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Skydome
Version: 1.11 Sign up to be notified by email when a new version of this script is posted
Skydome creates a 3D environment for your After Effects compositions at the touch of a button. The environment then responds to your camera’s position, orientation, rotation and lens properties.
With your composition selected, simply run the script. A background composition is created with a default pattern inside. Simply drop an HDRI image or any other material into this composition and it will become the environment for your After Effects comp.
Install this script in the Scripts folder. It does not have a dockable UI.
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- Skydome UI
Version History
- 1.11 Compatible with any language version of AE – March 2011
- 1.01 Initial Release – March 2010
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Lol..I am working on a very similar plugin, but great to see it as a script.
TERRIFIC!!!!
I love this AeScripts Community, you guys are all WIZARDS!
Thank you so much Ben!!!
Every single script here is worth every piece of dime spending on!!!
Great stuff i love to contribute.
Love to see this in action. Use to light with hdri in 3D. So this feels like à great development. Thanx guys!
This is a phenomenal script. When doing the background offset, can you add an expression control into the script that will allow you to offset it without having to switch back and forth between the comps? I add it manually, but having it load within the script would be great!! Thanks for your very hard work on this!!!
Looks like a good alternative to Red Giant Horizon.
First off, thanks for the hard work..wonderful script. I have run into a bit if a snag however and correct me if I’m missing something. Working in CS4 on a mac… when creating a free camera by turning off auto-orient/point of interest on the camera as you’ve demonstrated, then animating ONLY the position values of the camera, I’m not getting any parallax at all between foreground objects and the skydome background.
then again.. I guess this is normal as a sky in a 3D app like C4D is always an infinite distance from the camera anyway and wouldn’t demonstrate any parallax either. So…Nevermind
thanks for the script Ben!
You’re quite right… it happens the same in a 3D program or in real life!
If the camera is not looking at a point of interest, then moving its position coordinates have no effect on its orientation. Since the sky is infinitely far away, you won’t see any movement in the background.
However, anything close to the camera will appear to move quite quickly across the screen when you move the camera. That’s the parallax.
-Ben.
Hello,
I agree it’s a great script but in the end, and believe at these prices I am not complaining, that being said, I find the fact that you can’t animation the position of the camera and NOT have the sphere reflect that is a bit of problem. As long as you spinning the camera around the illusion holds up great. But animate the position of the camera and the illusion breaks. While it is true that an infinite breakdown an infiniite distance away moves very little when a camers moves in/out left/right ..however what you see of the bacground changesdramtically. Is there a way to perhaps on the next version add an expresssion that scales, and works with the offest relative to the camera? Again, great script…thanks so much. Just giving some feedback.
Hi Philip,
Thanks for the feedback.
At the moment, Skydome reacts to the camera in the same way as a 3D program’s sky environment reacts…. or a camera in the real world, for that matter. You will find the background moves a lot if you move a camera whose point of interest is fixed (as this has an effect on rotation). If the camera has no point of interest, the background won’t move. Two people with two cameras 100 miles apart in the real world, will both see the moon in the same place if their cameras are facing in the same direction….because the moon is as good as infinitely far away. The same is true here…
On the other hand, an environment that is not infinitely far away requires geometry. There is a script to construct a geometry sphere on AE scripts I think, but for an environment, unless you use a huge number of polygons (and massive render time), it won’t appear smooth.
You can actually already adjust the Skydome sky’s offset relative to the camera. You can go into the Rotation X, Y and Z properties of the CC Sphere effect and change the values. However, you will probably find this unintuitive because the script requires the reversal of After Effects natural 3D gimbal order. I might address this in the future to make it more intuitive if there’s enough interest in the script, but it probably requires the transformations to be calculated as quaternions – hypothetical rotations in 4D space – and then converted back down to 3D. My head is already spinning!
In terms of making the sky appear to move towards you, again it’s the same as in the real world. You can climb a ladder as tall as you like and the sky doesn’t get any closer! To make it appear bigger, you need to zoom the camera in.
Hope that helps.
-Ben.
Instead of your grid I get one black solid which is called Sky-Dome checkers?! What am I doing wrong?
thanx in advance and best regards
gurazius
Hi Guzarius,
Without seeing a screenshot, I couldn’t really say (feel free to send me one, if you like). Usually, problems like this are caused by After Effects running in a language other than English. Is your After Effects running in English?
-Ben.
I thought of that to be the reason. I´m running a german version. Since I´m familiar with javascript, perhaps you can tell me which terms have to be replaced with the german terms.
thanx in advance
gurazius
Hi Gurazius,
Basically all standard Javascript functions and properties are the same. I think that all of the After Effects specific functions remain the same too. It’s the references to effects that need to change. For instance, Blur is Weichzeichner in german.
Unfortunately, this is an enduring problem for all After Effects scripts and expressions – that they only run in the language they were written in.
Ich wünsche Dir viel Glück damit!
-Ben.
I just had the same problem: running AE CS5 in german. Although I am a JS newbie I translated the script. I would share if you are interessted in it.
