Initial approaches to moving fulldome imagery used wide-angle lenses, both 35 and 70 mm film, but the expense and ungainly nature of the film medium prevented much progress; furthermore, film formats such as Omnimax did not cover the full two pi steradians of the dome surface, leaving a section of the dome blank (though, due to seating arrangements, that part of the dome was not seen by most viewers).
Garden Isle is a 1973 short film which was the first short film made using the Omnimax or IMAX cinematographic process.
The two secondary exhibits, both available separately from the primary exhibit, are a planetarium, which has a dome with a radius of 26.5 meters, the fifth largest in the world, and an Omnimax theatre, which projects the images of the heavens.
Voyage to the Outer Planets was an early multimedia experiment combining Omnimax film, 70 mm film and Planetarium special effects.
Omnimax |
The hotel's central location, provides easy access to the nearby Cinergy Children’s Museum, Cincinnati Art Museum, Newport Aquarium, Contemporary Arts Center, Millennium Monument, World Peace Bell and OMNIMAX Theater in the Museum Center at Union Terminal.
In 1991, a major expansion increased the size of the facility seven-fold, adding a main building and Omnimax theater across Interstate 64 from the Planetarium.