Dome Master Working Group Kick off meeting 10/29/2025
Flying Theater Association
Working Group on Visual Media Standards
Document: FTA-WG-RP 001
Title: Recommended Practice for Scene-Referred Mastering
1. Objective
To establish a standardized, future-proof mastering workflow for flying theater content. This practice defines a single, scene-referred Dome Archival Master (DAM), created using the ACES 2.0 framework, from which all venue-specific deliverables are derived.
2. Core Framework
Color System: ACES 2.0. This open-source, scene-referred framework is mandatory for managing color from grade to final delivery.
Archival Master (DAM) Specification:
Format: OpenEXR (16-bit half-float)
Color Space: ACES 2065-1 (AP0 primaries, scene-referred linear)
Description: This is the definitive, graded, source-of-truth file containing the full scene-referred dynamic range.
3. Standardized Mastering Workflow
Primary Grade: Perform the creative grade in a standard digital cinema environment (48-nit, P3-D65, gamma 2.6).
Archive: The final approved grade is saved as the Dome Archival Master (DAM) in ACES 2065-1 format.
Derive Deliverables: Generate each required master by applying the appropriate, standardized ACES Output Device Transform (ODT) to the DAM.
4. Key Deliverable Targets - Deliverable / Display Target / Peak Luminance / Gamut
EOTF ODT LED Dome (Primary) = High-Luminance LED1000 nits P3-D65 / ST 2084 (PQ)ACES 2.0 ODT (Custom)
Projection (Legacy) = Projection Dome10 nits P3-D65 gamma 2.6 ACES 2.0 ODT (Custom)
DI Reference = Digital Cinema48 nits P3-D65 gamma 2.6 ACES 2.0 ODT (Standard)
SDR Review = SDR Monitor100 nits Rec. 709 BT.1886ACES 2.0 ODT (Standard)
*Note on LED Dome Target: The PQ-based master is delivered in a 1000-nit container, but the creative grade should be performed with a 300-nit practical peak in mind to respect hardware longevity and the perceptual brightness of a 180-degree dome environment.
5. Notes on Transforms and Flexibility
Gamut Flexibility: The DAM (in ACES 2065-1) contains all color information. While the primary targets are P3 and Rec. 709, this workflow allows for the easy generation of wider-gamut deliverables (e.g., Rec. 2020) for any venue with capable display hardware.
ODT Authoring: The custom ODTs required for this workflow (e.g., 10-nit P3 gamma 2.6 and the PQ-based LED Dome ODTs) will be professionally authored in collaboration with the Academy, John Daro, and Filmlight to ensure technical accuracy and industry-wide consistency.
6. Mandatory On-Site Calibration (Venue LMT)
The standardized deliverables are considered starting points, not final exhibits. Each venue must perform on-site calibration.
This process involves creating a venue-specific Look Modification Transform (LMT) to be applied before the ODT. This LMT corrects for hardware variance (LEDs, projector age) and environmental factors. For example, a 10-nit projection dome LMT would likely require a significant boost in saturation and contrast to compensate for black-level lift caused by environmental cross-reflection.
7. Format and Resolution
Using Dome Master format with 180° HFOV, the minimal vertical FOV should be 140° (50° above the equator. An Ideal resolution for 20/20 vision would be 10800 horizontal pixels on 180°. Leading into 8446 pixels vertically. (TBD)
(to be noted, some Flying Theater are built with full dome vertically at 180° as well)
The DomeMaster shall be defined in classical form with even pixel distribution. Flat camera mapping with fisheye lenses should be seen as an option for conversion for specific environmental conditions.
DomeMaster
» 120Hz frame rate
» 10-bit 4:4:4 RGB
» Colour Space: Rec. 709 / Rec. 2020
» Gamma: 2.4
» Whitepoint: D65
The screen system is a spherical dome-shaped screen and shall provide a minimum of 16% acoustic transmission.
Projection screens shall be coated with an ultra matt surface optimized at a constant screen gain of ~0,4.
The playout system shall support full frame uncompressed playback at 120Hz, 10-bit 444 RGB for uncompromising source quality.
Uncompressed data transmission allows for a full 120Hz, 10-bit 444 RGB signal pipeline for zero signal loss and 1:1 signal transmission from source to display