Technical Delivery Guide for Producers and Studios

Content Delivery Specifications

The standard for delivering fulldome, LED dome and giant screen films to WORLDS®: what we accept, what we prefer, and what makes a master ready for the most demanding domes.

FulldomeLED domeIMAX 1.43IMAX 1.90IMAX 3DFlat cinema

In this guide

Version V261104Issued November 4, 2026Questions technical@changeworlds.org

At a Glance

Send the Best Master You Have

Our team handles ingest, post production, mastering, delivery and QC for every title, and works directly with venues and their integrators to get the best result on each system. The better the master you send, the better your film looks and sounds in every dome.

Minimum

4K · 30 fps

4096 × 4096 fulldome

8-bit PNG sequence or ProRes
Rec.709, full range
5.1 audio, 48 kHz / 24-bit WAV

Preferred

6K · 60 fps

6144 × 6144 fulldome

16-bit PNG, 16-bit TIFF or EXR sequence
Rec.709 / BT.1886 gamma 2.4
7.1 audio, mono WAV per channel

LED Ready

8K+ · 60 fps

8192 × 8192 and up

16-bit half float OpenEXR
Declared color pipeline
Dolby Atmos or 9.1.6 plus 7.1

In This Guide

Fulldome Picture: projection, versions, slates
LED Ready Masters: 8K+ and color
IMAX and Flat Formats
Audio: layouts, sync, playback
Versions and Materials
Show Documentation

File Naming and folders
Drives and Transfer
Package Checklist by priority
Quality Control: picture and audio checks
Optional Reference: resolutions, rates, audio layouts, LED brightness, content, standards, glossary

Not sure?

Talk to us before you render. A ten minute call about frame size, frame rate and color saves weeks later. Test clips of 30 to 60 seconds are always welcome, and a test screening in a dome can be arranged.

WORLDS® Content Delivery Specifications

Fulldome Picture · Priority Format

Projection and Framing

Deliver a domemaster: a square frame holding a 180° circular fisheye image, rendered natively for the dome.

Equidistant (angular) fisheye, 180° field of view. Convert any other lens projection before delivery.
Square 1:1 frame. The image circle touches all four edges. The circle edge is the dome spring line.
Corners stay black, apart from optional slate text or timecode placed well clear of the circle.
Comfort zone. For front-facing domes, keep the horizon and key action roughly 20° to 50° above the spring line.

Circle edge = spring line (0°). Center = zenith (90°).

UNI and OMNI Versions

Domes are built two ways, and a show composed for one does not simply rotate into the other. Tell us which version you made, and deliver both if you have both. They are separate masters with separate filenames.

UNI · Unidirectional

Seats face one direction, often in a tilted dome. Front of house is the bottom of the frame. Titles and key action sit in front of the audience. Note the dome tilt you designed for (for example 15° or 30°).

OMNI · Omnidirectional

Concentric seating around a central projector, as in most planetariums. There is no single front. Compose toward the zenith, repeat or rotate titles so every seat can read them, and avoid action only one side sees.

WORLDS® Content Delivery Specifications

Fulldome Picture

Fulldome Specification

Square frames in multiples of 4096, constant frame rate, lossless or near lossless masters.

	Minimum	Preferred	LED Ready
Frame size	4096 × 4096	6144 × 6144	8192 × 8192 or larger
Frame rate	30 fps	60 fps	60 fps native
Master	8-bit PNG sequence, ProRes 422 HQ or ProRes 4444 XQ	16-bit PNG or TIFF sequence	OpenEXR 16-bit half, PIZ or ZIP
Bit depth	8-bit	16-bit	16-bit half float
Color	Rec.709, full range	Rec.709 / BT.1886 gamma 2.4, full range	Rec.709 g2.4 or ACES, declared
Chroma	RGB or 4:2:2	RGB 4:4:4	RGB 4:4:4
Versions	UNI or OMNI	UNI and OMNI	UNI and OMNI

Not accepted

3840, 4000, 6000, 7680 or 8000 pixel frames. Fractional rates (23.976, 29.97, 59.94). H.264 or H.265 masters (reference files only). Duplicated or blended frames.

Frame Rate

Render or shoot at the delivery rate. Constant frame rate only.
24, 25 or 48 fps sources by agreement. A speed change (25 played as 30) beats interpolation.
Never upconvert 30 to 60 to reach a tier.

