AVATAR land - the specifics

Musicman20

Musicman20

Well-Known Member
dreamscometrue said:
When I last visited DAK on a Saturday in late April, there were a large number of people with bright t-shirts that stated something like "We helped build Pandora" and they were all steel workers from, I believe, Fort Lauderdale. I stopped a few of them while in Pandora and thanked them for their contribution. I then spent the next several awesome minutes listening to them point out all sorts of neat things, and tell cool stories about what I was looking at. My favorite was about fabricating and transporting the super steel beam they called the 'megaroot' on something like a 50 wheeled tractor trailer flatbed (I know nothing about trucking, or steel fabrication, so don't have the correct terms), in the middle of the night along Florida's roads, but not being allowed on overpasses due to the weight. And this 'megaroot, is somehow a major loadbearing component, even though it is not where one might expect it to be placed. I didn't understand the engineering, but loved listening to what they had to say, and appreciated their enthusiasm. :)
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The area is certainly a feat of engineering! I can't wait to see it this year!
 
sedati

sedati

Well-Known Member
This stems from some posts I put up on the Galaxy's Edge thread about forced perspective and how painting techniques are also used to cheat depth.

There is a floating mountain in Pandora that I find incredibly clever, but really can't find a good picture of. If you are facing Pongu Pongu, this will be to your left. Here is a picture I took myself, but with a crappy camera phone under pretty harsh lighting:
IMG_20170922_140704773.jpg


So, the larger floating mountains to the right are highly detailed and crisp. The mountain range itself at this end is very soft and subdued to give a sense of being much larger and further away. The rock the arrow points to is rendered in a sort of mid-range of detail/muted tones. This rather convincingly makes it look like it sits in the middle distance between the larger rocks and the mountain range when in fact it is attached to the mountain range. Another great detail is how the long vine that connects this rock to the larger ones is done in a forced perspective so it gets significantly thicker as it traverses to the right.

I'd pointed this effect out back when the area was under construction, but the finished effect isn't well documented. Here's the scene from behind, taken from a blogmickey aerial:
1537729632724.png


I'd love it if anyone with access to the park could get a better picture of this (would also love some pics of the floating mountains that are on top of the ride building as well :))
 
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cjkeating

cjkeating

Well-Known Member
sedati said:
This stems from some posts I put up on the Galaxy's Edge thread about forced perspective and how color is also used to cheat depth.

There is a floating mountain in Pandora that I find incredibly clever, but really can't find a good picture of. If you are facing Pongu Pongu, this will be to your left. Here is a picture I took myself, but with a crappy camera phone under pretty harsh lighting:
View attachment 315878

So, the larger mountains to the left are highly detailed and crisp. The mountain range itself at this end is very soft and subdued to give a sense of being much larger and further away. The rock the arrow points to is rendered in a sort of mid-range of detail/muted tones. This rather convincingly makes it look like it sits in the middle distance between the larger rocks and the mountain range when in fact it is attached to the mountain range. Another great detail is how the long vine that connects this rock to the larger ones is done in a forced perspective so it gets significantly thicker as it traverses to the right.

I'd pointed this effect out back when the area was under construction, but the finished effect isn't well documented. Here's the scene from behind, taken from a blogmickey aerial:View attachment 315890

I'd love it if anyone with access to the park could get a better picture of this (would also love some pics of the floating mountains that are on top of the ride building as well :))
Click to expand...

I remember seeing the second picture during construction and I wasn't quite sure it was going to work but I have to say in the land it looks so good.
 
MaximumEd

MaximumEd

Well-Known Member
Does anyone have any further info or pictures of the waterfall that’s not really a waterfall. I thought I remember reading that one of them is simulated, but apparently looks very convincing. Can anyone show a pic that would tell me where it’s located. Going back in 4 weeks and want to check it out. TIA.
 
MaximumEd

MaximumEd

Well-Known Member
LieutLaww said:
It is a wheel that spins round and is very convincing, If i remember correctly where the other waterfalls are it is at the top of those.
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Thanks! If anyone else has a pic or any more info, bring it on. I’m fascinated by how they pull off these cool little details that most people probably won’t ever notice in the first place.
 
Prototype82

Prototype82

Well-Known Member
I've been told that the 2 remaining sagittaria cephlopod creatures have been removed but the water effect is still working....does anyone know if these animal props are getting some TLC?
 
sedati

sedati

Well-Known Member
Evan-500 said:
In Tim's latest video he says he went on a tour to Central Shops and they have started the maintenance on the vehicles for FOP. He had rode it at the afterhours and said there are some changes, you can feel the wings flapping now.
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I only got to ride FOP twice. I remember the breathing, but can't say if I felt the wings flapping. Honestly I was too overwhelmed to focus on any one aspect.
I think the plants in River Journey that he got exited about have always been there, but they really were popping in the video.
Glad to see the ground resurfacing is continuing. There had been some mention of an additional coating on the surface to prevent the colors from fading too fast, but we'll have to see.
Hopefully they can find ways to tweak the nighttime bioluminescence and kick it up a notch.
Now that they've shown crowds are down enough where they can have walk-around characters on the main path, I'm hoping they can do some kind of creature walk through. I always thought a repopulation program could make for a fun interraction. Walk a creature from the Satuli side gate to the River side gate and say it's to help bring life back to the area that had been strip-mined in the past.
 

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