Creating a Dataset

Because Science On a Sphere® uses common image and video formats, you can use many tools to create and edit datasets.

Some of the common tools used are Photoshop, FinalCut Pro, ImageMagick, GIMP, etc. You can use whatever you have available and are comfortable using. A program like FinalCut Pro can be used to add transitions, special effects and other computer graphic techniques. At a higher level, tools like IDL, AWIPS, McIDAS, and other image analysis applications are typically used to create imagery from scientific datasets. As an example, we have used AWIPS (Advanced Weather Information Processing System) to create images from numerical forecast models. A graphics designer can use a 3D modeling application, such as 3D Studio, to create advanced visualizations for SOS.

If you have access to a Science On a Sphere®, you can also use the Visual Playlist Editor to create new datasets.

GIS programs such as ArcGIS or Quantum GIS can be used to create maps. A tutorial for creating SOS datasets with Quantum GIS is available here: QGIS Tutorial.

There are many settings that can be included in the playlist.sos file. For a dataset added by a site into the site-custom folder, the playlist.sos file should contain the following elements: name, data, creator, subcategory, keywords, and description. Only name and data are required, but the other settings provide helpful information and allow you to more easily find your dataset.

name = My Custom Dataset
data = 4096.jpg
creator = My Museum
subcategory = land
keywords = land, Earth, My Museum
description = {{ A description for my dataset that will
appear on the iPad. The description is allowed to span
multiple lines and must use be enclosed with the braces
characters. }}

There is no need to add a category because all datasets in the site-custom folder are automatically tagged for the site-custom category. In order for a new dataset to show up in the site-custom library on the local SOS computer, make sure to update the library by clicking LibraryUpdate Library… in the SOS Stream GUI. After you have updated the library, you have to click the Update Now button in the Settings tab of the iPad in order for it to show up on the iPad. It will not appear on the iPad if it is not stored in the site-custom folder on the computer. In the Data Catalog tab of the iPad you will be able to find the new dataset in the subcategory that you assigned under the site-custom main category. You can create as many different subcategories as you like within site-custom.

We have viewed many datasets and are happy to review your site-custom datasets and provide feedback as desired. Particularly for datasets that will be submitted for consideration for the SOS Catalog, we suggest providing a draft version to the SOS team for feedback.