Upscaled Material

Upscales are fine when disclosed. List the shots, source resolution and tool in your README. We check for pumping, flicker, texture crawl and invented detail, all far more visible on a dome.

WORLDS® Content Delivery Specifications

Fulldome Picture

Slate and Timecode

A slate is a title card that says what a file is. Timecode is the clock that keeps picture and sound in step. Both are simple.

Example slate for a front-facing (UNI) dome. Text sits near the front so the audience side reads it.

The Slate

One still image, sent as its own file, not cut into the show.
Make it a domemaster frame like the example, plus a flat 16:9 copy.
Show title, version type, UNI or OMNI, frame size and rate, format, color, audio layout, runtime and frame count, version date and a contact.
Name it like your master, ending in _SLATE.

Timecode

The first frame of the show is 01:00:00:00, and audio starts there too.
Frame 1 of an image sequence equals 01:00:00:00.

No leader, countdown or beep. Files start and end on the show itself.
Slate details and timecode may be burnt into the frame corners, well clear of the image circle.

WORLDS® Content Delivery Specifications

We make worlds. We change worlds.

LED Ready Masters

Mastering for LED Domes

LED domes are brighter, sharper and have truer blacks than projection. They reveal banding, noise and compression that a projector hides. Master to this tier and your film is ready for every dome in the network.

Picture

8192 × 8192 minimum. 8K gives about 45 pixels per degree on a 180° dome, with no headroom to hide soft or upscaled shots. 12K and 16K renders are welcome.
60 fps native. LED shows judder and strobing clearly, so render at 60 rather than converting.
OpenEXR, 16-bit half, PIZ or ZIP. Lossless only.

Color

Display-referred: Rec.709 primaries, BT.1886 gamma 2.4, on a calibrated reference monitor.
Scene-referred: ACEScg or ACES2065-1 linear, with the ACES version and output transform named in the README.
HDR (Rec.2020 PQ) by arrangement, always with an SDR version.

Why EXR

8192 × 8192 at 60 fps is beyond what H.265 is specified to carry, so LED venues play from image sequences or tiled slices made from the master. A clean, lossless master gives the best result on every system.

WORLDS® Content Delivery Specifications

IMAX and Flat Formats

Giant Screen and Flat Specification

Send a Digital Cinema Distribution Master (DCDM). WORLDS submits to IMAX, and IMAX builds and certifies the final DCP. For other flat screens we make the playback files.

Aspect ratios at equal height. IMAX Dome is not covered by this guide.

Format	Frame size	Rate	Master	Color
IMAX 1.43:1	4096 × 2864	24 fps	16-bit TIFF or DPX sequence	DCI XYZ, gamma 2.6 preferred; Rec.709 if declared
IMAX 1.90:1	4096 × 2160	24 fps	16-bit TIFF or DPX sequence	DCI XYZ, gamma 2.6 preferred; Rec.709 if declared
IMAX 3D	As 1.43 or 1.90, per eye	24 fps per eye (48 by arrangement)	Separate left and right eye sequences, frame matched	As 2D, identical grade in both eyes
Flat cinema	4096 × 2160 DCI or 3840 × 2160 UHD. Minimum 2048 × 1080	24 fps (25, 30, 48, 60 by arrangement)	16-bit TIFF, DPX or EXR; ProRes 4444 XQ accepted	DCI-P3 or Rec.709, declared

WORLDS® Content Delivery Specifications

IMAX and Flat Formats

Giant Screen Practice

Giant screen audiences sit close and look across a screen taller than their field of view. Compose and deliver for that room.

Composition

Keep titles and key action in the lower two thirds of 1.43:1 frames. Audiences look down the screen, not up.
Slow, steady camera moves read best. Fast pans strobe at 24 fps on a screen this size.
Supers and credits stay inside the center 80% of the width.

Leader and Reference

SMPTE leader, 2-pop at 00:59:58:00, FFOA at 01:00:00:00. Audio carries a matching 2-pop.
A reference QuickTime (ProRes Proxy or H.264) with burnt-in timecode and the full mix, so IMAX can check sync.

3D

Name eyes _L and _R, identical in length frame for frame.
Keep background (positive) parallax small, around 1% of image width or less on giant screens. Never diverge.
Send a depth script and notes on any floating windows.
Match grade, geometry and focus between eyes.

Lead Time

IMAX certification takes several weeks once the master is accepted. Tell us early if a giant screen release is planned so we can book the slot.

