It was partly used - it`s the downhill slope into the finale scene (with Fig in the center and all the screens of him on the walls) - this scene pictured became the massive `star` outlines you travelled through as your photo was taken.
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Episode III: Return of the Imageworks?
- Thread starter EpcotServo
- Start date
Syntho_Magnetic
Member
New Technology != More Magical
I think they have less than half. The virtual conductor thing is the only one that was possibly plussed with new technology. As for the "Stepping .wav files," I will give it to them for using focal lengths to create a crisp projection of pictures on the floor. The making faces thing is there, and being able to e-mail them now is a neat feature. Everything else appears missing.
I kind of thought the upstairs was more gaudy, but in a good way. Rainbows everywhere! Color and lights, all sorts of orbs. Things going beep and boop all over.
To take your last thing first and run with it, does anyone remember a recent Innovations exhibit where the entryway was a small tunnel weaved entirely out of fiber optics? I videoed the heck out of that and commented it could be a viable replacement to the rainbow tunnel, though the old one still seems to have more magic, with the simplicity and interaction.
New Technology not equal to More Magical
But a theme here I wanted to address is that new technology, especially when not utilized properly, makes things less magical! A great example here is the "Stepping .wav files." Particularly in the first incarnation when you stepped on an image and heard it's sound. Even for a small child, stepping on the same image and hearing the same sound gets old pretty fast. But colorful orbs that can be hopped on, and effortlessly combined into pretty melodies, that brings out even the adults to tap their foot around in glee. :lol:
To take a non-Imageworks example, two of the effects that awe most Haunted Mansion visitors are the ballroom scene and the busts, especially the ballroom scene. But "Pepper's Ghost" is 147 year-old tech now; the busts are decades old.
While micromanagers have failed a bit grasping that lately (redone Rio del Tiempo and the SSE touchscreen descent), I will give it to them for the Project Tomorrow - there it looks like they let the Imagineers do their thing.
I think they have less than half. The virtual conductor thing is the only one that was possibly plussed with new technology. As for the "Stepping .wav files," I will give it to them for using focal lengths to create a crisp projection of pictures on the floor. The making faces thing is there, and being able to e-mail them now is a neat feature. Everything else appears missing.
I kind of thought the upstairs was more gaudy, but in a good way. Rainbows everywhere! Color and lights, all sorts of orbs. Things going beep and boop all over.
To take your last thing first and run with it, does anyone remember a recent Innovations exhibit where the entryway was a small tunnel weaved entirely out of fiber optics? I videoed the heck out of that and commented it could be a viable replacement to the rainbow tunnel, though the old one still seems to have more magic, with the simplicity and interaction.
New Technology not equal to More Magical
But a theme here I wanted to address is that new technology, especially when not utilized properly, makes things less magical! A great example here is the "Stepping .wav files." Particularly in the first incarnation when you stepped on an image and heard it's sound. Even for a small child, stepping on the same image and hearing the same sound gets old pretty fast. But colorful orbs that can be hopped on, and effortlessly combined into pretty melodies, that brings out even the adults to tap their foot around in glee. :lol:
To take a non-Imageworks example, two of the effects that awe most Haunted Mansion visitors are the ballroom scene and the busts, especially the ballroom scene. But "Pepper's Ghost" is 147 year-old tech now; the busts are decades old.
While micromanagers have failed a bit grasping that lately (redone Rio del Tiempo and the SSE touchscreen descent), I will give it to them for the Project Tomorrow - there it looks like they let the Imagineers do their thing.
WDWFanatic
Active Member
Was it ever confirmed that the dreamfinders ship was the one in the mouseworks? Id love to see that fixed up hanging inside the pyramids of journey.
HMF
Well-Known Member
If you are considering being an Imagineer maybe we can get it produced into HISTA's replacement.:animwink: It would be perfect.
Thrill Seeker
Well-Known Member
HMF
Well-Known Member
I think you would get a wider audience if you put it into the Magic Eye Theater. I am not sure people will understand what it is outside the park.
Figment632
New Member
Why is the upstairs closed, it cant possibly cost that much to mantain?
Thrill Seeker
Well-Known Member
TheDisneyMagic
Well-Known Member
I'm pretty certain it is, there is also the rear section of another one of the dream machines just round the corner. (The sort of rectangle shaped object)
HMF
Well-Known Member
I see but I still think it would be better for the Magic Eye.That's why it would be a mainstream film. It will be done in such a way that will appeal to fans of the ride as well as people who have never heard of it. That's the point. It's a daunting challenge but I think I'm up for it.
