I m a g e P l a n

Planetarium Slide Projection Utility
from STOKELCH SOFTWARE


Purpose: ImagePlan was designed to assist in the development of
planetarium show visuals. It can be used to determine such
factors as lens focal lengths, the size of the projected
image on the dome, or the size of the image on film. It can
be configured to work with any size dome in conjunction with
any projection distance. Your most recent settings are
stored in a separate configuration file that is loaded along
with the program each time you use ImagePlan.


History: John Stoke originated the idea for this program in
1980 while attending Villinova University. He created a
non-interactive program called AstroStoke which produced a
printed chart of various film image sizes vs. lens focal
lengths and the resulting image size produced on the dome.
The program worked only for 50 foot domes (Baltimore's Davis
Planetarium) and projection distances of 25 ft and 50 ft.
This chart was used at the Davis Planetarium throughout the
next decade to assist in planning visual effects used in all
planetarium presentations. Near the end of the decade, the
existing two copies of the AstroStoke printout were becoming
rather aged. Program listings, in Fortran, existed. The
algorithm was used by Joe Kelch to produce an interactive
version, renamed ImagePlan, for use on an IBM compatible
computer. Written in C, ImagePlan will allow any
planetarium to benefit from this invaluable utility.


To Use: ImagePlan is provided on disk in an unprotected form.
You may freely copy the program onto all compatible machines
you use. If you find ImagePlan helpful at your institution,
a contribution of $15.00 will register you as an ImagePlan
user. You will then receive all updates to the program as
they become available. (Note to those not familiar with
this practice; it is called Shareware. It represents an
attempt by concerned programmers to beat the overly high
cost of commercial software packages. It can not work,
however, without the cooperation of users. That means you,
and your $15.00!) Simply type IP to run the
program. You should be in the subdirectory containing the
program IP.EXE. Advanced MS-DOS users may wish to include a
PATH statement in their AUTOEXEC.BAT file that includes the
directory containing IP.EXE.
INSTRUCTIONS
After starting the program, a screen like the following will appear:

Current default settings:
Projector throw (meters): 15.24 Dome radius (meters): 7.62


***** -IMAGEPLAN- *****

Select one of the following option numbers:

1) Change default settings.
2) Find film image size (in mm).
3) Find dome image size (in degrees).
4) Find lens focal length (inches and mm).
5) Quit ImagePlan.

Enter your choice of option number: _

Current default settings: These are the values currently residing in
a file called IP.CNF. If no such file exists,
upon starting ImagePlan you will be prompted for
initial values and a file will be created.

Option 1), Change default settings: Allows you to change the settings in
the IP.CNF file at any time. You may
enter data either in feet or meters, which
you should specify with either m or ft.
Entries in feet will be converted to
meters.

Option 2), Find film image size: You supply image size you want on
the dome (in degrees), and lens focal
length you plan to use, in mm or inches
(please specify, ImagePlan will convert in
to mm). ImagePlan will supply the correct
size for the image on film (in mm.)

Option 3), Find dome image size: You supply image size on film, in
mm, and lens focal length as in option 2),
and ImagePlan will give you the size of
your projected image in degrees and
meters.

Option 4), Find lens focal length: Supply image size on film, in mm,
and image size on the dome, in degrees,
and ImagePlan will give the proper focal
length lens needed, in mm and inches.

Option 5), Quit ImagePlan: Return to DOS.

To enter your option choice, press the number key at the top of the
keyboard, or use the numeric keypad is NUMLOCK is activated. It is not
necessary to press .
To Register, send $15.00 to:

Joe Kelch
1409 Tarragon Ct.
Belcamp, MD 21017

Inquiries may be addressed to the above address as well, or call 301-685-2370
between the hours of 9:00 A.M. and 5:00 P.M. Eastern Standard or Daylight Time
(whichever is in effect) and ask for Joe Kelch in the planetarium.