Wizarding World - Diagon Alley Discussion (Opens 2014)

[violarum]

I KNOW WHAT TO DO.

Create a nice forced perspective one-sided (since cabins are only on one side) model along the way and place horizontal intrusions to block the peeping children that always wish to ruin the perspective effect.

So, basically, this:

Note: the hallway has a totally incorrect perspective. It's just to let you know what it is and to show some sort of depth.

 

[TheDecemberists]

That's because whoever did the effects/videos sucked.

The ride system is viable.

But really, if people are expecting Forbidden Journey out of this thing...I think they have to realize what it is first and foremost, which is a transportation ride like the TTA.

No, and no.

The animation has nothing to do with staring at a screen at an awkward angle. Well... except for Forbidden Journey and Spider-Man but we're talking about a train, not a dark ride.

I'm not expecting Forbidden Journey. It's a train. But I'm also not expecting TTA. This is one of the most iconic trains of our time. I expect something a bit more grand than TTA.

 

[Teebin]

What else were you expecting? It's a transportation ride, not a thrill ride.

I am expecting a fine piece of entertainment ride. However, a ride that allows people to watch the backstage going by will be a major fail. A ride that relies on flat screen tvs like the ones we ALL have at home will be a major fail. A ride in which the windows are blacked out with nothing would only be a minor fail compared to above.

 

[JungleSkip]

I KNOW WHAT TO DO.

Create a nice forced perspective one-sided (since cabins are only on one side) model along the way and place horizontal intrusions to block the peeping children that always wish to ruin the perspective effect.

So, basically, this:

Note: the hallway has a totally incorrect perspective. It's just to let you know what it is and to show some sort of depth.

Possible, but expensive.

No, and no.

The animation has nothing to do with staring at a screen at an awkward angle. Well... except for Forbidden Journey and Spider-Man but we're talking about a train, not a dark ride.

I'm not expecting Forbidden Journey. It's a train. But I'm also not expecting TTA. This is one of the most iconic trains of our time. I expect something a bit more grand than TTA.

Well the HE obviously wouldn't have you staring upwards. I think people are assuming it's going to be a carbon copy...which it wouldn't be.

But I think if you're expecting something grand, you're forgetting there's an entire land to build from scratch along with at least one major E-ticket as well as this big undertaking of building a train. There's only so much money to be spread around.

 

[TheDecemberists]

Well the HE obviously wouldn't have you staring upwards. I think people are assuming it's going to be a carbon copy...which it wouldn't be.

Actually it was really smart having them on the ceiling. It put more distance between the screen and the rider.

Having the screens right next to the riders, if they are just plain ole 2D screens, will look awful.

 

[Kevin38]

I like the look of the roof screens and would be surprised if we did not see dementors heading for the train,boom the lights go off and a costumed dementor goes down the aisle-way looking for escaped Convicted murderer Sirius Black.

 

[violarum]

Models are expensive to build, yes, but they are also very rewarding and impressive. And we've seen what rewarding and impressive can bring us. Also, tunnels can be used to simulate both time and to hide non-model spaces, so the entire passage isn't going to be filled with these models, but enough for there to be a good attraction out of it.

Oh, and I don't like the "oh no something's wrong" idea. Not every attraction has to have one.

 

[TSSD]

Models are expensive to build, yes, but they are also very rewarding and impressive. And we've seen what rewarding and impressive can bring us. Also, tunnels can be used to simulate both time and to hide non-model spaces, so the entire passage isn't going to be filled with these models, but enough for there to be a good attraction out of it.

Yes. I really hope they realize this too, because models would be AMAZING.

Oh, and I don't like the "oh no something's wrong" idea. Not every attraction has to have one.

THANK YOU!

 

[UNIrd]

You guys aren't impressed with the tech of the Ocean Park attraction in itself? I think it looks great and I've loved the idea of the screens as windows since I rode Stormrider in TDS. I was hoping Star Tours 2.0 would bring it over but it didn't happen.

 

[ChristopherSE]

So theoretically you could take one of these glasses-free 3D screens, program it according to different viewing angles, and OMG I AM A GENIUS! The only drawback would be the lack of 3D, but, in a sense, it would be achieving the same effect they use at the end of Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey with the great hall scene BUT IN REAL TIME.

Real time squinching? Hmmm. Not a bad idea. This would be very difficult, though. These screens are very temperamental and require viewers to be in an exact point (nintendo 3DS). Unless Uni implemented a head-tracking aspect to it, where the animations adjust to the position of the viewer in real time (same basic concept of squinching), but this would require each guest to wear a motion tracker near their eyes (glasses, hat, etc.) or for the system to have a facial recognition software with cameras.

Also, 3D screens have only - so far - supplied two images (one for each eye). Layering 4 or more (with glasses-free screens, no less) would take some work. However, I did read an article that Apple patented a 3D screen that allowed multiple people to view simultaneously and without glasses.

Is it possible to do real-time squinching? Yes. Difficult? Absolutely.

 

[justinthered]

if you are worried about the video screens looking cheap, just take comfort in the talking portraits in the castle. They made those work great, and Im sure they could make the windows on the train work too

 

[Splatter]

You guys aren't impressed with the tech of the Ocean Park attraction in itself? I think it looks great and I've loved the idea of the screens as windows since I rode Stormrider in TDS. I was hoping Star Tours 2.0 would bring it over but it didn't happen.

From the videos I have seen the screens on these particular train cabins did not look like they were very good at convincing an illusion of travel or depth. Unless I am missing something.