Rob562
Well-Known Member
That was one of the beautiful things about the original Stepping Tones. Someone with a musical background actually *composed* them... Every note within a particular group worked in harmony with each other. So while you could combine them whichever way you wanted, you never got a discordant sound. Whether you activated two at the same time or every note in the group, it was all harmonious and true music. (You could never have the proverbial "two-year old pounding on the piano".
With the current sound files, it's just a sound. Nothing musical, nothing that the Guest can "compose" themselves by using their imagination.
And correct me if I'm wrong, but were the original Stepping Tones activated by pressure sensors in the floor? Some small part of me seems to recall that they may have had some other sort of sensor so that even if you just waved your arm through the light it went off... Or am I just mis-remembering?
I know the current sound-file ones are pressure mats built into the floor, some of which aren't always repaired with very good show-worthy repair jobs... (Taped-down edges, or even a replacement pressure mat installed over top of the old one) Seems some other sort of non-pressure-based sensor would negate the repairs needed from 6 year olds jumping up and down to make the fireworks go off over and over...
-Rob
Syntho_Magnetic
Member
Yea. I was just playing with one of those web app things similar to this, where you click some dots and you see the waves spread out from the dots. The way they're chosen, it's very hard to make bad music. The Stepping Tones were really clever with this harmonious design.
One of those "sometimes taken for granted" things.If you go back a couple pages or so where the photos posted of the more-or-less current state of the upstairs, you can see the original Stepping Tones also had pressure mats like the new "Stepping .wav files." It's the photo with all the TV's sitting on them in a pile, and the lightbulbs hanging out of the hexagonal fixture.
It looks like a garage sale: "All they need is some of those converter boxes. $20 each." I guess it was so dark in there, you couldn't see the mats - I'd always thought they were activated from overhead too. If you refer to Martin's diagram, you can see they were tucked away in a dark corner.
Rob562
Well-Known Member
If you go back a couple pages or so where the photos posted of the more-or-less current state of the upstairs, you can see the original Stepping Tones also had pressure mats like the new "Stepping .wav files." It's the photo with all the TV's sitting on them in a pile, and the lightbulbs hanging out of the hexagonal fixture.
I'm not so sure that they're obviously pressure pads. The only thing visible in the photo are lighter parts of the carpet. In the darkness of the room under show lighting, this would help isolate the colored light patches of the tones and make them seem like crisp projections. Any light spill outside of the tones would be absorbed by the darker carpet. (Similar to why a white movie screen has black all around it)
If you look at the large patch in the foreground of that photo, there's no separation between what would have been individual tones. Perhaps the pads are built into the structure of the floor itself and the carpet was laid over top of them all (there kind of looks like there's some kind of indentation in the closest solo tone patch, so maybe it's pressure mats...) Is there a photo of the current Stepping Sounds?
-Rob
mcjaco
Well-Known Member
It was strictly light. No sensor pads. I used to just stick my arms in there to make the sounds.
From what I gather a mixture of cost, access, safety and fire regulations / procedures.
Let me ask a friend exactly how the stepping tones worked.
WDW1974
Well-Known Member
Those were some of the excuses, and that's all they were, that were tossed around.
The most basic reason is Disney wants less park to maintain and that's why you see vast dead zones all across WDW.
They chopped off a third of an attraction downstairs, so they could 'repurpose' the space.
EPCOT Center was all about grand, dramatic, LARGE pavilions and Epcot is about much less.
You got that right. Sigh. The 2 main reasons I was told were money (maintainence and tax breaks) and concern about the evac procedures for certain guests.
Regarding the Stepping Tones; they were just pressure pads, laid under the floor in wooden chambers with Lexan over the top of it to make a flush surface, originally covered with one piece of carpet. The audio system was a custom digital system which overrode the original plans for 8 track cartridges and instead used the notes stored on chip (wow!) for fast, reliable playback at the hands - or feet - of younger guests. Each tone had its own speaker fitted in the ceiling above it.
Thanks, Craig
EPCOT Explorer
New Member
You got that right. Sigh. The 2 main reasons I was told were money (maintainence and tax breaks) and concern about the evac procedures for certain guests.
Regarding the Stepping Tones; they were just pressure pads, laid under the floor in wooden chambers with Lexan over the top of it to make a flush surface, originally covered with one piece of carpet. The audio system was a custom digital system which overrode the original plans for 8 track cartridges and instead used the notes stored on chip (wow!) for fast, reliable playback at the hands - or feet - of younger guests. Each tone had its own speaker fitted in the ceiling above it.
Thanks, Craig
I remember those...
So much fun.radiosanchez
New Member
Amen. After not having been there since '84, going to Epcot in 2008 for my second visit, it felt like the "soul" of the park had been lost.