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00:16Buckle up.
00:17Check out ahead and ask yourself a question.
00:20What have you gotten yourself into?
00:23What kind of person actually designs these for a living?
00:28What is he trying to do to your body and your mind?
00:31What cutting-edge technology is going to see you through these extremes?
00:35There is a science to this, right?
00:43Terror.
00:45We love it.
00:47We seek it and we are prepared to pay for it.
00:52A multi-billion dollar business feeds a worldwide appetite for extreme encounters.
00:59But our palettes for fun are quickly jaded.
01:02Once we know it, we are not afraid of it.
01:05So it is a constant game between us and the masters, the ride creators.
01:12We challenge their visions, their imaginations.
01:16They dare us to take a chance, to try new and terrifying sensations.
01:22But now the game is out of balance.
01:25Technology is putting more weapons in their grasp,
01:28making their armory more powerful than ever before.
01:35For addicts of adventure, the future is full of challenge.
01:40Rides that will test your courage.
01:43Rides that will take us somewhere we have never been.
01:48In the battle to impress, there are two separate camps.
01:55There are ride masters who work on your body.
01:59Throwing it through space to create sensation.
02:04Then there are the illusionists.
02:06Conjurers out to deceive your senses.
02:12Illusionists began with rides like the ghost train.
02:15A spooky fantasy in the dark.
02:17A plunge into uncertainty and fear.
02:21Sound effects, lighting and surprise are the triggers
02:23to send shivers down your spine.
02:26And to make you gasp.
02:31Roller coasters have a longer history.
02:35A bobsledding fanatic in 17th century Russia
02:38was looking for a way to keep up the fun in summer.
02:41And soon found out he was not alone.
02:49Coasters and ghost trains have come a long way.
02:52And so have we.
02:54Although the challenge is different,
02:56both rides take you on a journey.
02:58It is a story with a beginning full of anxiety,
03:01a middle full of twists,
03:03a climax,
03:06and a relief of a happy ending.
03:10For the roller coasters ride masters,
03:13the narrative rides on rails.
03:14And the plot devices become ride elements.
03:18X at Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia, California
03:21has plot twists and turns aplenty.
03:26It's the world's first fourth-dimensional thrill machine.
03:34It took shape here at Aerodynamics in Clearfield, Utah,
03:39where Alan Schulke is a coaster designer.
03:44Currently, the coasters are limited
03:46in moving along a path
03:48and rotating about the axis of the coaster.
03:51The next step, obviously,
03:53is to be able to rotate the people
03:55in any position during the ride
03:58so that they may be lying down,
04:00standing up, upside down,
04:03be able to handle all those positions within one ride.
04:06The design for X came out of Alan's desire
04:08to create a ride that rotates people
04:10in any position during the ride.
04:14The idea for the ride was scoffed at by co-workers
04:17who felt that such a technical ride
04:19could never be built.
04:22Alan seems to have proven them wrong,
04:25creating a ride that gives its passengers
04:27a don't-know-what-to-expect-next sensation.
04:32It is considered the most anticipated ride of the decade.
04:38Alan created a flexible brace on X
04:41that frees our bodies to move in any direction.
04:44X can spin independently 360 degrees
04:48forwards or backwards on a separate axis.
04:53To me, the ultimate ride is to be able to feel
04:56as if you're floating through space,
04:59able to do any maneuver that is possible.
05:02The ultimate ride for me may never be able to be built
05:04because what I would want to put myself through,
05:06the average person may not like.
05:10Masterminding high thrill rides
05:12demands creativity and precision.
05:14The designer has to push the envelope of human endurance
05:17up to, but not beyond, the bounds of safety.
05:21Gravity is the coaster designer's awesome ally.
05:26Like all big coasters,
05:27X's momentum comes from the first drop.
05:32Gravity-fed coasters are the industry standard
05:34and they have a certain thrill on their own
05:36because of the fact that once you start it,
05:40you have no control.
05:41It is a runaway train.
05:43The first drop gives the ride an energy budget.
05:46Every element after that will drain it.
05:49Using the laws of physics,
05:51the Ride Master has to pack in as many sensations as possible
05:54before the energy runs out.
05:58Their basic unit of force is gravity,
06:01measured in G's.
06:03One G equals the tug of the earth at its surface.
06:07When a coaster train drops from a height,
06:10we experience a disorienting taste of weightlessness.
06:13Zero G's.
06:15But at the bottom, we pay the piper.
06:17The pull-out creates G's.
06:20Inertia means while the track might change direction,
06:23the bodies want to continue on the original direction.
06:27At the bottom of drops,
06:28vertical G-forces drive bodies into the seats.
06:33On turns, lateral G-forces can drive bodies sideways.
06:39The acceptable maximum limit on coasters is around 4 G's.
06:46The Ride Master calculates all the G-forces around the ride's center line.
06:51Around this imaginary line,
06:53we can rotate the human cargo in strange ways.
06:57In order to start the design of a coaster,
07:00you must first decide which elements and features you want to put in the ride.
