3D/4D/5D
Story formats
Astronomy, nature and sci-fi all have stories that are brought to life through fulldome film, interactive theatre and 3D, 4D and 5D formats
Giant Screen Films
Giant Screen Films (GSF) has just released Titans of the Ice Age 3D, with Great White Shark 3D to be released on May 25th.
Titans of the Ice Age 3D transports viewers to the frozen landscapes of North America, Europe and Asia, 10,000 years before modern civilization. Computer-generated imagery brings to life sabre-toothed cats, giant sloths and iconic mammoths – the giants that were both feared and hunted by prehistoric humans – in an ancient world of ice when humans fought for survival alongside majestic, woolly beasts.
GSF’s founder and president, Don Kempf, was inspired to make Titans after seeing how enthralled his sons were with the animated Ice Age movies. Science centres and museums are particularly interested in the topic, as this period in history, when humans shared the Earth with mammoths, is often misunderstood.
Created for family audiences of all ages, the film aims to challenge the imaginations of children and adults alike and offer an inspiring perspective on the history of our world.
Great White Shark 3D explores the Great White’s place in our imaginations, our unfounded fears of this majestic predator and the vital role it has held in the oceanic ecosystems since the dawn of the dinosaurs.
The film takes audiences to three key shark aggregation points around the world, from New Zealand’s Stewart Island, where a newly discovered healthy population of Great Whites have had little contact with people, to Mexico’s Guadalupe Island, where Great Whites troll crystal clear waters and researchers conduct critical tagging operations to monitor movement and behaviour. Viewers are then taken to South Africa, famous for its breaching sharks, to illustrate the Great White’s speed, power and beauty using new techniques in slow motion 3D photography.
Both films are available in 40-minute versions for Imax and Imax 3D theatres, and in 20 and 40-minute versions for digital 3D and 4D theatres.
Created for giant-screen and immersive theatres in museums, science centres, zoos and aquariums, GSF co-produced Titans of the Ice Age with the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago and the Page Museum in Los Angeles. Co-producers on Great White Shark are UK-based Yes/No Productions.
GSF’s sister company, D3D Cinema, is currently upgrading the National Museum of the United States Air Force’s Giant Screen Theatre to 3D projection and greater programming flexibility.
D3D is integrating a state-of-the-art digital 3D system featuring dual Barco 4K projectors, Qube’s Xi integrated media blocks, MasterImage 3D and a premium 7.1 surround system from QSC Audio. In addition to supporting higher frame rates, the system will be capable of true 4K-3D playback at bitrates that far exceed industry standards for conventional cinema. The theatre will also feature state-of-the-art accessibility technology by Doremi, including hearing impaired and visually impaired audio devices and the CaptiView personal closed captioning system.
The Goddard Group
Guests interact with digitally-created beluga whales at The Goddard Group’s latest interactive theatre show, Do You Speak Beluga?. Opened in January at theme park Lotte World in Seoul, Korea, the experience immerses guests in an animated undersea environment.
The story follows a family of beluga whales who are holidaying at Lotte World. Guests can ask the belugas anything they've ever wanted to know about them and, in turn, are asked questions by the belugas about human characteristics, habits and traditions.
“Not only will visitors learn about a unique species, they'll also have to reflect upon things about themselves that they've probably never thought about from an outsider's perspective,” explains Taylor Jeffs, The Goddard Group’s director of design.
The experience begins in Aqua Plaza, Lotte World’s newest themed zone. Guests queue through an undersea grotto before moving into the main theatre where they meet the family of belugas. There’s bench seating for adults and floor seating at the front for younger guests during the 15-minute experience.
The Goddard Group provided the concept and schematic design services and worked with the Lotte team to create the attraction's layout, architectural design, graphic identity and character design. Korea-based Rayglyph provided the show’s technology and content.
Albedo Fulldome
The basic concepts of the relationship between Earth, the moon and the sun are presented in Moles – an animated planetarium show for children aged between four and eight.
Moles integrates traditional storytelling with digital media to entertain children and awaken their interest in astronomy and nature. By following the adventures of a young mole named Plato and his friends, children learn basic concepts about science, and astronomy in particular, while having fun.
Plato lives deep underground in a dark burrow and is fascinated by the light that penetrates the entrance to his home half of the time. One day he finally gets to see the great outdoors and discovers day and night and the sun, moon and stars.
The film explains in an easy and understandable way what light pollution is and why it’s difficult to see the stars in the city. Children are encouraged to question everything and proactively find out the answers to any questions they might have. Show content includes: the role of Earth’s rotation and how it creates night and day; properties of motion in space; properties of solar system objects; motions and forces; and gravity.
Inspired by the Greek philosopher Plato’s Myth of the Cave, the show was co-produced with Mediúscula. Available in English, Spanish, French, Korean, Japanese and Turkish, there are three versions of the film lasting 17 minutes, 18 minutes or 35 minutes.
MediaMation, Inc
Guests are sent soaring, rocking and rolling, with their feet dangling, at twice the usual motion range and speed in MediaMation's new Ultra X4DR® seats. Additional seat effects include atmospheric effects, such as seat transducers, back pokers, neck and leg ticklers, water spray, wind, snow, fog and scent.
The seats were recently installed for the first time in a 36-seat 4D motion effects theatre located in Illinois. As well as the seats, MediaMation supplied the 3D projection system, surround sound audio system, show control and installation. “An unusual element to this theatre is an automatic stair lift that brings guests up and down from the seats,” says MediaMation’s president Alison Jamele. “The seats start up in a higher position so we designed a lift to allow people to step up and down.”
MediaMation's ShowFlow® software is used to integrate the projection, audio, movement, effects and lighting. “Using pneumatics to move the seats is more cost effective and cleaner because you don't have to worry about messy hydraulics or expensive electrical to power the seats,” says Jamele.