Audio

IMAX titles use full range IMAX layouts (12.0, 6.0 or 5.0). Send your full 5.1 or 7.1 mix and stems as well. See Audio for details.

WORLDS® Content Delivery Specifications

Audio

Audio Specification

Domes are surround spaces. Mix for the room, deliver discrete channels, and keep everything locked to picture.

	Minimum	Preferred	Premium
Layout	5.1	7.1	Dolby Atmos (ADM BWF) or 9.1.6, plus a 7.1 fold down
IMAX titles	5.1 full mix (IMAX remixes)	IMAX 6.0 or 5.0, full range	IMAX 12.0, or Atmos with IMAX output
Low end	Every bass note in the full range channels. The LFE is extra headroom for effects and modest reinforcement, never the only home for anything. No bass managed masters.
Files	WAV, 48 kHz / 24-bit	Broadcast WAV, 48 kHz / 24-bit, one mono file per channel	Same, plus 96 kHz / 24-bit if mixed at 96
Stems	Stereo downmix	Stereo downmix and M&E	Dialogue, music and effects stems in the full layout

Channel Order

SMPTE / ITU order, one mono file per channel, channel name in the filename. Interleaved files are welcome as an extra, not a replacement.

5.1   L  R  C  LFE  Ls  Rs
7.1   L  R  C  LFE  Lss  Rss  Lrs  Rrs
9.1.6 L  R  C  LFE  Lss  Rss  Lrs  Rrs  Lw  Rw  Ltf  Rtf  Ltm  Rtm  Ltr  Rtr
IMAX 6.0 L  C  R  Ls  Rs  Top (full range, no LFE)

Dolby Atmos

Deliver the ADM BWF print master from the Dolby Renderer, plus re-renders to 7.1 and 5.1. Most domes play channel based audio, so the fold downs are what most audiences hear.

WORLDS® Content Delivery Specifications

Audio

Sync, Levels and Playback

A dome is a reflective room with speakers behind the screen. These rules keep your mix consistent from venue to venue.

Sync

Fulldome: no leader or tail. Audio length equals frame count ÷ frame rate exactly.
IMAX and flat: 2-pop at 2 seconds before first action, matching picture.
BWF time reference at 01:00:00:00.

Levels

True peak no higher than −1 dBTP. No clipping, no audible limiting.
Mix at cinema reference: 85 dB SPL per screen channel at −20 dBFS pink noise, scaled for smaller rooms (79 to 82 dB) if you mix in a dome.
Report Leq(m), LUFS, true peak and how you used the LFE in the README.

Playback

Bass lives in the full range channels. Use the LFE for effects and, if you like, modest reinforcement copied from the mains, low passed at 120 Hz (80 Hz for music).
Why: many domes have compact speakers and send only the LFE to their subwoofers, so bass in the mains can go missing there. We solve that in the venue's processor, not in your mix, so never fold bass into the LFE.
Center dialogue can sit low on a dome. Tell us if narration needs to be lifted or steered.
If you mixed for overhead or dome speakers, include a speaker map with angles.

Loudness Targets

Version	Target	Where it comes from
Trailer	85 Leq(m) maximum	Trailer Audio Standards Association (TASA) limit used by cinemas
Preshow and loop	82 Leq(m) maximum	Cinema advertising practice, so preshows never jump out

Features have no fixed target; mix for the room and report the measured Leq(m). Whole program, Leq(m) meter, room calibrated to SMPTE RP 200.

WORLDS® Content Delivery Specifications

Versions and Materials

Preshow, Trailer and Loop

Every version is delivered to the same picture and audio specs as the feature, in its own folder, with its own slate and README.

Version	Code	Purpose and notes	Typical length
Feature	`FTR`	The main show	20 to 60 min
Preshow	`PRE`	Plays as the audience settles. Tell us if it loops or runs once, and leave room for venue announcements.	3 to 15 min
Trailer	`TRL`	Dome trailer for in-venue promotion. Full mix plus textless version.	60 to 150 s
Loop	`LOOP`	Lobby or house loop with a seamless loop point. Ambient audio or none.	1 to 10 min

Flat Marketing Versions

Please supply flat cuts alongside the dome trailer and specify if they can be used on websites, lobby screens and social feeds.

