Jupiter adds, “VFX design in this format is unique in that it is truly an experience design. Because of the immersive scale, every element has to be composed to support and control the audience’s focus. They are able to look everywhere, but we want them to look where we want them to. Not only for storytelling purposes, but to visually support the illusion of flying on the back of a banshee. Every element, whether it be the ride animation, the breathing effects, the wind, the water or the film’s character animation, needs to be carefully composed to support what the rider believes they are experiencing. If one element is out of sync, or even out of balance, the illusion is broken and the rider would feel that there is something off.”

3D glasses were an essential part of creating the Avatar reality. “We needed to develop glasses that functioned with a 160-degree field-of-view screen. Typically, theatrical or cinema glasses only support 90-degree field of view. We also wanted as little visual intrusion of the glasses [as possible] as we wanted folks to have as natural a stereo experience as possible. We opted for as translucent a frame as we could get, along with as much clear filter as we could afford. Essentially, we wanted the glasses to disappear,” comments Jupiter.

What was seen through the glasses had to sync with seat movement. The movement of the attraction vehicle and the apparent movement on the screen have to be perfectly coordinated so there is no disconnect, according to Rohde.

Jupiter recalls, “We built a full-scale mock-up of the center section of our ride and screen to understand the characteristics of the coordination between the ride and the film. Both the template artists and the ride animators often worked together in real-time with the same software, sharing the same files, thus making the coordination seamless.” Programming of the motion base was handled on site by WDI. The initial motion was tuned to the template from LEI, which could be updated on an almost daily basis.