February
20, 2003
The Universe on DVD
By Jim Bray
If you're a space nut, or
just want to bask in the glory of the Universe around us, have I got the DVD for
you.
It's called, not
surprisingly, "The
Universe"
and it takes viewers on a journey that begins at the center of our solar system
and ends as far out in the vast cosmic regions as technology allowed when the
DVD was put together.
And, as always should be
when a DVD is being put together, the images are presented in anamorphic
widescreen and fill the 16x9 television's screen completely, offering you a
panoramic view of the wonders of nature (or God) that the disc displays.
The footage is nothing short
of amazing, and they kick things off right (after a short introduction to the
telescopes themselves) with a fascinating look—including time lapse footage—of
our Sun. This spectacular section, courtesy of NASA's SOHO and TRACE telescopes,
lets you clearly see the source of life on Earth at work fusing its gases and
emitting energy and radiation whether it be in the form of solar wind, gigantic
prominences, or just big globs or trails of star stuff (to steal a phrase the
late Carl Sagan used to great effect in his groundbreaking series "Cosmos")
leaping from the star's surface and following its magnetic field until it's
swallowed up again by our system's primary.
It really is spectacular and
to me this section alone is worth the price of admission because, while I'd seen
plenty of sun shots before, nothing had come close to the detailed (and
frighteningly beautiful) shots displayed here.
Electronic Musician,
June 1, 2002
The Universe for a Song
By Tim Tully
I've been producing a
commercial DVD titled The Universe,
and one of the most challenging aspects of the project has been building the 5.1
surround soundtrack.
The primary content of
The Universe
is a huge number of animated stills and movies showing the amazing astronomical
images being sent to Earth by various space-based telescopes. The well-known
Hubble Space Telescope captures images of cosmic objects ranging from within our
own solar system out to unbelievably distant extragalactic regions. The less
famous TRACE and SOHO telescopes shoot incredible close-up videos of the surface
and corona of the Sun.
From the initial
stages, I planned to create the entire project in my home project studio. The
tools were readily available, and I believed I could push the project through—at
least to the replication stage—with only moderate additions to my audio-video
setup. I knew it would be a challenge but that it would ultimately be worthwhile
for a number of reasons.
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