World of Color

[ismael flores]

not sure if this has been posted here but it shows some testing of some water features and other WDI projects

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAE_OgMrkaQ

[JonasClark]

Point taken, but if not that, I'm not sure what they WOULD be. Guesses?

[Ben]

not sure if this has been posted here but it shows some testing of some water features and other WDI projects

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAE_OgMrkaQ

I love the moving fire effect passing under the small jelly fish-like water fountains.

[MoonRakerSCM]

I wonder if that works by releasing gas into the encapsulated space inside the fountain and then igniting it.

[datroglodyte]

that was sweet.

[Simba]

someone over on micechat had a good photo that showed the data cable in the trays is optical, so that should solve the data signal interference problems.

I also spoke with a friend of mine who told me that the Bellagio show had issues due to the fact that they were trying to run low voltage control power long distances in the water, 24v I think. Higher voltage doesn't have the same problems so if Disney is running optical data to the SUB units along with 120/208v (or more, maybe 408 or 480) power I would expect that the controllers for the fountains and pumps are being installed on the platform thus greatly shortening the length of the low voltage cables. That could be what the brass covered boxes that have shown up this week are, fountain pump controllers. I'll speak with my contacts and try to confirm.

Cool, thanks for the technical info, bucky. That's basically what I suspected with regard to the possible Bellagio issues. Low power data signals over long runs is usually a recipe for trouble.

Things like relays and pumps can use higher voltage signals as they are generally just either on or off, whereas the data transmitted to projectors, LED lighting circuit boards, and possibly flame/fountain movement and water height controller circuits likely run on a much lower voltage (5v-12v usually?). As such, the only way to get that complex data signal to those circuits over long distances is to have level converters or do like they apparently are with optical cable runs.

The optical cables will carry the signal, video, and lighting data to hubs that will then convert and send the electrical signals to the circuit boards that control each light, projector, etc. The benefits of optical cable are that you can send vast amounts of data over incredibly long distances with virtually no signal loss, as well as the fact that you don't have to worry about EMF interference at all.

Pretty cool stuff. You don't really think about it, but there's a lot of planning and technology that goes into something as simple as color changing lights in a fountain that's a few hundred yards from the computer that controls it.

[JonasClark]

Exactly, MoonRaker.

Those are a simple effect, generally called a waterbell (in OASE's German fountain terminology, gradually being picked up by other fountain companies, a "lava" nozzle). Firms like Waterworks International have done much larger one using laminar flow, which look like big soap bubbles, with the nozzle head being about 5" in diameter, but are far more wind-sensitive. If wind doesn't break a waterbell, and it's close enough to the surface that the lower edge doesn't begin breaking up, you can fill it with fog, as seen here - Caesars Palace in LV had this in use for a year or two. Here, they used LED lights, then fog, then gas, which got ignited under the first bubble before being drawn naturally down the line. Extremely cool - I've never seen that done before. The smaller domes visible in the WoC promo artwork could b e done with large waterbell nozzles, and these domes can be filled with Mee fog and then illuminated in interesting ways. The BIG projection domes more than likely can't be done with waterbells, but at this point I'm not willing to rule anything out if Disney is doing this in-house!

[JonasClark]

Is it wrong to be glad of both of these?

1 - no Pirates. We have a show dedicated to colorful Disney animation...and somewhere in the middle is shoved a bit from their current big moneymaker. It seemed like it wouldn't quite fit, and I'm glad it seems to be out.

2 - not Fantasmic! I thought it would be a bit boring if this was just Fantasmic! DCA. No need to replicate at DCA a show that already runs next door, even if it IS a good show. Seems they're really doing something completely different.

[KNRG]

Not at all - wanting something that is good for a park is not a bad thing. It's just the people who have declared their creative ideas "precious" and wont let go who think otherwise.

Sadly, WDI is full of those folks it seems.

Think of it this way - you just want something to not be included or left out to make it an overall better product. You want a rose without thorns. That's not bad. If you scour the net you'll see how badly people wanted Epcot to lose the wand. The park really does look better without that lackluster add-on.

[JonasClark]

I'm also hoping BraveSEAmo! will not be replaced by a WoC clone. SEA is a unique show you can only see at its home park. Similarly, WoC should, I believe, be only at DCA, which will also give people another reason to visit the new DCA. If they want to re(?)vitalize California Adventure, it wouldn't do to have the new, amazing, spectacular show be available at another park...yet.