"With the release of Collage Generator and Curved Surface Support features for DL.2, there's been a huge demand for the ability to fully blend and correct content for spherical type surfaces," says Scott Blair, HES director of digital lighting development. "Spherical Mapping allows us to answer that need to blend content across a hemisphere or a full sphere type surface."
Within the software are additional new effects and software enhancements, say High End. The Global Matte Effect allows the user to superimpose up to 20 different pre-defined Mattes for layering images with multiple transparency and colour options. Framing and Edge Fade profiles have also been added to expand the existing Edge Fade parameters. For example, the user may create stylized framing by using other layers as content for the edge fade. The user may also create "framing shutter" effects. The software also resolves some connectivity issues many laptop users faced when using multiple network connections simultaneously.
The beta version of Spherical Mapping software was recently tested at the Wincor World exhibition 2007 in Germany. LD Holger Steffentorweihen used Spherical Mapping with eight DL.1s and eight Axon Media Servers from production company LK-AG. "Having the Axon's powerful engine under my fingertip was a real pleasure for me," says Steffentorweihen. "The infinite possibilities of content manipulation, the Collage Generator, the Curved Surface Support and now Spherical Mapping are the major advantages of the Axon media server. Our client was more than impressed by this installation."
(Lee Baldock)
