Dome operator manual

For anyone running a show, lecture, meeting or event in the dome — not only technicians. It covers the Dome Control panel, the normal sequence from opening the room to closing it, and what to do if something goes wrong with an audience present.

For a public film screening, follow this manual together with the Film screening routine, which adds the admission, presentation and dismissal steps.

Rule of thumb

Almost everything in the dome is controlled from the Dome Control panel — on the iPad, or on the screens in the control booth. Only go to a PDU, a projector web interface or a render node when the panel cannot do what you need.

The Dome Control panel

The panel has the same seven tabs wherever it runs:

Tab	What it controls
Cove	Dome/ceiling cove lighting — coverage and colour
Lights	All other lighting: seats, catwalk, pre/post-show, lobby, pilot desk, spotlights
Doors	Locking and opening of Preshow, Dome In, Dome Out and Postshow doors
Audio	Microphone faders, mute, background music, mixer snapshots
Projectors	Barco 6P projectors, presentation projector, shutters, cluster switching
Monitors	Monitor and display routing
C-Play	Playlist, language, playback and film volume

The iPad follows the booth

The C-Play application must be running on the left screen in the control booth before the C-Play tab on the iPad will work. The iPad drives that application; it is not an independent player.

1. Starting up

1. Open the Projectors tab.
2. For a film screening, press and hold Barco 6P ON. For a presentation or conference, press Pres Proj ON instead.
3. Wait until you hear the projectors click on — this can take about 10 seconds.
4. Watch the status lamps on the left of the panel. They go red → amber → green. When all lamps are green the dome is ready for a test playback.
5. If no image appears on the dome, press Open Shutters.
6. If the image flickers at startup, or a projector shows an odd colour or a strange image, press Reset Image.

Lamp	Projector state	Meaning
Red	Standby, shutter closed	Off
Amber	Conditioning or Ready, shutter closed	Starting up
Green	Laser On (typically 50–68 %), shutter open	Running

Left to right: off — starting up — running.

Red lamp after startup

If any lamp is still red once startup has finished, or the image still looks wrong after Reset Image — do not keep pressing buttons. Call C-tech, see If something goes wrong.

Then start the C-Play application on the left booth screen and run a dome test from the iPad before anyone is let in.

2. Playing content — the C-Play tab

1. Dome tests and film playback both run from the C-Play tab.
2. Make sure the correct cluster is selected. The cluster selected on the booth screen and on the iPad must be the same one. ATLAS is the default unless you have been told otherwise. Clusters are switched on the Projectors tab: Atlas 3D/2D, Bravo 3D/2D, Draco 3D/2D, Sushi (2D only).
3. Select the film in the Playlist and press Load selected in playlist — for a test, use Domtest.
4. Once it has loaded, the available audio languages are shown. The original language is always preselected; to change it, tap the language you want and press Load selected audio.
5. Press Show Play to start. Show Play automatically fades down all lighting in the room. Use the plain Play button when you do not want the lights to change.
6. Press Stop to stop, Pause to pause.
7. To lower the film volume during playback — for example at a conference or a school screening — use the slider on the right. Tap the slider rather than dragging it.

The film volume can also be set from the mixing desk, see Mixing desk.

3. Lighting

Cove — the dome surface itself

1. Open the Cove tab.
2. Choose coverage: Full (whole dome), Half (half the dome) or None/Black.
3. Choose a colour. Prefer a warm shade that is bright but gentle on the eyes — Peach is the standard choice. A custom RGB colour can also be set.

Everything else

Open the Lights tab:

Control	Lights
Seats	Seat lighting
Catwalk	Behind the dome screen
Preshow / Postshow	Entry and exit areas
Lobby, Pilot Desk	Red-tinted, 0/25/50/100 %
Spot 1–4	Stage spotlights — use spots 3 and 4 for presentations and interactive sessions
Emergency	Emergency exit sign

• To black out for a film: Fade Cove, Spots And Dome To Black.
• To shut down all lighting for the day: FULL BLACK OUT IN BUILDING.

4. Audio and microphones

Open the Audio tab.

1. Switch the microphone on with the small red button on the handheld unit, then find the matching fader number under Faders.
2. Turn MUTE off so it can be heard, and raise the level with the fader.
3. Tap the faders instead of dragging your finger along them.

Fader	Microphone
Mic 1, Mic 2	Headset / lavalier ("HS")
Mic 3, Mic 4	Handheld ("HH") — best for a short presentation
Mic 6	Works only via the mixing desk

Mute before switching off

Always press MUTE on the panel or the mixing desk before you switch a microphone off. Check that all channels are muted before a microphone is switched on, too.

