the native resolution of your projector. You will however get better results if you set the resolution higher as long as:
This "trick" in order to get higher quality results depends on the scalar found within the projector and may not be required in the next release of Stellarium. Given the configuration described above and a 5m radius dome, the following would be a convenient starting point for the warping parameters. Please note that the flipping options will only work in the next release, at that time one will be able to view and drive using the computer display. The mirroring will be achieved by setting the projector to horizontal flip mode (eg: "floor-rear" configuration, the exact terminology may change depending on the projector manufacturer). [spheric_mirror] projector_gamma = 0.3 projector_position_x = 0.0 projector_position_y = 4.0 projector_position_z = 0 mirror_position_x = 0.0 mirror_position_y = 5.0 mirror_position_z = 0.0 mirror_radius = 0.37 dome_radius = 5 zenith_y = 0 scaling_factor = 1.2 flip_horz = true flip_vert = false Most of the above are self explanatory. The position of the projector is a little ambiguous because it isn't always obvious where the focal point is, as a rough measure a position 5cm behind the front of the lens will be close. In order to align the imagery more precisely on the dome I suggest turning on the azimuthal grid (z key) and look straight up. The pole can be aligned to the pole of the dome and the horizon line aligned to the rim of the dome. Achieve this by varying the "scaling_factor" and the "zenith_y". The scaling factor is essentially adjusting for the projector zoom and throw. The zenith_y is adjusting the overall tilt of the projector frustum. For example, if the zoom is increased in the above configuration to 1.0 the result is shown in the image on the left below. the vertical zenith value can be dropped to lower and correctly position the bottom of the image to the spring line (as described above) of the dome.
When doing the alignment it is helpful to make the azimuthal grid as clear as possible. The following is one way to do this. projector_gamma = 0 azimuthal_color = 1.0,1.0,1.0 The next most common adjustment is to reduce the projector position to be below the mirror so that light can be reflected over the top without causing a shadow (projector_position_z < 0). While this can be a rather tedious and repetitive process (adjusting both scaling and zenith value to get the right result), it only has to be performed once for a given configuration. In the navigation section I suggest the following. [navigation] init_fov = 180 init_view_pos = 0.000001,0,0.99999 In general one wants to remove any menus that may overlap into the fisheye circle. [gui] flag_show_fps = false flag_menu = false flag_help = false flag_infos = false flag_show_topbar = false flag_show_time = true flag_show_date = true flag_show_appname = false flag_show_fov = false flag_show_selected_object_info = true flag_show_flip_buttons = false flag_show_script_bar = false flag_script_allow_ui = false Stellarium configuration 0.9 (Sample configuration file)
With the release of Stellarium 0.9, support for spherical mirror projection is greatly improved, although there are still some rather frustrating aspects to a number of their implementation choices. I will not repeat the settings above that version 0.8 and 0.9 have in common, the spherical mirror section that gives the right results for the standard spherical mirror projection arrangement is as follows: [spheric_mirror] projector_gamma = 0.3 projector_position_x = 0 projector_position_y = 4 projector_position_z = 0 mirror_position_x = 0 mirror_position_y = 5 mirror_position_z = 0 mirror_radius = 0.37 dome_radius = 5.0 image_distance_div_height = 2.67 projector_delta = 10.6 projector_alpha = 0 projector_phi = 0 flip_horz = false flip_vert = false distorter_max_fov = 180 texture_triangle_base_length = 8 flag_use_ext_framebuffer_object = true In the video section, most modern graphics cards and drivers have no issue with non power of two textures. Somewhat smoother operation can be achieved by matching the maximum frame rate to the vertical refresh of the projector, this is usually 60Hz and this should also be set in the monitors control panel for the display. In any case, since locking to vertical refresh should be enabled to avoid tearing, there is no possibility of frame rates above the refresh setting of (typically 60 to 85 Hz for digital displays and pretty much exclusively 60Hz for digital projectors). horizontal_offset = 0 vertical_offset = 0 minimum_fps = 10 maximum_fps = 60 distorter = fisheye_to_spheric_mirror non_power_of_two_textures = trueNotes:
Colour calibration While not related to Stellarium, I cannot emphasise enough the importance of performing a computer/projector colour calibration when projecting fulldome. This is straightforward if you are using Mac OS-X, see the displays control panel. Creating and using a correct colour profile significantly improves the colour and contrast levels. In general data projectors have a very high (or low depending on which way you define it) gamma. Values of more than 3 are not uncommon, this corresponds to 1/3 in the Stellarium gamma correction setting. Gain and black levelsNote also that by its very nature there is a lot of light inter-reflection inside a dome onto other surfaces of the dome. Ideally dome surfaces have gains that are as low as 0.5 and projectors with good black levels make a big difference to the final image contrast. For this reason one tries to use a projector with a contrast ratio of at least 2000:1, this normally is only available in DLP projectors ... at least in the commodity projector range. Aspect ratioIn general, wide screen 16:9 projectors offer higher pixel efficiency when using a spherical mirror. Sample screen shots (Click to enlarge)
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