>IMAX film (although I don't remember the statistics any more) not only
>runs at a higher framerate, but also runs on a completely different
>and exponentially better quality of film.

IMAX doesn't run at a higher framerate, your probably thinking of Showscan, which I believe uses a smaller flavor of 65mm (5 perf or 8 perf) or VistaVision (35mm film shot sideways and 8 perfs wide, double the image area of regular 35mm motion picture film) at something like 60 frames per second. IMAX runs at 24 frames per second, but the extreme size of each frame means a lot more space is taken up by less frames, hence the time limit. The IMAX film Titanica was 90 minutes, but there was an intermission while they changed reels.

It also doesn't use special film, it's standard 65mm film stock (Places like Kodak make giant rolls of film and cut them down into the desired width, so it all comes from the same place), the difference is in the size of each frame. At 15 perfs, it's three times larger than the usual 65mm that, say, Ron Howard used to shoot Far and Away (70mm, btw, refers to the print size. The extra 5mm is where the soundtrack gets put on the prints. The cameras use 65mm film.). The larger the image area, the higher the image quality and the better the image holds up when projected on a 5 story screen.

>Also, remember that many
>IMAX movies are 3D and therefore require two polarized projections
>from two seperate reels.

I have to check this but I'm pretty sure they use two seperate projectors for the left-eye/right-eye reels. Was this how they ran it where you were at? (I'm assuming they had an IMAX theater there)

The 3D IMAX cameras are about as big as a refridgerator. It never fails to amaze me some of the shots they manage to get with them.

>On a side note, pointing the projection lamps at the sky on a
>cloudless night makes them visable to passing weather satellites...

The IMAX theater in Ft. Lauderdale has a seperate room off of the projection booth that is just for the cooling system. I used to get nervous changing the 2000 watt zenons in the regualr projectors at the movie theater I worked at (they go up like hand grenades when they break), I can't imagine changing one of those 15,000 watt monsters. :)

>(used to work in an 'arts and science' museum)

My boss worked for IMAX at one point, and the Cinematography instructor I had in film school shot on it on several occasions. :)

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"We are totally fluxed."
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Chad Collier
Digital Bitch
J. Random VFX Company