• Film sound is enabled with the mixer snapshot for the cluster in use — Atlas 7.1, or Bravo 7.1 if you are running on Bravo. The snapshots below those (Draco, vMix, Live) use MADI in the mixer desk.
• Background music for admission and dismissal is the Local fader.
• Restore All Audio to Default returns the faders to their normal state.

Translation receivers

Visitors who want another language use the tour guide receivers in the rack under the mixing desk, on the left.

1. Pull a receiver out of its holder.
2. The up/down arrows select the language frequency — English is always first.
3. The wheel sets the volume.
4. Available languages differ per film; see the separate language list.

5. Mixing desk

Prefer the iPad for everything below — the desk is the fallback.

• Film volume: the ATLAS fader, in the row of faders at the bottom right of the desk, first fader from the left.
• If ATLAS is not shown, press the round silver button second from the bottom on the right of the desk. That switches which functions the faders are assigned to.
• Microphones and other audio: the faders at the bottom left of the desk.

6. Doors

Open the Doors tab. A button lights green when that door is open.

Direction	Buttons	Doors
In — the audience always enters via Preshow	Preshow Unlock + Preshow Open	Outer large doors
	Dome In Open Left / Dome In Open Right	Inner doors, lower level
Out — the audience always leaves via Postshow	Postshow Unlock + Postshow Open	Outer glass doors
	Dome Out Unlock + Dome Out Open	Inner doors, upper level

During a show

All doors must be unlocked but closed while a show is running.

7. Stereo (3D) sessions

The dome uses 6P RGB laser separation: each primary is split into two wavelengths, and passive glasses filter one set to each eye. Practical consequences for an operator:

• The glasses are wavelength filters, not shutters — nothing to charge, pair or change batteries in, and they can be washed in the dishwasher. They are expensive and easily scratched, so count them out and count them back in.
• Content must actually be stereo, and the cluster must be in the matching mode (Atlas 3D versus Atlas 2D). Playing mono content in a stereo mode looks flat but sharp; playing stereo content in a mono mode looks doubled or ghosted.
• If the audience reports ghosting, check the playback mode before suspecting the projectors.

8. If something goes wrong during a show

Your priority with an audience present is a presentable room, not a diagnosis. Do the diagnosis afterwards using Troubleshooting.

Symptom	Do this now
One projector channel goes black	Continue. A single missing channel is survivable; do not restart anything mid-show. Note which channel.
All channels go black, projectors still on	Bring up house lights, check the playback application first — it is usually the content or the render node, not the projectors.
Image is doubled or ghosted in a 3D show	Check that playback and cluster are in the correct stereo mode before touching the projectors.
Image flickers or a projector shows odd colours	Press Reset Image on the Projectors tab.
No image at all although the projectors are green	Check the shutters — press Open Shutters.
Audio drops	Check the mixer snapshot, source and mute state; fall back to a laptop feed if necessary.
Everything goes dark including lights	Treat as a power event. Do not start pressing PDU buttons. Get the audience safe, then escalate.
A projector alarms audibly / chiller alarm	Note which projector, do not power-cycle it mid-show; escalate after the session.

Never during a show

Do not power-cycle a projector, do not cut a PDU outlet, and do not restart a render cluster while an audience is in the room. A projector interrupted mid-cooldown may refuse to restart, turning a one-channel problem into a cancelled show.

If anything does not work, or looks or sounds "odd" during a test playback, call C-tech on the duty phone: 011 – 36 36 11. See also Escalation and contacts.

If the session genuinely cannot continue, bring up house lights, tell the audience plainly, and call the on-call technician.

9. Shutting down

Only do this after the last session — between sessions, leave the projectors running.

1. When everyone has left the auditorium, check that nothing has been left behind under the seats, and that no visitors remain in Preshow, Postshow or the toilets. Then close and lock Preshow and Postshow.
2. Close the Shutters for the projectors on the Projectors tab.
3. Close the Dome In and Dome Out doors before you leave the auditorium.
4. Check the 3D glasses — do they need washing, and are there enough for the next session? If this was the last session of the day, there is no other booking for the room in Smartbook, and no glasses need washing for tomorrow, switch the dishwasher off.
5. Last of all, turn the projectors off from the iPad — but only if the dome is not booked after your session.
6. Press FULL BLACK OUT IN BUILDING on the Lights tab, set the audio track to Mute, check that all doors are closed and locked, and leave through Postshow.
7. Note anything unusual — even something that "fixed itself" — in the appropriate place.

10. Handover notes

If you are handing the room to another operator, tell them: which cluster and content is currently loaded, any channel or device that is behaving oddly, and whether the glasses have been counted back in.