Best, Jake
Oh! The script is just wonderful, as is openfootage.net
Hi Ben,
changed language of AE, now everything works as described. Great tool. I´m very excited,-)
Thank you very much!
gurazius
Hi Ben,
Good script but what are the recommended (or best) specifications for running this script. My system is slowing down whilst using the script. email me @ luke4film@gmail.com
Hi Luke,
If you haven’t done already, then turn off the optics compensation effect on the Skydome layer while you work on the project and turn it back on before you render. This effect distorts the background to exactly match your the lens properties of your camera, but it has a high processing overhead and since you get a good approximation without it on, that’s your most likely efficiency saving. If you already have this turned off, then I guess you are working at a very high resolution. In which case you need to preview at a lower quality setting – i.e. a half or a quarter.
Hope that helps.
-Ben.
Hey Ben,
I was wondering how you used the HDR image from openfootage.net in After Effects. I’ve downloaded one of the files, but when I import it into After Effects or try to open it, the programs freeze. Thanks. (By the way, your script is very clever).
Isaac Schrader
Hi Isaac,
That shouldn’t happen. I can only guess that you are running out of RAM – some of the images from openfootage.net are extremely big. Perhaps you could try downsizing the image in Photoshop and reimporting to see if that helps.
You could also try installing any updates to your version of After Effects – that’s a big hassle, but it sometimes fixes unusual problems like this.
Glad you like the script though!
Best,
Ben.
Hi, the script not running… not make the background… make only a solid black layer… i tryed cheanged this with a image but not solving the problem… im using ae cs4 italian version.
We don’t specifically test scripts running in foreign language hosts. To make sure the script works as intended you are advised to run AE in english which you can do by following these instructions: http://aescripts.com/faq/force-after-effects-to-run-in-english/
Hi Andrea,
I’m intending to work in support for one or two different languages. Just a question of time at the moment though. Lots of work on!
-Ben.
Hi, I too am experiencing the same problem as the non-English users. However, I’m running CS4 in English. I even tried un-ticking all of the other languages to ensure it was running correctly in English but the script still has the same issue.
Basically, when the script runs: it creates a black solid and places it in a new comp called Sky Dome Background. The solid has 4-color-Gradient and Checkerboard filters on it. That’s it, it doesn’t do anything else. It leaves the Comp I created untouched.
Would you like me to send you an AEP?
Hi Taylor,
You can send me an aep if you like. But can you check first that you have CC Sphere installed (this is an option when you install and is not present in demo versions of After Effects).
-Ben.
Email sent. Thanks for your help.
Forgot to add: yes, I do have CC Sphere installed.
Does it works on AF CS5 ?
Thx
Hi Lamouette,
Yes it does work on CS5.
Ben.
We are on CS5, OSX 10.6.4 and Aftereffects is in German Language… the script does not seem to work because of this. I tried to force the language to English but it’s also not working. help me.
Hi there,
At the moment, you need to switch your AE to english to use Skydome. There are ways to do this detailed above in the FAQ. If it’s not working you could get in touch with Adobe support. Non-english versions of AE are supposed to be able to run in US english too.
I am working on a multilingual version of Skydome but I’m rather inundated with other stuff at the moment. Watch this space.
Ben.
Hi Ben,
I have a little problem here. when i run the script i get a new composition (“sky dome background”) in the project window. but i dont get a new layer in the timeline.
when i open up the generated comp i can only see one single layer (sky dome – checkers). this layer contains two different effects: 4-color gradient and the checkerboard generator (in this case from fx factory!). i think the script should work with the build in checkerboard generator and not with the version of fx factory. could this be the problem here?
thanks for any advice
Just for follow up. Florian’s problem was to do with the fact that he has the FX Factory Checkerboard plug-in installed and for some reason the script is taking this effect instead of the Adobe one. Since the script calls the effect “ADBE Checkerboard” (the supposedly unique name identifier for the effect), then I can only assume that FX Factory have also given their effect the same ‘unique’ name. That would mean there’s no workaround possible and since I don’t have the FX Factory plug-ins, I can’t check this.
Florian’s workaround was this: Change the name of the FX Factory checkerboard effect in the plug-ins folder. Restart After Effects. The FX Factory version doesn’t load and the script runs fine.
Great tool. What application did you use to create your 3D text used in the example?
Hi Peter,
The 3D text is also created in After Effects. Just the time honored technique of layering multiple iterations of a 2.5D text layer. In the example, the front and back ones are white and the in-between ones are black.
-Ben.
hi this is amazing script
Hey Ben,
i run into the GermansCan´tUseTheScript-Problem. Is there an Update?
Keep up the good work.
greetz
It works!
