David Beining

David Beining, founder of DomeFest, which is housed at the ARTS Lab, said the contacts he made in Chicago are already taking hold.

The DomeFest program is showing the week of July 5 in Germany, and it will show in at least two venues in the United Kingdom and in Montreal.

Interest grows every year, Beining said.The program played in 12 locations last year and over the years it has played all over the world.

The seeds for DomeFest were planted by Beining at the LodeStar Astronomy Center in the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science.
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It's the first time a student has won since DomeFest began holding juried competitions in 2004, but it won't be the last, said Beining.

"All you need is some software and a computer and a bit of vision and talent," he said.
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Beining and others see interactivity, where audiences are participants rather than passive consumers of content, as the future.

More information on DomeFest 2005 may be found on the Internet at www.domefest.org or by contacting David Beining, DomeFest Chair & Fulldome Animation Theater Director, +1- 505-841-05985 or via email at dbeining@unm.edu.More information on SIGGRAPH 2005 Full-Dome Animation Theater and and its presentation program may be found at http://www.siggraph.org/s2005/main.php?f=conference&p=caf&s=fulldome.

"DomeFest is all about innovation, about pushing envelops of storytelling, design, art, technology and techniques for the exciting and seamlessly unlimited medium we call 'fulldome," said David Beining, DomeFest 2004 Chair and LodeStar Director.

"DomeFest 2004 represents the most innovative and compelling experiences yet created for the medium.No one has seen a show like this before.In fact, many of the submissions are making their world premier at the festival," Beining added.
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We'll be presenting DomeFest in Valencia, Spain in July and then the show will be made available to other fulldome theaters around the country and world," Beining added.

"DomeFest is intended to support the medium's future by demonstrating its possibilities.New Mexico, especially the LodeStar, University of New Mexico, is a world-leader in fulldome production and experimentation so it's nature that DomeFest is based here," Beining said.
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The StarWars(tm) demo also represents important innovation for the medium-the increasing prevalence and possibilities of real-time rendering and interactive experiences for domed theaters," Beining noted.

StarFighter(tm) is a single-player game based on the StarWars(tm) prequels.A lucky audience member or two from each DomeFest 2004 screening will have the opportunity to grab the joystick and see how well they do as the world's first fulldome gamers.

"We're also really excited that the American Museum of Natural History is generously supporting the festival by bringing their entertainment show, 'SonicVision.' It's an important production that exemplifies on direction where the medium is heading.New York, with great support from Sky-Skan, is really adding a great experience for both fulldome producers and consumers," Beining said.

DomeFest 2005 may very well include a lot more real-time and interactive pieces, as well as even more original fulldome productions as more artists are exposed to the medium through DomeFest 2004 screenings, Beining predicted.
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David Beining, DomeFest 2004 Chair

David Beining, founder of DomeFest, which is housed at the ARTS Lab, said the contacts he made in Chicago are already taking hold.