As for real time squinching, the effect is neat but it is very particular and requires something enterting a scene at the start of the squinch until it ends the squinch. You yourself have to move to see/appreciate it and even if they get that working you would have to constantly go into tunnels and such to start a squinch over. As much as I am not a dream killer and want it to work I wanted to point that out.

 

[ReelJustice]

Wouldn't a screen set slightly behind a pane of glass be effective?

 

[TheDecemberists]

Real time squinching? Hmmm. Not a bad idea. This would be very difficult, though. These screens are very temperamental and require viewers to be in an exact point (nintendo 3DS). Unless Uni implemented a head-tracking aspect to it, where the animations adjust to the position of the viewer in real time (same basic concept of squinching), but this would require each guest to wear a motion tracker near their eyes (glasses, hat, etc.) or for the system to have a facial recognition software with cameras.

Also, 3D screens have only - so far - supplied two images (one for each eye). Layering 4 or more (with glasses-free screens, no less) would take some work. However, I did read an article that Apple patented a 3D screen that allowed multiple people to view simultaneously and without glasses.

Is it possible to do real-time squinching? Yes. Difficult? Absolutely.

No, you misunderstood me. I could have worded it better. This wouldn't actually be squinching. It wouldn't even be in 3D. If you have a chocolate frog card, you will notice that you see different things at different angles. This is how glasses-free 3D works. Each eye sees something different. The problem is that it has a terribly limited viewing angle for watching 3D videos. But if Universal were to axe the 3D in favor of simply having different views according to different angles, it would work really well.

edit: Whoops, I commented before I read your second paragraph. :doh: Well that's disappointing. If only this technology had developed faster... There goes my hopes and dreams...

*reverting back to curtains and foggy/dirty windows*
**or dome screen if I want to be unrealistically hopeful**
***but seriously since the trains will just have a viewing angle on one side they could technically have one dome screen the two trains could share***

--- Update ---

And violarum, nice concept... if this was Disney. Universal loves building awesomely detailed physical sets... until you get on the ride. Then it's screenapalooza.

 

[BJCool]

if you are worried about the video screens looking cheap, just take comfort in the talking portraits in the castle. They made those work great, and Im sure they could make the windows on the train work too

To be fair, the paintings were engineered with the notion that the resulting image was okay being two-dimensional. The characters turn slightly, but that does not interfere with the look of the painting, because the Potter movie-verse established the moving portraits as having the same traits as normal screens. Additionally, the founders' paintings are increased in their effectiveness brought about by the "matte" look finish that gives them that painted appearance.

However, this is also complemented by the fact that they are seen in artificial light and at a distance from guests. Have you ever walked up the the Sirius Black "Have You Seen This Wizard" poster by the Three Broomsticks? That is BY FAR the worst effect in all of WWOHP by how blatantly it looks like a screen to the naked eye.

I remain cautiously optimistic, as I mostly do, regarding this thought of what can be presented as window imagery on the Hogwarts Express. I have this feeling that if they just waited four years at the least that 3D/holographic technology will be leaps and bounds of where it stands today. Oh well. We're very much aware that they always make due with the best tech available at conception and construction.

 

[The Dark Lord]

I think if the train was to work surely they'd have to make it look at least like the original in the movies and have all the carriages look like the ones in the film otherwise what's the point? The screens would be a good idea to project a sense of being in the movie and would almost class as another ride as such.

 

[Disneyhead]

And violarum, nice concept... if this was Disney. Universal loves building awesomely detailed physical sets... until you get on the ride. Then it's screenapalooza.

I love the highly detailed sets and lack of screens in Toy Story Midway Mania. If only Universal would build attractions like that.

 

[rhino4evr]

Wouldn't a screen set slightly behind a pane of glass be effective?

This was my idea. If they add some space between the actual viewing window and the screen it could give a better illusion of depth, instead of just looking at a TV screen.

However, I really think if anything gets the short end of the stick it will be this train ride, as it's really just a transportaion device. I don't think there will be anything too elaborate, otherwise people with just want to ride the train back and forth, which would cause even more occupancy problems. I really think they will keep it pretty tame for the purpose it serves.

 

[1.21Gigawatts]

I love the highly detailed sets and lack of screens in Toy Story Midway Mania. If only Universal would build attractions like that.

:rofl:

 

[jtsalien]

I remain cautiously optimistic, as I mostly do, regarding this thought of what can be presented as window imagery on the Hogwarts Express. I have this feeling that if they just waited four years at the least that 3D/holographic technology will be leaps and bounds of where it stands today. Oh well. We're very much aware that they always make due with the best tech available at conception and construction.

Well I've been doing some research on Glasses Free 3D Technology:

"Instead of glasses being used to differ the image seen by each eye, an auto-stereoscopic TV has a lenticular lens in its glass panel to do the job instead.

There are two catches. The first is that the lens cuts-down on resolution really quite massively, meaning that the actual 3D panel needs to have a '4k2k' resolution, which makes the loss of detail less crucial. A bigger issue (4k2k TVs are destined for mass production) is the number of 'views'. There are only so many 'corridors' or 3D 'sweet spots' on such screens, with a noticeable visual 'blip' between them; moving your head from side-to-side in front of an auto-stereoscopic 3D TV is headache inducing.

The challenge for TV engineers is to increase the number of views, and eliminate the gaps between each; the current form is nine views, with around 15 needed to make such TVs comfortable enough to watch.

Another factor is the viewing angle; the 3D effect is ruined outside of a 40-degree area in front of the screen, so there's no chance of a crowd gathering around to watch an auto-stereoscopic 3D TV."

http://www.techradar.com/news/television/3d-tv-all-your-questions-answered-987535