01 +——————-+
02 +–workAround—+
10 +-by–Steven17–+
11 +—-thx Lyric—–+
12 +——————-+
15 Goto AE-App
16 rightClick – showContent
17 goto Contents/Resources/ATMLanguages/de_DE.txt
18 change content to “en_US”; // you need to set the Folder to read and writhe = 1
19 saveAs”en_US.txt”
20 Backup “de_DE.txt” forLaterUse
21 runAE
22 Print” This gets the SkydomeScript runnin, but you get a ERROR back in German”
23 Print” There are pickwip-thingys that don´t work anymore…”
24 Print” Maybe Rob can help….”
25 Print “End of line.”
26 Print ” ”
26 Print “Ready.”
Greetings
Stefan
Ok, now i realy start to fill up the forum…
If you want to use the script in another language then english, you need to:
Set AE to english.
Use the Skydome script.
Use the expressionuniversalizer – script (you can get it here (be fair, donate something)).
Set AE back to your language.
Enjoy…
Greetings
TAGS: Skydome funktioniert nicht auf deutsch Рl̦sung Рskydome geht nicht Рskydome problem
Okay… I finally got round to updating it. Now it works in all languages.
Ben.
Ja… es kommt irgendwann mal ein Update. Es ist nur eine Frage der Zeit im Moment.
Yes… there will be an update sometime. It’s just a question of time at the moment.
-Ben.
v1.11 just posted will run any language version of AE
What are the ideal dimensions and projection for the backgroundimage? Can I change these in the script? I am feeding it an equirectangular panorama made with Autopano Pro, but feel I have to scale it down to much to make it fit the dome, which compromises quality.
Hi Pierre,
At the moment, you can’t change these in the script, but you can simply go into the Sky Dome Background composition and resize it. At present the Optics Compensation is calibrated for a certain size of background image, so the lens distortion might be a little off. But try this and see how it works for you.
I’m going to work the functionality you’re talking about, plus a couple of other features into the next version…. All a matter of time though!
Best,
Ben.
Has anyone had a problem with the dome being slightly out of focus? I’m not sure how to fix this. Thanks!
Hi UB,
At the moment, Skydome is optimized at a certain size. A little bit of softening is inevitable because of CC Sphere’s anti-aliasing. Using a wider angle lens will tend to make the Skydome background appear sharper (like in real life). You can also manually make the Sky Dome Background composition bigger. This will help somewhat.
I’m going to add some control over this aspect in the interface in the next release.
Ben.
Ben,
Thanks so much, this is exactly what I needed in a pinch. Wonderful script!
Hi Ben, I’ve stitched together a 360 degree image of a beach scene.
Q: Will I be able to use this with Skydome and travel around to different locations within that image?
Cheers
Phill
Hi Phill,
There are many ways to unwrap a sphere, but if you’ve created your panorama in a 2:1 standard spherical mapping format, then yes. Why not download the script and give it a go?
Ben.
I have a question/suggestion.
I am absolutely in love with this script, the more I use it the more I learn about it and find myself finding new tricks to it.
I may be using the skydome for a little more than what it’s meant for, I’m trying to make a 3D environment, just what goes very far in the back, adding details like clouds and mountains.
I even managed to figure out a good way to make the clouds very slowly pan across while keeping everything else still.
So what’s my problem?
Parallax.
Adding the other stuff in the skydome and giving it depth is futile, as in the other composition where the skydome is in, it’ll all be a flat 2D layer. For this to work you’d have to turn on continuous rasterization, and then the depth from the images in the skydome composition will come into play. But, doing this will do heavy distortion damages, ruining everything. And I for some reason doubt making multiple skydomes instead would help or be a safe idea.
If it’s possible, how would I go about rasterizing the composition so i can have parallax with the mountains?
If not possible, do you think you could ever release a version that does so?
Sorry for my rambling.
Hi Eric,
Glad you like the script and Skydome is certainly a good partner for 3D Extruder. But Skydome is exactly that… a sky dome. Because the sky is infinitely far away, it doesn’t exhibit any parallax. So it’s perfect as a shorthand for things that are so distant that it doesn’t matter.
To see parallax between a mountain and the sky, you’d need to be very close up to the mountain or travelling very fast!
Basically though to have parallax, you need to have a finite distance. You could make 3D ‘cards’ for the mountains or you could import some 3D geometry via Photoshop 3D layers.
There are various ways of cheating it. If you use “cards” of course, you won’t have the sense of moving around the form of the mountain, whereas if you use Photoshop 3D meshes, you’ll be limited by the various difficulties with that technique.
It sounds like you actually want a 3D program!
I’d give it a go with the cards and see how it pans out.
Oops… sorry Eric. I thought you left the comment in 3D Extruder. Hence my confusion. But my comment still stands! Try the “cards” technique.
Thank you for your reply, I didn’t think it’d be so quick!
I understood the infinite distance part, but once I saw that when turning on continuous rasterization put actual depth and parallax into the field I thought there was some sort of work around.
The reason I wont try a 3D program is because this is basically 2.5D. There’s no 3D models here, all 2D images in a 3D field and After Effects does a good part at handling that. Plus I’m too familiar with AE and it’s UI.
I really hope you look more into putting 3D elements into AE. It could use things like an infinite plane (ground), or to wrap any image around like a skydome and allow it to have parallax. You’re great at what you do.