Infected by Immersion
Glossary /

Unreal Engine for Dome

Using Epic Games' Unreal Engine to create real-time and pre-rendered fulldome content — the highest fidelity option.

What is it?

Unreal Engine (Epic Games) is a professional game engine increasingly used for fulldome content creation. It offers the highest visual fidelity available for real-time rendering — photorealistic environments, physically-based materials, dynamic lighting, and Nanite/Lumen technology.

Dome Pipeline

  1. Scene creation — build environments in Unreal with standard tools
  2. Dome camera — use a scene capture cube or the OffWorld Live plugin to render equirectangular or domemaster output
  3. Export — render frame sequences for playback, or run in real-time via Digistar integration

At Cosm Venues

Cosm venues use Unreal Engine integrated with Digistar 2025 to create background environments for Hollywood films, live events, and immersive experiences. The Sabrina Carpenter concert at Cosm used Unreal for all 3D scenes combined with 2D footage.

Challenges

  • GPU requirements are high for 8K+ domemaster at 60 fps
  • Optimisation required for real-time dome output (LODs, draw calls)
  • Fisheye rendering requires specialised camera setups

See also: TouchDesigner → · Real-Time Rendering → · Digistar →

← Back to Glossary