Thrill rides: using the latest CG techniques, theme parks are taking visitors for a fun-filled virtual ride.(London-Based Entertainment ...)(computer graphics)(Cover story)

It seems that today, every major theme park in the US--from Walt Disney World to Universal Studios to Busch Gardens--is entertaining guests with a simulation ride film. The concept is hardly new. Early attempts featured footage from a camera attached to a person or vehicle traversing an exciting course, offering a "first-person" view of the action. The start of more modern incarnations using a motion base and large-screen projection began in 1987 when Disney unveiled the Star Wars-inspired Star Tours. Since then, ride films have become a major theme-park attraction--in some cases, a bigger draw than the mega roller-coasters. New Wave International (now Nwave Pictures) even created an IMAX film for Sony Pictures Classics called Thrill Ride--The Science of Fun, which chronicles the history of theme-park rides and highlights bow the motion simulator has affected today's attractions.

The technology for ride films was born from the marriage of NASA/military and Hollywood. Flight simulators provide the basis for today's motion bases, while high-end computer graphics enhance the movement with stimulating visuals. More recently, parks have upped the thrill level by infusing ride films with stereoscopy, and some have added a fourth dimension for a "touching" experience. Now, a new evolution is beginning, whereby rides use CG to augment a dark-ride experience that also uses set pieces to further blend reality and simulation. The next step, according to Yas Takata, director of large-format films at Blur Studio, is to use CG in a supporting role to alter the audience's perception.

In the past decade, the number of ride films rose dramatically, only to decline recently. One reason is because they are expensive, ranging in price from $1 million to $7 million. But business has been booming in certain parts of the world--Asia and the United Arab Emirates, for instance--where new theme parks are popping up. As park-goers crave new adventures, studios will be pressured to find totally unique experiences for today's generation, which has been raised on high-def, wide-screen TVs and immersive computer games. "We have to find a way to entertain them in a novel way," Takata says.

Recently, Super 78 developed a unique approach to ride films, with Curse of the DarKastle, a stereoscopic dark ride through several rooms of a virtual castle featuring practical set elements along with projected 3D imagery. Taking advantage of digital content delivery, Super 78 can easily make changes to the ride-film visuals, keeping the attraction fresh year after year.

Disney, a master at theme-park experiences, turned up the volume when it opened Disney's PhilharMagic. A collaborative effort between Walt Disney Imagineering and Feature Animation, the attraction unites Disney's classic characters with new classic characters in a stereoscopic musical adventure that, for the first time, features 2D Disney characters in stereo 3D.

In another groundbreaking attraction, the unique 2D sketches of graphic artist MC Escher serve as the inspiration for the stereo film Escher Revisited in VR Valley, which takes visitors through 3D versions of Escher's "impossible" structures.

And, Blur Studio rolled out its latest attraction, Time Riders, a non-stereo ride that exemplifies the current state of the art in ride films with high-quality immersive imagery.