Soarin Over the World, percentage of CGI?

thomas998

Well-Known Member
Disney decided that the most amazing if not recognized places on Earth are not worthy enough on their own merits --- they just don't offer us enough in their natural and/or original state...........so it added fake elements and embellished scenes.

Thanks for helping out, Big D!
I don't think it is a matter of not thinking they are worthy, it probably has more to do with whether they can get permission to film something like the Taj Mahal without jumping through too many hoops. And then assuming you get that permission you would have to hope that the weather was how you wanted it and everything looked right... So at the end of the day someone probably said why waste time trying to the real thing when we can throw in a CGI version that for a large segment of the viewers will not be noticed as being fake. Most likely if you were familiar with the Taj Mahal you would notice very quickly it didn't look quite right but if you had never seen it before you might never notice it at all.

As for other things, how many days, weeks or months would you need to be flying a drone over the ocean in the hopes of getting a shot of a whale surfacing at just the right angle in just the right light... sometimes common sense says you are better off faking it.
 

HongKongFu

Well-Known Member
As for other things, how many days, weeks or months would you need to be flying a drone over the ocean in the hopes of getting a shot of a whale surfacing at just the right angle in just the right light.

We don't need a whale shot; we don't a dust throwing elephant either. And we don't even need the Taj......there are countless other sufficiently magnificent sights around the globe ready to go without the need for embellishments.
 

Queen of the WDW Scene

Well-Known Member
In the Parks
No
Its well known that most if not all of Soarin' Around The World is CGI.
I'm not sure why it bothers people so much.
Your precious movies have tons and tons of CGI in them.
 

donaldtoo

Well-Known Member
From one of my Disney Imagineering books...
This is one of the setups used by Disney to film “Wonders of China”...no digital and no CGI available at the time, so I’m pretty sure this is how they had to do it...

1E0FFD57-3673-4F36-8182-CE58F7386712.jpeg


This is the setup Disney claims they used for more than a year to film the new “Soarin’” show...

BDE3AC42-B44D-47AC-A7B2-FBCA7767B597.jpeg


Below is an excerpt from a D23 article regarding such...what’s the truth...?!?!?!

https://d23.com/the-technology-of-soarin-over-the-world/
 

lazyboy97o

Well-Known Member
From one of my Disney Imagineering books...
This is one of the setups used by Disney to film “Wonders of China”...no digital and no CGI available at the time, so I’m pretty sure this is how they had to do it...

View attachment 429759

This is the setup Disney claims they used for more than a year to film the new “Soarin’” show...

View attachment 429760

Below is an excerpt from a D23 article regarding such...what’s the truth...?!?!?!

https://d23.com/the-technology-of-soarin-over-the-world/
The truth of what? Nobody is claiming that there is no actual footage. The problem is that too much of the attraction focuses on animated additions that look like animated additions.
 

donaldtoo

Well-Known Member
Its well known that most if not all of Soarin' Around The World is CGI.
I'm not sure why it bothers people so much.
Your precious movies have tons and tons of CGI in them.
The truth of what? Nobody is claiming that there is no actual footage. The problem is that too much of the attraction focuses on animated additions that look like animated additions.

Really...?!
 

WDW Monorail

Well-Known Member
I'm sorry, but why the hell is everyone so concerned about CGI's. There were many instances of CGI or manufactured scenes in the original as well. Things like the jets in flying in front of us, or the aforementioned golf ball. Those in the new show were there to actually separate the scenes probably because there were so many complaints about the lack of transition in the original. They are very well done in the new one like the polar bears looking up. The filming would have been done by a helicopter flying over. Don't you think that if that were the case an actual bear would have looked up to see where the noise was coming from and then immediately dive into the water for protection? If that is fake, then kudo's to the folks that did such a great job of duplicating how a bear would react.

All that said, try using you imagination instead of nit picking your way through every scene. I've never been to the Taj Mahal , but every picture I have ever seen of it looks like it did in the movie. Why are we so convinced it is a CGI and, more importantly why is it important. The whole show is us making believe we are in a hang glider for heavens sake. These things are so much more enjoyable if we stop being so "adult" and instead willingly suspend disbelief for a few moments and just enjoy what we are seeing, real or fabricated. It makes going on the ride a whole lot more fun.

Time and time again you are one of the handful of reasonable and intelligent posters on this site.
 