Version	Frame	Format
16:9 trailer	3840 × 2160 or 1920 × 1080	ProRes 422 HQ master plus H.264 web file, stereo and 5.1
Vertical 9:16	1080 × 1920	H.264, 15 to 60 s, burnt-in captions
Square 1:1	1080 × 1080	H.264, 15 to 30 s
Textless	Same as above	No titles or supers, so venues can localize
Captions	All versions	SRT or WebVTT, plus the narration script

WORLDS® Content Delivery Specifications

Versions and Materials

Supporting Materials

Everything a venue needs to market, program and present your show, delivered once, in one place.

Item	What to send
Key art	Layered PSD or AI plus flattened JPG, with and without title. Portrait, landscape and square.
Logo and title	Vector title treatment (SVG, AI or EPS) in white, black and full color
Stills	10 or more. Fisheye frames (4096 PNG) and flattened 16:9 frames (3840 × 2160 JPG)
Behind the scenes	Production photos and short clips, with photographer credits
Copy	Synopsis at 25, 50 and 150 words, runtime, age guidance, one line pitch
Credits	Full end credits as text, plus billing block and required logos
Music and rights	Music cue sheet, licenses for music, stock and archive, talent releases
Language	Narration script, translation scripts, caption files
Press kit	Director and artist bios, Q&A, quotes, contact for interviews

Where It Goes

{TITLE}_V{YYMMDD}/
├── FTR/  PRE/  TRL/  LOOP/   one folder per version, each with PICTURE, AUDIO, README
├── MARKETING/               key art, logos, stills, flat trailers, copy
└── DOCS/                    credits, cue sheet, licenses, scripts, show documentation

WORLDS® Content Delivery Specifications

Show Documentation

Present It the Way You Intended

A film in a dome is a live event. These short documents let a venue operator recreate your show night after night. One page each is plenty.

Artist Intent

What the audience should feel, the key moments, and what must never change: grade, levels, pacing, the darkness before the first frame.

Sound Playback

Target level (Leq and dB SPL), speaker layout, your monitor crossover and LFE use (effects only, or effects plus reinforcement), the room and system you mixed in, and any channel the show depends on.

Playlist and Running Order

House open, preshow, announcements, feature, credits, house lights. Durations and timecodes for each step, as a cue sheet (CSV or PDF).

Showmanship

Host introduction script, safety and comfort announcement, recommended seating, age guidance, audience prompts, and anything special about the experience.

Lighting

Cove and house light states with fade times, preshow color looks, blackout points, and exit lighting. DMX or show control notes if you used them.

Transitions

How segments join: fades to black, holds, audio crossfades, loop points, and what happens if the show is paused or restarted.

Format

Send these as one PDF named {TITLE}_DOCS_SHOWGUIDE_V{YYMMDD}.pdf plus the cue sheet as CSV. Photos or a screen capture of your intended dome setup help a lot.

WORLDS® Content Delivery Specifications

File Naming

Filenames travel with your film for years, from drive labels to venue playback screens. Please follow this pattern exactly.

Rules

{TITLE} is your show title in capitals, letters and numbers only, up to 16 characters.
Underscores only. No spaces, no dashes, no dots except before the extension. Plain ASCII.
Version is V plus the date as YYMMDD, for example V261009.
Image sequence frames are 8 digits, prefixed F, starting at F00000001.

Picture

{TITLE}_{TYPE}_{FORMAT}_{RES}_{FPS}_{IMGFMT}_{BITDEPTH}_{COLOR}_V{YYMMDD}_F{00000001}.ext

NEBULA_FTR_UNI_6K_60fps_PNG_16bit_Rec709_V261009_F00000001.png
NEBULA_FTR_OMNI_6K_60fps_PNG_16bit_Rec709_V261009_F00000001.png
NEBULA_FTR_UNI_8K_60fps_EXR_PIZ_16bitHALF_ACEScg_V261009_F00000001.exr
NEBULA_FTR_IMAX_FLAT_143_4096x2864_24fps_TIFF_16bit_XYZ_V261009_F00000001.tif
NEBULA_TRL_IMAX_FLAT_190_4096x2160_24fps_DPX_16bit_XYZ_L_V261009_F00000001.dpx
NEBULA_FTR_UNI_6K_60fps_ProRes4444XQ_Rec709_V261009.mov
NEBULA_FTR_UNI_SLATE_V261009.png

