History

The Digistar Users Group began in the mid-1980s as an informal gathering of planetarian

Planetarium

A planetarium is a theatre built primarily for presenting educational and entertaining shows about astronomy and the night sky, or for training in celestial navigation...

s. This first gathering took place in St. Louis, Missouri

St. Louis, Missouri

St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...

 (USA). At the time there were only five Digistar systems worldwide. Today there are more than 100 Digistar equipped planetaria on four continents. The current Digistar product line includes Digistar II

Digistar II

Digistar II is a planetarium projection system by Evans & Sutherland - Digistar Users Group. It was released in the early 1990s as a descendant to the earlier Digistar, developed in the late 1970s...

 and Digistar 3

Digistar 3

Digistar 3 is a dome-based projection technology created by Evans & Sutherland - to offer audiences immersive entertainment and education experiences that integrate fulldome video, real time 3D computer graphics, and a digital planetarium facility...

, in various configurations appropriate for domes of nearly any size.

Membership

While Evans & Sutherland

Evans & Sutherland

Evans & Sutherland is a computer firm involved in the computer graphics field. Their products are used primarily by the military and large industrial firms for training and simulation, and in digital projection environments like planetariums.-History:...

is the manufacturer of Digistar systems, it does not operate the Digistar Users Group. Membership in the Digistar Users Group is voluntary - the organization is member driven, and member governed. Membership runs on an annual basis, and most members choose to pay their DUG dues at the time of the annual DUG meeting. E&S is the "Manufactuer Member" as indicated in the DUG charter, and participates fully in the organization.

Membership in DUG is required in order to access the DUG show/model library, past newsletters, meeting notes, standards documents, our charter and standing rules, and other content. Membership is currently $20(US) per year, payable to the DUG Treasurer, Ron Stinson. Alternate Email Evans & Sutherland pays the first year dues of all new Digistar installations. After that time, it is the site's responsibility to maintain in contact with the organization and keep their membership active.

Activities

One of the primary activities of the Digistar Users Group is its annual meeting. This is a unique opportunity to exchange production techniques, planetarium operations concerns, Evans & Sutherland service and support, system maintenance, and ideas for new Digistar features. Other activities include participation in IPS technology and standards efforts, ongoing member communication and peer assistance, and content sharing.

Digistar Facilities

Today there are Digistar systems in almost any venue imaginable. Planetariums, Colleges, Universities, Schools, Science Centers, Museums, Entertainment destinations and other locations have all chosen Digistar for its unique features. Here is a worldwide list (Digitar Planetaria) that is quickly getting out of date.

Digistar Users Group Website

The users group maintains a web site. It is found at digistardomes.org. Some parts are open to the public. Some parts of it are members only. A DUG wiki is being developed at digistardomes.org/mwiki