Philharmagic in Digital

DisneyMusician2

DisneyMusician2

Well-Known Member
A well-deserved upgrade to a great show.

I have no idea why they can't keep the Soarin' film cleaner, but here's hoping all of the 3D shows go digital only.

And of couse, the IMAX if possible.
 
C

coasterphil

Well-Known Member
EpcotServo said:
But dosen't Simpsons also use like 20 Projectors to form the image?
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According to their press release, it takes 4.

A GROUND-BREAKING VIDEO PROJECTION SYSTEM

The ground-breaking digital video projection system used in the creation of “The Simpsons Ride” breaks new ground! The innovative system, which has been in development for more than a year, results in a revolutionary achievement in digital video projection. It marks the first time ever that an IMAX film projection system has been replaced with digital technology for the purpose of making Homer Simpson’s rear end appear sixty-feet tall.

This first-of-its-kind technological achievement allows for a superior viewing experience that is four-times the High Definition resolution observed in most home theatres and two-times the HD resolution experienced in digital movie theatres.

The highly sophisticated digital video projectors cast images onto two massive 80-foot in diameter dome screens using a custom-designed semi-circular fisheye lens projecting undistorted imagery at 180-degrees.

This state-of-the-art projection system plays back at 60 frames per second, the equivalent of approx. 18 gigabytes per second, as compared to a feature film which projects at 24 frames per second and HD which projects at 30 frames per second.

To achieve the spectacular brightness seen on screen, “The Simpsons Ride” uses an image warping software to perfectly align an overlay of four 10,000 lumen projectors, delivering a superior viewing experience. To quote Homer: “Mmm… lumens.”
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EpcotServo

EpcotServo

Well-Known Member
coasterphil said:
According to their press release, it takes 4.
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Wow, that's something. I'd love to take a look around one of the domes these days and see that projector system.

Still, it's not really IMAX/OMNIMAX then now. To make it digital for Soarin', a similar complete overhaul of the film and projector would be needed.

I can't see that happening when the problem isn't all that awful, especially since it looks like Universal got the jump on it, even if it did take them awhile to get the kinks out.
 
C

COProgressFan

Well-Known Member
ISTCrew20 said:
Too bad all they did was technical. The queue area and theater seats were still a mess.
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Very disappointing if true -- the carpet in the queue was filthy and worn, and the theater seats/carpet wasn't in great shape either. They really should have addressed this during the refurb.

CoP
 
ISTCrew20

ISTCrew20

Well-Known Member
Paint was still peeling off the pictures in the queue. The seats were still scratched and dirty, and a few had stuffing coming out.

The carpet in the queue area did look clean though.
 
P

Philo

Well-Known Member
This is great news!

COProgressFan said:
Very disappointing if true -- the carpet in the queue was filthy and worn, and the theater seats/carpet wasn't in great shape either. They really should have addressed this during the refurb.
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I've never really noticed anything being in poor condition. I always think of it as a very well kept attraction although that could just be my biased opinion - I love this attraction
 
Captain Hank

Captain Hank

Well-Known Member
I'm not so sure that this is true. I saw Philharmagic last night, and it did indeed look much clearer and more vibrant. However, I could still detect some very subtle shaking of the film, which I wouldn't expect from digital projection. Unfortunately, what was said about the theater itself is true--not in horrible shape, but not all that great, either. Some lights that I'd noticed were burned out before the refurb were still out. The show did sound amazing, though, as if it received a significant sound system upgrade.
 
Kamikaze

Kamikaze

Well-Known Member
imagineer boy said:
I read somewhere that they can't really go digital with Imax. However, the film really should be much cleaner. At the local Imax theater near my house, the film is MUCH cleaner and there's not a single speck of dust. I don't know why Disney seems to have such a problem with keeping the Soarin Imax projectors and film clean. :shrug:
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Because they don't show the same film the number of times that a show at WDW airs.
 