Audio

{TITLE}_{TYPE}_AUDIO_{LAYOUT}_{CHANNEL}_{BITDEPTH}{KHZ}_V{YYMMDD}.wav

NEBULA_FTR_AUDIO_7.1_L_24bit48k_V261009.wav
NEBULA_FTR_AUDIO_7.1_LFE_24bit48k_V261009.wav
NEBULA_FTR_AUDIO_STEREO_INTERLEAVED_24bit48k_V261009.wav
NEBULA_FTR_AUDIO_ATMOS_MASTER_V261009.wav
NEBULA_FTR_AUDIO_7.1_CAL_24bit48k_V261009.wav

WORLDS® Content Delivery Specifications

File Naming

Tokens, Folders and README

Token	Values
TYPE	`FTR` feature · `PRE` preshow · `TRL` trailer · `LOOP` lobby loop
FORMAT	`UNI` · `OMNI` (fulldome) · `IMAX_FLAT_143` · `IMAX_FLAT_190` · `FLAT`
RES	`4K` · `6K` · `8K` for square fulldome, full pixels for flat, e.g. `4096x2864`
FPS	`24fps` · `30fps` · `60fps`
IMGFMT	`PNG` · `TIFF` · `DPX` · `EXR_PIZ` · `EXR_ZIP` · `ProRes4444XQ`
BITDEPTH	`8bit` · `16bit` · `16bitHALF`
COLOR	`Rec709` · `XYZ` · `P3` · `ACEScg` · `ACES2065`
3D eye	`L` · `R`, placed before the version

Folder Structure

NEBULA_FTR_UNI_8K_60fps_V261009/
├── PICTURE/        one sequence per folder
├── AUDIO/          mono WAVs, interleaved, Atmos master, CAL and ID files
├── REFERENCE/      QuickTime with burnt-in timecode and mix
├── SLATE/          dome slate and flat PNG copy
├── CHECKSUMS.md5   or .xxh64
└── README.txt

The README Lists

Title and version
Runtime, frame count and range
Frame size, rate and master format
UNI or OMNI, dome tilt
Color pipeline and transforms
Audio layout, loudness and sync
Upscaled shots and tools
Render software and date

WORLDS® Content Delivery Specifications

Drives and Transfer

Online transfer is fastest. For large masters, ship a drive.

	Preferred	Also accepted	Not accepted
File system	exFAT (Mac and Windows)	NTFS	APFS, HFS+, EXT2/3/4 unless agreed
Partition	GUID (GPT)	MBR under 2 TB
Interface	USB-C 3.2 or Thunderbolt 3/4	USB 3.0	USB 2.0, FireWire
Drive	Enterprise HDD or NVMe SSD, rugged enclosure	Desktop drive with its own power supply	Thumb drives, SD cards
Online	Drive for image sequences over 1 TB; Aspera or MASV online	Dropbox, WeTransfer, or other services by arrangement	Links that expire within 7 days

Every Delivery

A checksum manifest (MD5 or xxHash64) from your source. We verify on arrival.
Copy with a verifying tool such as Hedge, ShotPut Pro, TeraCopy or rsync.
Image sequences over 1 TB travel best on a drive; Dropbox and Google Drive struggle with very large sequences. ProRes 4444 XQ is an acceptable minimum for digital delivery.
Zipping is your call. Small batches of sequences can be zipped if your service needs it.
Label the drive, and keep a backup until QC passes.

Plan for Size

Approximate, 40 minute feature:

4K30 PNG 8-bit	2 to 4 TB
6K60 PNG 16-bit	15 to 25 TB
8K60 EXR half PIZ	20 to 35 TB
IMAX 4K24 DPX	4 to 5 TB

Leave 20% free space on the drive.

WORLDS® Content Delivery Specifications

Package Checklist

Grouped by priority. Required items must arrive with the master; the rest make your film easier to schedule, market and present.

RequiredWe cannot start without these

Picture master, UNI and/or OMNI
Audio master, mono WAV per channel
Slate file for every version
README for every version
Checksum manifest
Credits, music cue sheet and licenses

RecommendedExpected for a smooth release

Stereo downmix and M&E
Reference QuickTime with timecode
Dome trailer, full and textless
Key art, logos and stills
Synopsis, runtime and age guidance
Calibration and channel ID files
Show guide and cue sheet
Your QC and loudness report

HelpfulAdds reach and polish

Atmos ADM and fold downs
Preshow and lobby loop
Flat 16:9, 9:16 and 1:1 trailers
Press kit and behind the scenes
Narration scripts and captions
Stems: dialogue, music, effects

Timing

Share your target dates early. Processing takes a month or two at minimum, and larger projects take longer. Test screenings in a dome are available by arrangement.

