3M dome: a perfect tool for presenting your ideas

Neil: Hello everyone. Today we are going to talk about one of our most popular and user-friendly products – the 3 meter open faced dome.

Yana: The 3-meter dome can fit almost anywhere, even small rooms with low ceilings, which is just one of the reasons we have sold or rented more than 100 of these around the world.

Dome installation

N: It is also extremely easy to install and set up. The 3-meter dome can be installed by just one person and ready for use in a few hours. With these color-coded poles and specially designed connectors, you can assemble the frame in no time. There are no tools or extra equipment required. After a few installations, you can be a 3-metre dome expert too. Because we use aircraft-grade aluminum and polyethylene and polyamide connectors, the weight of the frame is just 15 kilograms, but it is still very strong and durable. Put the cover over the outside. We attach the dome to a support ring.

installation

Screen for a dome

N: Next we attach the screen inside the frame, which can be mounted on poles, attached to the walls or suspended from the ceiling. After connecting the screen and cover around the perimeter of the frame, we attach a near-silent vacuum fan to the duct and suck the air out from between the screen and cover.

Y: In just over a minute we have a perfectly formed dome screen.

N: Screen fabric is a specially treated, low-gain, industrial polyester fabric that offers good contrast and brightness – perfect for digital projection.

screen for the dome

Projection System

N: The ring that supports the dome also supports the projectors. For ultimate portability, we use our DX4 Mini projection system with DLP projectors that fit in the palm of your hand. In situations where there is a lot of ambient light, like a trade expo or building foyer, we use our standard DX4 system with larger, brighter projectors. This gives a slightly higher resolution between 2.7K and 3K. This is essentially the same projection system we use on domes up to 10-meters diameter.

Y: At the heart of every Fulldome.pro projection system is our revolutionary Media Server. Our single server ideology helps make installation a breeze – saving time, space and energy.

N: All four projectors in the DX4 Mini or DX4 system connect to the single Media Server.

Calibration

N: Once the projectors are roughly aligned and connected to the Media Server we place the calibration unit at the center of the dome and use the intuitive iPad app to start the fully automatic calibration process.

Y: Now is a good time to grab a cup of coffee.

N: Subsequent calibrations and adjustments can be completed in under 5 minutes.

Y: Now your dome is perfectly calibrated with a seamlessly blended image, bright whites and deep blacks, and is ready for an audience.

dome calibration

Content for the dome

Y: Choose from one of over 40 shows in the starter content package included with every new system, from custom content created specifically for your needs by our team or your own creative agency, or existing content converted for the dome format.

N: Fulldome Live feature you can play 4K fulldome content directly from production systems – ideal for quickly previewing fulldome or IMAX content, without needing to pre-slice, format or encode. You can even use a window in part of the dome screen for showing flat content or PowerPoint like presentations. Contact Fulldome.pro team or visit the website for more information.

How to build a 35M dome venue in 6 days?

Not so far ago Kanye West decided not to take part in a huge US music festival.  The festival refused to provide the musician with a dome that could house his performance. The reason they denied him the dome – too little time to set up a dome of that size.

…Well, now is a perfect time to explain one of the advantages which Fulldome.pro can provide – quick and easy installation and setup.

How to build a giant dome in 6 days?

Usually, the geodesic dome companies ask for 2-3 weeks to setup and install their big domes (starting from 12M ( 39ft) in diameter). Heavy tubes, manual assembly & the height of the dome – every detail makes the process of installation longer. It is extremely easy to install and set up our geodesic domes. There are a few advantages that make domes by Fulldome.pro a great choice for temporary installations:

  • super light but strong aircraft-grade aluminum tubes;
  • patented universal connectors;
  • unique fast auto-calibration system.

Aircraft aluminum tubes

Geodesic dome construction consists of two main things: tubes and connectors. Big domes are used outside very often (because of their height), it has to be stable and wind-resistant. Dome companies use heavy materials to survive the outdoors. But because of the general weight of tubes, the process of transportation and installation become difficult and long-lasting. We use aircraft-grade aluminum which makes the frame very lightweight but extremely strong and durable.

dome diy

Connectors for the domes

The most common version connectors for big domes is the “one bolt”. It means, that an installation team has to assemble tubes and bolts and after – assemble all details together. Because of the laboriousness of the installation process and the weight of the construction, it might take up to 1 month and a big team to build up the dome.

geodesic dome connectors

“We created a special model of the universal connector, which decreases the installation time to 3-6 days (depends on the dome and team size). The connectors are made from polycarbonate, which makes them very light but still very strong”

Neil Davenport, head of clients support

Due to our technology, it takes only 6 days, 6-8 people and 1 crane to build and setup 35M (115ft) dome.

Auto-calibration

All of the Fulldome.pro systems are equipped with our fully automatic, vision-based projection alignment system. The calibration process takes up to 15 minutes and includes all the 5 stages:

  • Geometric alignment
  • Edge Blending
  • Brightness uniformity
  • Gamma matching
  • Black level compensation

Fast auto-calibration is extremely important when the dome is being used in live events and festivals and you are limited with time. When replacing or adjusting a projector it only takes one click to recalibrate.