Queen of the WDW Scene

Well-Known Member
In the Parks
No
Soarin around the world has more CGI enhancement that the original version, but most of the scenes are not CGI.
I disagree but my point seems to be lost.
My point is that so many people are bothered by the CGI when in reality it's just that it's not the old Soarin' which had CGI elements as well mind you.
How much CGI is in FOP? Isnt that attraction the new standard for what a ride should be? So it makes no sense for people to complain about how much CGI is in the new Soarin'.
 

lazyboy97o

Well-Known Member
I disagree but my point seems to be lost.
My point is that so many people are bothered by the CGI when in reality it's just that it's not the old Soarin' which had CGI elements as well mind you.
How much CGI is in FOP? Isnt that attraction the new standard for what a ride should be? So it makes no sense for people to complain about how much CGI is in the new Soarin'.
You disagree with fact? Flight of a Passage is not a travelogue. Context and quality are the issue.
 

danlb_2000

Premium Member
I disagree but my point seems to be lost.
My point is that so many people are bothered by the CGI when in reality it's just that it's not the old Soarin' which had CGI elements as well mind you.
How much CGI is in FOP? Isnt that attraction the new standard for what a ride should be? So it makes no sense for people to complain about how much CGI is in the new Soarin'.

I don't want to do a scene by scene breakdown, but the new one clearly has far more CGI then the previous one.

Personally, the only CGI that bothers me is the Taj stands out as CGI to me. It bothers me because the whole point of the ride is to show you the worlds great land marks, so there should be no reason to re-create them in CGI when the real thing can be filmed. FOP is totally different since it's a fictional world, there is nothing they can actually film.
 

danlb_2000

Premium Member
All that said, try using you imagination instead of nit picking your way through every scene. I've never been to the Taj Mahal , but every picture I have ever seen of it looks like it did in the movie. Why are we so convinced it is a CGI and, more importantly why is it important. The whole show is us making believe we are in a hang glider for heavens sake. These things are so much more enjoyable if we stop being so "adult" and instead willingly suspend disbelief for a few moments and just enjoy what we are seeing, real or fabricated. It makes going on the ride a whole lot more fun.

It's been well established that the Taj Scene was done with CGI because they were not permitted to do a flyover of it.

The discussion is happening, because this is a Disney fan site, so it makes sense that people will analyze every detail of what Disney does. If you just want to hear positive things about Disney, there may be message boards on other sites that you would like better then this one.
 

Tom Morrow

Well-Known Member
Its well known that most if not all of Soarin' Around The World is CGI.
I'm not sure why it bothers people so much.
Your precious movies have tons and tons of CGI in them.
It's not most, but it's a significant amount. The real scenes are also filled with visual enhancements such as intense color saturation which gives them a fake look whereas the footage in the original film was relatively untouched. The ride is supposed to be about showcasing the natural real beauty of the world, not fake recreations of it. That's the whole point, and the reason it isn't a thrill ride.

I used to be in favor of the new film but after recently comparing them back to back again, and the "newness" of the new film having worn off, I now prefer the old version. It accomplished the mission of the ride to a greater effect for several reasons, not just limited to the lack of CGI:

- In the original, the camera mimicked the flight of hang gliders much more realistically. You were constantly diving or ascending and seeing the horizon tilt as you turned left and right. The speed of the camera was also more dynamic and more closely resembled realistic hang glider flight. In the new version, you are almost always going the same speed and almost always in a straight line. The shots run together by having the same approach to the majority of them. It feels like very controlled drone footage. Compare both of them back to back on YouTube and all of this is pretty noticeable.*
- The musical score of the original was one cohesive piece, the new one is segmented into themed sections.
- The transitions - I'm in favor of them over the straight cuts of the original, but almost every one attempts to startle you on a ride that is supposed to be relaxing and soothing.

* The one exception is the original's LA flyover scene, which is sped up, wobbly, and looks terrible and should never have been used.

I don't hate the new version but I wish we were given a choice of which one to experience or that the original would periodically return to Epcot.
 
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thomas998

Well-Known Member
We don't need a whale shot; we don't a dust throwing elephant either. And we don't even need the Taj......there are countless other sufficiently magnificent sights around the globe ready to go without the need for embellishments.
We don't need to even go to Disney or have the ride if you want to talk about what is needed. That isn't really the question to begin with, the simple fact is the imagineers had a vision for what they WANTED in Soarin' ... so they did what it took to make their vision come true. You have to remember the ride isn't about just going out and getting shots that happen to be easy to come by or interesting to you they are supposed to be what the imagineers imagined and wanted for the ride.
 

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