MediaMation is currently working on two 4D theatres at Legoland Discovery Centres for Merlin Entertainment in New York and Canada; a government-sponsored science centre in Mexico; and a 4D theatre for Museo de Cera, in Mexico City. Suppliers include Panasonic, Severtson, Peavey and Crown.
NSC Creative
NSC Creative has three new fulldome 3D projects in its portfolio: Astronaut 3D, narrated by Ewan McGregor; We Are Aliens! 3D, narrated by Rupert Grint; and Mission Europa 3D.
Astronaut covers the themes of micro-gravity, human biology, space hazards, living in space and astronaut training. Guests experience a rocket launch and explore the worlds of inner and outer space, from floating around the International Space Station to manoeuvring through microscopic regions of the human body. Narrated by actor Ewan McGregor, the film lasts 23 minutes and is suitable for viewers over five-years-old.
NSC Creative originally produced the film in 2006. Due to its popularity, and a growing number of 3D fulldome systems, in 2011 NSC Creative researched the viability of updating the show. “There’s a distinct lack of fulldome 3D shows available to planetariums that have installed these new systems, or are considering doing so,” explains Rebecca Simpson, production assistant at NSC Creative. “Unlike 3D in cinemas, the process of converting fulldome shows into fulldome 3D isn’t as simple as making the changes in post-production.”
We Are Aliens! 3D is the newest fulldome show produced by NSC Creative. Viewers are taken on an epic journey from the most extreme environments on Earth to similarly extreme environments elsewhere in our solar system, asking the question, are we alone?
Supported by the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) in the UK, the central motivating factor in creating the show was to take a new look at the search for life and what in fact constitutes life. Narrated by Harry Potter star Rupert Grint, the 25-minute show is now available to planetariums, fixed or portable around the world.
NSC’s six-minute, 3D film Mission Europa is a feature of the UK’s National Space Centre’s simulator ride. Positioned within Tranquillity Base, it has recently been made available to license in other institutions. The experience can be adapted to create a 5D motion ride with icy blasts of air as guests arrive on Europa in the ride.
Sally Corporation
Guests battle alongside superheroes at Justice League: Alien Invasion 3D. Created by Sally Corporation, the interactive dark ride opened last September at Warner Bros Movie World, on Australia's Gold Coast.
The US$9m (£5.6m, E6.9m) dark ride is a re-purposing of the park’s existing Batman simulator experience. In the story, Earth is under attack by the evil Starro the Conqueror. The members of the Justice League are dramatically outnumbered, so ask for the audience’s help to save the Earth from destruction.
Featuring a mix of animatronics, 3D video technology and special effects, the five-minute ride incorporates eight 3D screens, 20 custom vehicles equipped with special laser optical blasters, a dramatic custom musical score and numerous animatronic citizens who riders must fight to save from the alien spores' evil mind control. The ride culminates in a dramatic struggle between Superman and the evil villain, in which riders play a decisive role.
Sally’s senior designer, Rich Hill, directed the team from the first pencil sketches to the installation and opening. “We had to create new CG models for Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Supergirl, Flash, Cyborg and Green Lantern, as DC Comics had just released the New 52,” he says. “Another challenge was blending the large projected media screen images so they matched the animatronics, physical sets and scenery. These had to be just right so riders feel they’re actually fighting in the city streets alongside the Justice League, whether they’re in front of a screen or travelling through the 3D spaces.
“We overcame the challenges by assembling our own superhero team,” he continues. “We fabricated a lot of the ride, but also worked with Wyatt Design Group, Threshold Animation, Sculpt Studios, The Wurst Brothers, Bertazzon, Bose, RealD, Alterface, Techni-Lux and International Film and Digital Workshops.
Simex-Iwerks Entertainment
Based on the film Journey 2: The Mysterious Island, Simex-Iwerks has created a 12-minute 4D film and a five-minute 3D ride experience, during which guests fly through a tornado, encounter giant lizards, discover the lost city of Atlantis and pilot Captain Nemo’s submarine.
The family films are aimed at large theme parks, zoos, aquariums and science centres and the 4D elements include wind, water, scent, seat poke, leg ticklers and snow.
Simex-Iwerks’ biggest challenge was cutting a feature-length film down to five or 10 minutes, but the creative and post production teams kept the storyline consistent and used scenes that lend themselves to 4D elements and effects.
Trans-Force
Trans-Force will soon be releasing Polar Odyssey, an interactive game based on real-time simulation and designed for its 5D interactive attraction Orion.
Polar Odyssey takes players to an abandoned World War II military base for a peaceful mission devoted to eliminating spilt chemical reagents. However, the mission turns into a dangerous adventure full of surprises. The theme was inspired by a historical story about a German ship, Swabia, that made a scientific expedition to Antarctica in 1938. Legend claims that this was a cover story and that their real mission was to set up a secret military base.
Aimed at children and teenagers, the six-minute film is designed for attractions parks, science centres and science and technology museums.
Orion is designed to resemble a space shuttle and incorporates a 2m x 1.5 m (6.5ft x 5ft) screen with a 3D system, motion platform and interactivity. The film uses high quality, 3D, real-time graphics, so that the image can react to players’ actions. All four seats are equipped with joysticks that allow visitors to control the simulator and different objects, take pictures and answer quiz questions. The attraction is equipped with Dolby Surround sound system and a 3DOF motion platform with vibration effect so the cabin can closely follow the ship’s movements.
A new engine and new shading technology enabled the team at Trans-Force to create more detailed images. The company develops the hardware and software and makes all programs in-house. Orion is installed in the US, China, India, Malaysia and Spain.
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