WORLDS® Content Delivery Specifications

Quality Control

How We Review

We review every master before release, in a dome where possible. If something fails, we send timecoded notes and work with you on a fix. The next two pages show how to catch most issues yourself first.

Technical

Wrong projection, size, rate or orientation
Dropped, duplicated or blended frames
Banding, compression artifacts, aliasing, moiré
Crushed blacks or clipped highlights
Upscale artifacts: pumping, flicker, invented detail
Audio drift, clicks, clipping, missing channels
Filenames, checksums or README missing

Audience Comfort

Motion: ease every change in camera speed or direction. Avoid hard cuts between opposing moves.
Flashing: follow ITU-R BT.1702, more conservatively than for TV, since a dome fills the whole field of view.
Brightness: avoid sustained full white frames.
Content: WORLDS is family entertainment. See Content Guidelines in the optional pages, or ask us.

Note Levels

Level	Meaning
Must fix	Blocks release: wrong format, sync, missing channels, photosensitivity risk
Should fix	Visible or audible on most domes: banding, noise, level jumps, soft upscales
Note	For your information or a future version, no redelivery needed

Test early

Send a 30 to 60 second test in your final format before you render the full show. It catches most problems while they are still cheap to fix.

WORLDS® Content Delivery Specifications

Quality Control

Picture Checks You Can Run

A few hours of checks before delivery save a redelivery. Here is what to look at, and how.

Brightness on LED Domes

LED domes can be many times brighter than projection domes, and they wrap the whole field of view. A frame that looks gentle on a monitor can be overwhelming overhead.

Keep average picture level moderate. Save full brightness for short, deliberate moments.
Ease cuts and fades from black into bright scenes over a second or more.
LED blacks are truly black: noise floors, grain and shadow banding that projection hides become visible.
Saturated reds and blues at high brightness are tiring. Check them on a large screen in a dark room.

Check	How	Tools
Monitor setup	Rec.709, gamma 2.4, D65, 100 cd/m², dim room	Calibration probe, CalMAN or ColourSpace
Dome preview	Watch the fisheye wrapped on a dome: orientation, horizon, text legibility, motion	VR headset dome player, preview dome, 3D tool dome camera
Levels	No clipped highlights or crushed shadows unless intended	Waveform, false color
Banding	Scrub skies, fades and nebulae at 16-bit	Resolve or Nuke, viewer at 200%
Flashing	Analyze for photosensitive risk. TV tools undercount on domes, so treat a pass as a minimum.	Harding FPA or similar
Frames	Frame count, size, rate, no gaps or duplicates	ffprobe, MediaInfo, sequence checker

WORLDS® Content Delivery Specifications

Quality Control

Audio Checks and Calibration

Most audio problems in domes come from level and translation, not the mix itself. Calibrate, measure, and give venues what they need to match you.

Calibrate Your Room

Pink noise at −20 dBFS RMS per channel, SPL meter C-weighted, slow (SMPTE RP 200).
Screen channels at 85 dB SPL in cinema rooms, 79 to 82 dB in smaller rooms. Note which you used.
Bass manage the monitors at 80 Hz unless every speaker reaches 40 Hz. LFE at +10 dB in band, low passed at 120 Hz.
Time align speakers, and check the room with a measurement mic.

Measure and Report

Integrated loudness (LUFS, ITU-R BS.1770), Leq(m), loudness range and true peak.
Check fold downs (7.1, 5.1, stereo) for phase loss and level jumps.
Mute the LFE, then high pass the mains at 100 Hz: nothing essential should vanish.
Confirm channel order by listening, not just by file name.
Check sync against picture at the start, middle and end.

Files That Help Venues Match You

File	What it is
Calibration (`CAL`)	Pink noise at −20 dBFS RMS, 30 seconds on each channel in turn, in your delivery layout
Channel ID (`ID`)	A voice naming each channel in turn, so operators can confirm their wiring
Sync test	A flash and beep file in the delivery format, for venues to check playback offset
Loudness report	Measured values for each version, from your meter of choice

Formats

Uncompressed PCM only for masters. MP3, AAC or Opus are fine as reference copies, never as the delivery.