MissM

MissM

Well-Known Member
Just got home tonight and saw Philharmagic earlier this evening. The CM on duty told me they just opened up yesterday from the refurb. Here's my observations:


  • New carpet in the theater. It's plush and has a 3D texture to it.
  • Picture looked GREAT. I wondered if it was digital or not but either way, it's at least a new print of the film. VERY nice, clean, bright image.
  • The CM said the walls had been painted in the queue. I didn't really get to see them because our party included two wheelchairs so we were in the far end section.
  • The sound (even in the back row) was very dynamic and seemed louder.
All-in-all, it looked and sounded great. I was in the furthest back corner seat so I can't say much about the seats themselves. (I didn't really pass any getting to that back row corner.) The movie looks fantastic though.
 
jt04

jt04

Well-Known Member
MissM said:
Just got home tonight and saw Philharmagic earlier this evening. The CM on duty told me they just opened up yesterday from the refurb. Here's my observations:


  • New carpet in the theater. It's plush and has a 3D texture to it.
  • Picture looked GREAT. I wondered if it was digital or not but either way, it's at least a new print of the film. VERY nice, clean, bright image.
  • The CM said the walls had been painted in the queue. I didn't really get to see them because our party included two wheelchairs so we were in the far end section.
  • The sound (even in the back row) was very dynamic and seemed louder.
All-in-all, it looked and sounded great. I was in the furthest back corner seat so I can't say much about the seats themselves. (I didn't really pass any getting to that back row corner.) The movie looks fantastic though.
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Awesome news!:sohappy: Thanks for the great report. I really wish we could get confirmation of the digital projector. I would think Disney would be shouting it from the rooftops because it really is good news if true!
 
wolf359

wolf359

Well-Known Member
Yes, I think that has a lot to do with how clean/dirty the film appears. Most IMAX theaters show a film, four, maybe five times a day, and they only have a particular film for a couple months, tops. On the flip side, most of the films at WDW are being shown upwards of 25 times a day, seven days a week, for years on end.

Now, in the long run it would be a lot more cost effective for Disney to replace all of their films with digital prints to avoid the cost associated with having to replace the film copies every so often and having backup copies, etc., much in the same way it has greatly improved the consistancy and clarity of attraction audio in all of the rides where they've made the switch to digital audio.

But a widespread, wholesale changeover to digital projectors property-wide is a pretty big investment, even for Disney. And the digital IMAX technology is only around a year old, so it's not like they've simply been ignoring a technology with a proven track record there.

But it does seem like they've already been looking into the upgrade, and are making it happen nonetheless. And (surprisingly) without making a particularly big deal about it. If PhilharMagic got it quietly, and the Hall of Presidents is due to get it during the current rehab, I'm sure we'll be seeing more theaters upgraded as time and budget allows.

PhilharMagic was an obvious choice because it's probably the only film currently shown on property that exists with a digital master, so they were able to skip the step of creating a digital transfer of the original "film." All of the other films shown that come from a cellulloid master print are going to have to be digitally remastered, and I'll bet some of them might even need a bit of restoration and cleanup as well.
 
hardcard

hardcard

New Member
25 times a day? try a LOT more.. in a 12 hour park day there are roughly 50 showing of philharmagic.. It runs just under 12 minutes.. generally unload/load is about 3-4 minutes.. it averages 4 shows an hour..


Meanwhile.. I'm sure 'It's Tough to Be a Bug' has a digital master as well..
 
wolf359

wolf359

Well-Known Member
I knew I was lowballing PhilharMagic a little, but I didn't think it was getting four shows an hour. So yes, that's even more reason why the WDW films in their various locations are a little more worse for wear than they would be in a perfect world.

And also yes, I totally forgot about It's Tough To Be A Bug, I'm sure that one has a digital master as well. Perhaps that might be the next place we'll see a sudden switchover to digital projection, getting the easier, cheaper to transfer theaters and films out of the way first.
 

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