Maya DomeGrid
The Maya based DomeGrid tool provides a simple hemispherical dome preview shape that can be used to test the fulldome lens shader.
The controls for the DomeGrid tool are accessed by opening the Outliner and selecting the "domeGrid" transform node in the Outliner. Then in the Attribute Editor, expand the Extra Attributes to change the settings.
This is a screenshot of the domeGrid's Extra Attribute controls interface in the Attribute Editor.
The following settings can be adjusted on the domeGrid group node:
- Field Of View
- Dome Radius
- Dome Spans
- Dome Sections
- Display Mode
- Double Sided Shading
- Grid Line Thickness
- Grid Surface Color
- Grid Surface Transparency
- Grid Line Color
- Grid Line Transparency
The Field of View control makes it easy to display a dome grid pattern with an arbitrary field of view. You could use a value like 180 degrees for a fulldome shape, 220 or 270 degrees for an extended dome shape, or 360 degrees for a fully spherical shape.
The Dome Radius control allows you to scale the size of the DomeGrid geometry in the viewport. As you extend the Field of View control past 180 degrees it helps to increase the Dome Spans setting to maintain the same general square-ish proportions on the grid wirelines.
For example the Dome Spans default value of 12 matches the default 180 degree Field of View nicely. If you increased the Field of View to 360 degrees then doubling the Dome Spans value to 24 will keep the same square-ish proportions on the grid wirelines.
The Dome Spans control adjusts the vertical resolution of the grid shape by adding more rows of detail on the dome grid mesh. The control range is 4-40 spans.
The Dome Sections control adjusts the horizontal resolution of the grid shape by adding more columns of detail on the dome grid mesh. The control range is 4-120 sections.
The Display Mode can be used to set the DomeGrid to "Off" (a hidden state), a "Wireframe" mode, a "Shaded" mode, or a "Wireframe on Shaded" mode.
The Double Sided Shading control makes it possible to look "through" the DomeGrid surface from either the inside or outside view.
When you combine the features of the Grid Surface Color and Grid Line Color controls you can create some really creative color styles in seconds, especially if you combine them with the Grid Line and Grid Surface transparency features.
Here is an image that shows a few different color combinations done with the same domeGrid shape:
The Grid Line Thickness value allows you to change the width of the domeGrid stroke lines. This setting controls the a paintFX toon node's stroke attributes. When you scale the Dome Radius value you will need to adjust the Grid Line Thickness to keep the same apparent stroke width.
The Dome Line Color swatch lets you use a color picker to select a color for the wireframe strokes on the DomeGrid shape.
The Grid Line Transparency control allows you to have a solid, semi-transparent, or fully transparent grid wireframe stroke.
The Dome Surface Color swatch lets you use a color picker to select a color for the square patches on the DomeGrid shape.
The Grid Surface Transparency control allows you to have a solid, semi-transparent, or fully transparent background fill color on the dome shape.
This is a preview video that shows a few of the Domemaster3D DomeGrid features:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5yC4Vw-Asq8