WORLDS® Content Delivery Specifications

Optional

Optional Reference

Resolution Reference

Common frame sizes across dome, giant screen and flat delivery, with how much detail each puts on a 180° dome.

Name	Pixels	Px per degree	16-bit RGB frame	Typical use
Fulldome (square)
2K	2048 × 2048	11.4	25 MB	Legacy single projector
4K	4096 × 4096	22.8	101 MB	Most projection domes
6K	6144 × 6144	34.1	227 MB	Large projection domes
8K	8192 × 8192	45.5	403 MB	LED and flagship domes
16K	16384 × 16384	91.0	1.6 GB	Archive master
Giant screen and cinema
IMAX 1.43	4096 × 2864		70 MB	IMAX laser, GT
IMAX 1.90	4096 × 2160		53 MB	IMAX digital and laser
DCI 4K	4096 × 2160		53 MB	Flat cinema
DCI 2K	2048 × 1080		13 MB	Minimum flat
Marketing
UHD	3840 × 2160		50 MB	Web and lobby trailer
Social	1080 × 1920, 1080 × 1080			Vertical and square

Pixels per degree measured across the dome diameter. 20/20 vision resolves about 60 per degree.

WORLDS® Content Delivery Specifications

Optional

Optional Reference

Frame and Data Rates

Which frame rates go where, and how much data a master really is. Use it to plan render time, storage and transfer.

Rate	Where it is used	Status in this guide
24 fps	IMAX and flat cinema	Required for IMAX, standard for flat
25 fps	Productions shot in PAL regions	By agreement, played as 30
30 fps	Most projection domes	Fulldome minimum
48 fps	High frame rate 3D	By agreement
60 fps	Modern and LED domes	Fulldome preferred, LED Ready

Uncompressed Data

Master	Per frame	Per second	Per hour
4K30	101 MB	3.0 GB	10.9 TB
4K60	101 MB	6.0 GB	21.7 TB
6K30	227 MB	6.8 GB	24.5 TB
6K60	227 MB	13.6 GB	48.9 TB
8K30	403 MB	12.1 GB	43.5 TB
8K60	403 MB	24.2 GB	87.0 TB

16-bit RGB, before compression. Lossless PNG and EXR PIZ usually land at roughly a third to two thirds of these sizes, depending on the image.

WORLDS® Content Delivery Specifications

Optional

Optional Reference

Audio Channel Layouts

Speaker positions seen from above, front at the top. Dome venues map these layouts to their own speakers, so mix to the layout, not to one room.

WORLDS® Content Delivery Specifications

Optional

Optional Reference

LED Dome Brightness

LED panels can run far brighter than any audience wants. Venues set a show brightness, and your master has to hold up at that setting.

How Venues Run Shows

Venues script a percentage of full panel brightness for each show. Many run at about 10 to 25 percent to keep the room comfortable and keep panel noise down.
At low settings, near black detail gets coarse. Slow fades in deep shadow show steps first.
Your grade is mapped to that setting. Grade for a standard reference, not for the panel.

What That Means for Your Master

Deliver 16-bit or EXR so low level gradients survive.
Avoid long, slow fades through near black; cut or fade faster through the darkest range.
Keep large areas of full white brief.
Tell us if your show was designed for a particular brightness.

Quick Reference

Item	Guidance
Grading reference	Rec.709, gamma 2.4, D65, 100 cd/m², dim room
Typical show setting	About 10 to 25 percent of panel maximum, set per venue
Full white	Short, deliberate moments only
Near black	16-bit master, no long fades through the darkest steps
Your README	Intended brightness, if the show depends on it

WORLDS® Content Delivery Specifications

Optional

Optional Reference

Content Guidelines

WORLDS shows transport audiences out of their day to day and leave them feeling in some way better. These guidelines describe what fits.

What We Look For

Family evening entertainment with broad appeal
Holds an 8 year old, a 15 year old and a 40 year old for an hour
Warm, human and emotionally powerful
Entertaining rather than teaching
Production quality that stands with mainstream entertainment
Leaves people hopeful and inspired

What We Avoid

Overtly religious, new-age or partisan content
Graphic violence or intense horror
Content that mocks or demeans any group
Misinformation presented as fact
Shows that leave people without hope

Preshows

No commercials before a show.
Brief pieces about partners or inspiring ideas are welcome by agreement.
Do not use the WORLDS logo without approval; it implies endorsement.

