The Journey Home

We're back!

2012-01-24T09:43:00.000+10:30

2012 'The Journey Home: An interplanetary Guide to the solar system in 3D' poster. Designed and created by Nicole Miller.

eResearch SA is excited to announce, that after a sold-out season in 2011 - 'The Journey Home' is back!

In 2012 The Journey Home will be a 3D feast for the senses with new and extended footage, all in breathtaking High Definition.

The Journey Home: an interplanetary guide to the solar system in 3D is an animated and interactive 3D tour of the solar system that makes astronomy fun. The audience is taken on a ride to visit the planets, from scorching Mercury to planetary outcast, Pluto, where you experience the infinite beauty of space in 3D.

The 3D aspect of the show makes it ‘cool’, while allowing you to visualise the sun, planets and moons in the solar system. The 3D technology means it is like being there, exploring Saturn's rings, Jupiter's moons, and Venus' hidden surface – all up close and in remarkable detail.

Tickets are already selling strongly so to secure your seat book today! Just visit FringeTix!

... and that's a wrap!

2011-03-29T11:17:00.000+10:30

Thank you to everyone who attended 'The journey home: an interplanetary guide to the solar system in 3D'! It is great to see so many people enthusiastic to learn more about our solar system.

The show was an amazing success! We started off with a scheduled run of 9 shows, and ended up adding a further 13. We welcomed 11 school groups through our doors, and sold more than 600 tickets.

If you didn't catch the show during the Fringe, eResearch SA can organise screenings for both junior and high school groups, and for groups of 10 more for the general public. Please contact Sarah Nisbet to organise your screening.

What they said!

2011-02-28T14:51:00.000+10:30

"When I asked the younger reviewer what I should write about The Journey Home, he simply said: “It’s great!” and I agree; it’s a great way to brush up on your planetary knowledge and to add to it in a relaxing and entertaining way. A must-see for planet fans and 3D fanatics of all ages."

ANNA SOLDING, InDaily.

From the very beginning we've been overwhelmed with the success of the show, and now we've been overwhelmed again with two very lovely reviews from InDaily and The Advertiser.

We've had a great first week - we had more than 200 school children pass through our doors and make the journey through the solar system, and we've had a ball watching them 'ooohh' and 'ahhhh' and try and catch the planets.

In week two we look forward to polishing the show further, Sarah is looking forward to getting the hang of collecting ticket stubbs and we will be holding our first ever night show!! Indeed, lots of journeys to be had this week!

On with the show

2011-02-20T10:51:00.000+10:30

The first show is tomorrow morning... in fact, the first four shows are on tomorrow. The demand has been more than we expected when first planning sessions, and we've had to add quite a few shows, which is all very good!
All that remains to do now is a final check of the software and equipment, shift a couple of desks and some chairs (how better to spend a couple of hours on a quiet Sunday afternoon?) and then have a (one hopes) minimal amount of preparation left for Monday morning before the day's shows kick off.

Media buzz

2011-02-17T13:25:00.001+10:30

Son et lumiere

2011-02-03T13:54:00.000+10:30

It's a staple of the movie world, but it is interesting how well sound (well, in this case, music) and images go together.
Just cutting together the trailer gave some good practice in doing things in Final Cut Pro, but it also reinforced the idea that fitting images and music together, in some coherent, related fashion, increases the effectiveness of both. Actually, it probably has more impact on one's interpretation of the images- in this case, they're not perhaps the most emotionally charged images to start off with- than it does on the music. But they do work well together.
Today sees all of the animation sequences stitched together, along with the soundtrack- not unsuprisingly, Holst's "Planets" suite. The interesting thing was that the animations were designed, timed and rendered without direct reference to the soundtrack... so it's been a matter of ordering, shortening, lengthening, and cropping the video to suit selections from the suite.
I think the process has worked- FC is now happily writing a test output video so I can review how well it's gone. There may well be some minor timing issues to fix, but I don't anticipate anything major.
After that, it'll be adding titles, and some elements to the audio track. Ah, and any filters or other video effects that might be useful...

The Journey Home now has face-space

2011-02-01T09:31:00.000+10:30

Yes that's right, you can now follow us on Facebook!

Tempting teaser

2011-01-28T09:47:00.000+10:30

The trailer for the Fringe show is now available on YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSdyQFxO2gM).
Best viewing is to be had by selecting 720HD for the video size, although it will take longer to load.
This version's not in 3D... I know that YouTube can present stereo content in various formats, so we may make another version of the trailer to be presented in stereo, if time permits.

Time for the timeline

2011-01-27T11:54:00.000+10:30

Rendering of content for the show is all but complete. The remaining one that I want to do is a re-render of an Earth sequence, this time using reflective oceans for a better-looking result. It'll then just be a case of replacing the current version with the new version in the files list that Final Cut Pro is using for the video's timeline, and all will be schmick.
I've finished the trailer... just need to get it OK'd and it can go live on the interwebs.
Next task is to start editing the final video together from all the renders and the soundtrack. Doing the trailer has been very useful in learning how to do things in FC Pro, so that task should be fairly straightforward.

Follow that muse

2011-01-20T00:42:00.000+10:30

When inspiration strikes, you've got to take that train. Whilst developing a possible publicity image, a new scene for the Earth sequence presented itself... which meant stopping and then modifying the currently-rendering scene to change its timing and structure... which all leads, I reckon, to a better overall sequence for the Earth part of the show.
It's late at night, and I can see a full moon near the meridian shining through the window, so I really should be sleeping- but it should be worth it.
The other news for today involves the initially slightly irksome but ultimately rewarding translation of Premiere Pro editing skills to Final Cut Pro. Conceptually much the same, but different in details. Who would have thought that inserting a slug is the same as dropping in some black video into the time-line?
Not me, but now I know better.

2011-01-18T23:54:00.000+10:30

Another evening's worth of renders and scene generation. One sequence render completed and backed-up; new scene rendering right now, another to start in the morning.
Getting there.

2011-01-18T15:28:00.000+10:30

It's getting tantalisingly close to the rendering of the last animation sequence... there are a few yet to be done, but they are the last ones and soon post-production of the entire film can start.
We should have a trailer up on YouTube soon, so keep an eye open for that. And- just in case you're wondering- it won't be in 3D, so you'll have to come along to a show to enjoy the full experience.

Tickets are now on sale!

2011-01-18T14:52:00.000+10:30

Purchase your tickets, or register your school group for 'The journey home: an interactive guide to the solar system in 3D' through Fringe Tix. 'The Journey Home' is YEP registered and special prices are available for groups of 6 or more.

eResearch SA announces "The journey home: an interactive guide to the solar system in 3D"

2011-01-18T14:43:00.000+10:30

I am pleased to announce that eResearch SA will be presenting a 50-minute show at the 2011 Adelaide Fringe called 'The Journey home: an interplanetary guide to the solar system in 3D.' The show features an interactive question-and answer session and a 20-minute film, both in 3D.

The Journey home builds on a continuing collaboration with the Museum of South Australia, which aims to highlight the educational applications of 3D visualisation technologies, by taking school groups on a '3D tour' of the solar system in our purpose built Visualisation Lab.