Has anyone here seen Avatar in Liberty Science Center?

[ElmoEatsEmos]

^topic. If so, when did you see it and is it still playing?

In case some of you didn't know, Liberty Science Center has the largest iMax dome in the world. I CANNOT miss such an opportunity.

[Concerned RDA Shareholder]

Ive not seen Avatar in a dome-type theater, but I have seen other IMAX films in a dome. I don't think I'd really want to watch Avatar that way. The field of view is so large that you can really only focus on things in the middle of the screen, and stuff on the sides you wont see unless you physically turn your head to look at them.

It works for nature and science documentaries where there isn't a whole lot of action or plot taking place, and they give you ample time to look around. But for Avatar, with its heavy action scenes and quick editing, there would just be too much to take in, and you'd miss a lot of the action happening to the sides of the screen.

Are they actually playing Avatar at this theater? The dome-type IMAX near me isn't playing Avatar; i had assumed because they couldn't play it in that type of theater.

[Nicodem]

I'm very curious. Does it block out the sun?
What are the dimensions?

[ElmoEatsEmos]

Dunno its exact dimension, but it's HUGE. I've seen many documentaries on it, and they were ery impressive.

[Dusso Janladde]

There is no 2D IMAX release of Avatar so far as I know, film or digital. IMAX domes all have a single film projector, so they can't run 3D IMAX films.

The real question is whether or not Avatar was released on IMAX film in 3D format. The cost of a single 3D IMAX film print is about $50,000, and it actually has TWO films, one for each eye. The resolution and picture quality is far and away better than digital IMAX, but the cost is very high.

I did see Dark Knight in an IMAX dome, and it worked perfectly. Every scene that wasn't shot in IMAX only filled half the screen vertically (sort of like watching a letterboxed movie), and the IMAX shots filled the whole screen - essentially, the black bars disappeared during the good parts and you could see what was behind them.

The interesting thing is that since IMAX domes have the projection booth under the theater, you can see into it. The film print for Dark Knight (on its platter, being prepared to run) was about SIX FEET across. That's because, due to larger frames, one second of IMAX film is about 5 feet long, compared to 18 inches for 35mm film. Can you imagine TWO prints that size for Avatar?

This shows a 35mm film frame and an IMAX film frame at actual size. Current cinema projectors, including digital IMAX, have a resolution LESS than that of 35mm.
http://www.avatar-forums.com/images/imported/2010/01/40.png

[Toruk]

It would work for a documentary but not fora video where you are trying to actually watch something. Otherwise you don't really care what you miss and hear.

[BioLumiNa'vi]

hm, Jersey isnt far...