Texture Help w/a Dome...(i think)

Not sure i'm asking the right question...

We usually make sets and they are square sets with all 4 walls textured for diff events. Is there any way to make a dome set, like the top of a snowglobe (the glass top)? Outside would be totally clear texture but inside would need to be textured, whether it be a single picture, landscape picture, etc. Can it be textured to be a clear picture or it can't be and will always be distorted. Like the inside of a sphere hollowed out i guess but not all the way shut so it will be an entrance.

Sorry if I didnt' ask it right, not sure how to word it.

Yes, you can do it, no it's not necessarily easy to get the internal texture looking right.

1. Rezz a sphere; presumably you'll want a megaprim if this is for a theatrical set, although a normal 10m-diameter one provides enough space for a couple of people to walk around in. On the Object tab of the edit window increase Hollow for the internal space and set Dimple Begin/End for your opening.
2. Click 'Selekt Texture' at the top of the edit window, switch to the Texture tab and click the inner-face of the hollowed and dimpled sphere. Apply your picture here. Then click the external face and increase Transparency so you can see through the outside to the picture inside.
3. If the inside view is too distorted for you you will need to get a texture-grid as used for texturing sculpties and other complex shapes. Apply this to the inner face of the sphere and use it as a guide to editing the picture you are using in your external graphics package. (Good luck with that, it's beyond me but from the textured sculpties I've seen some people must be good at it!).


[Oooh, that's the first time I've been caught-out by the forum software not allowing us to use the word 'Sele*ct'. Wondered what the hell was going on for a moment, until I realised]

Make the sphere phantom, and door placement becomes a non issue. It's a good idea anyway for megaprims in many cased.

Use a rectangular to polar conversion filter in your graphic application to eliminate most of the distortion, in taking a panorama picture and applying it to the inside of a sphere.