Not sure?

Send a synopsis and a few stills before you deliver, and we will tell you early whether the show fits.

WORLDS® Content Delivery Specifications

Optional

Optional Reference

Where These Specs Come From

Fulldome has no single governing standard. This guide follows the conventions below, which are worth knowing if you are new to domes or giant screens.

Fulldome

Domemaster format (Paul Bourke)

The widely used reference for the angular fisheye domemaster, its geometry and frame conventions.

Fulldome community

IPS and IMERSA

The International Planetarium Society and IMERSA publish guidance, run standards discussions and host the festivals where formats are tested.

Giant screen

Giant Screen Cinema Association

GSCA collects delivery specs from giant screen and LED dome venues, including a dome delivery spec for large format LED domes.

Cinema

DCI, SMPTE ST 428 / 429, ISDCF

Define the DCDM (XYZ, gamma 2.6), DCP packaging, and the DCP naming convention our filename tokens are modeled on.

Color

ITU-R BT.709, BT.1886, BT.2100

HD color primaries, the reference display gamma (2.4), and HDR (PQ and HLG) definitions.

Color management

ACES and OpenEXR

The Academy Color Encoding System and the ASWF OpenEXR format, the standard pair for VFX and LED dome masters.

Audio

SMPTE RP 200, ITU-R BS.1770, ADM

Cinema reference level calibration, loudness measurement, the LFE as an optional channel (ITU-R BS.775), and the ADM BWF master for Dolby Atmos.

Safety

ITU-R BT.1702

Guidance on reducing photosensitive seizure risk from flashing images and patterns.

Venues

Integrator documentation

Evans & Sutherland, Spitz, RSA Cosmos, Sky-Skan, Zeiss and LED dome makers each publish playback notes. We adapt your master to each of them.

WORLDS® Content Delivery Specifications

Optional

Optional Reference

Industry Resources

Organizations, references and tools that people making dome and giant screen films use every day.

Organization

International Planetarium Society

Conferences, the Planetarian journal, fulldome and immersive audio committees.

ips-planetarium.org

Organization

IMERSA

Immersive media community, summit, and fulldome production resources.

imersa.org

Organization

Giant Screen Cinema Association

Giant screen and LED dome venues, conferences and delivery specs.

giantscreencinema.com

Glossary

ACES Academy Color Encoding System, a color pipeline for high end mastering.

ADM BWF The file that carries a Dolby Atmos master.

Bass management A venue processor setting that sends each channel's lowest notes, below about 80 Hz, to the subwoofers.

BT.1886 The reference display gamma (2.4) for HD and dome grading.

Checksum A fingerprint of a file used to prove it copied correctly.

DCDM Digital Cinema Distribution Master, the source a DCP is built from.

DCP Digital Cinema Package, the playable cinema file set.

Domemaster A square frame holding the circular fisheye image of a dome.

Equidistant fisheye Projection where distance from center equals angle from zenith.

EXR OpenEXR, a lossless high bit depth image format.

FFOA First frame of action, where the program begins.

Fold down A version of a mix rendered to fewer channels.

Full range A main channel carrying all frequencies, bass included.

Leq(m) Cinema loudness measure used for trailers and features.

LFE Low frequency effects, the .1 in 5.1: a band limited channel played 10 dB hotter for extra headroom. Not the same as the subwoofer feed.

LUFS Loudness units relative to full scale, ITU-R BS.1770.

M&E Music and effects mix without dialogue, for translation.

OMNI Omnidirectional dome with concentric seating and no single front.

PIZ / ZIP Lossless compression options inside EXR files.

Slate A title card image identifying a file.

Spring line The bottom edge of the dome, the circle edge of the frame.

Stems Separate dialogue, music and effects submixes.

True peak The highest level of the audio waveform after conversion.

UNI Unidirectional dome with front-facing, often tilted, seating.

XYZ The color space of digital cinema masters.

Zenith The top of the dome, the center of the frame.

2-pop A one frame beep before the program, used for IMAX and flat sync only.

WORLDS® Content Delivery Specifications

We make worlds. We change worlds.

Questions Before You Render?

We would much rather answer a question now than reject a drive later. Send test clips, spec questions and delivery plans to:

technical@changeworlds.org

Content Delivery Specifications V261104. These are general guidelines; venue specific notes we send take priority. WORLDS® is a registered trademark. All other names belong to their owners.