07:04By designing those features and elements first,
07:08you have a little bag of tricks.
07:10The coaster designer delights in hatching new and excruciating track shapes.
07:17The possibilities for individual elements are endless.
07:21Alan Shulke gets added inspiration from real-world thrill-seeking.
07:29In hang gliding, windsurfing, and skiing,
07:33there are many times at which you're doing something that you think is wonderful,
07:37and you're trying to relate that into the coaster
07:40so that people can experience the same feel.
07:43Once Alan has chosen his bag of tricks,
07:45it is not just a matter of sticking them all together.
07:47That can be uncomfortable, even dangerous.
07:52How you choreograph the moves
07:54is what makes the difference between a good and a great coaster.
08:00So how does it feel to ride X,
08:02one of the world's craziest coasters?
08:08Perched on the edge of a massive 20-foot-wide wing-shaped vehicle,
08:12X starts with a 200-foot climb facing the sky before you flip over,
08:16head first, and face down,
08:20for a near vertical plummet to the earth.
08:26Racing at a top speed of 76 miles per hour,
08:30the rush continues as you fly through a mammoth 200-foot-tall skydive
08:35and over the top of a giant 185-foot Raven turn.
08:43Performing several acrobatic full 360-degree front and back flips
08:48while blazing the rails of a mind-blowing 3,600-foot twisting steel maze.
09:00Standing up adds new drama.
09:03We feel much more exposed and vulnerable.
09:09The body movements of surfers provided the inspiration for this sensation.
09:16The Japanese company Togo was one of the first to make stand-up coasters.
09:22The first part of the ride is a wide right-hand spiraling down drop
09:28that drops out right below you and reaches approximately 70 miles per hour.
09:34Ultra Twister recreates the sensation of a barrel roll in a plane.
09:38The track is circular, and the carriages have wheels in two directions.
09:44Unlike a corkscrew or a loop,
09:46the Ultra Twister rotates the carriage a full 360 degrees.
09:52The ride's center line is designed as close as possible
09:55to the human center of gravity.
09:58The peculiar feeling is negative G's,
10:01a sort of weightlessness.
10:04Putting the track overhead
10:06leaves your feet dangling in free air
10:08and nothing between you and the ground.
10:14Any second now,
10:15and you feel you could be slammed into the passing scenery.
10:27But to really experience the sensation
10:29of almost being slammed to the ground,
10:31try Drop Zone.
10:35At Paramount's Great America in San Jose, California,
10:38a single steel pole dominates the skyline.
10:44Courageous are strapped to the pylon,
10:47slowly winched up about 210 feet in the air,
10:52and then, without warning,
10:58dropped.
11:01At the last moment,
11:03electromagnetic brakes cushion the fall.
11:09By the clock, it takes seconds,
11:11but for many, it lasts a lifetime.
11:18Another ride that dominates the skyline
11:21is located in Sandusky, Ohio,
11:23at Cedar Point Amusement Park.
11:26The Millennium Force soars 310 feet high
11:29and was the first to exceed the 300-foot benchmark.
11:35It makes for a first drop of jaw-dropping dimensions.
11:40And at a price tag of $25 million,
11:43it's more than twice the cost of any other coaster out there.
11:50Reaching speeds of up to 93 miles an hour,
11:52this ride is not for the faint of heart.
12:00The ride is capable of carrying nearly 18,000 passengers a day.
12:12For those who prefer an on-chair experience,
12:15the stomach of steel is not so important.
12:19In the world of the illusion masters,
12:21physical motion plays only a minor part,
12:24but they still have great powers to move you.
12:29The ice tunnel at Universal Studios in Hollywood
12:32is a simple but powerful trick.
12:34We hang on, feeling as if we're falling.
12:37Our visual cues for balance fooled by rotating walls.
12:43Only in the daylight, the illusion disappears.
12:46Our balance is normal.
12:49The ice tunnel was originally created
12:51as a special effect for television.
12:55But it is in movie making that trickery and imagination
12:58have delivered the most spectacular visions.
13:02Now, instead of just watching it,
13:04we have become part of it.
13:08The masters of illusion rides are more and more
13:10using movie magic to move you.
13:13For ride master Douglas Trumbull,
13:15inspiration first came from a journey
13:17into space.
13:20My experience on 2001
13:22was giant screens,
13:2570mm,
13:26cinerama,
13:27point of view,
13:29first person experience
13:30entering another realm,
13:32particularly at the end of the film.
13:34And I realized then
13:35that I really liked this idea
13:37that movies could be
13:38an experience you could go into.
13:44Trumbull had the chance
13:45to turn dream into reality.
13:48creating a ride
13:49out of the smash hit movie
13:50Back to the Future.
13:54We enter the scene
13:56by taking our seats
13:57in a DeLorean car.
14:01Images fill our entire view,
14:03shown on a wraparound screen.
14:07We are right inside the action,
14:09seeing everything
14:10from our point of view.
14:15Motion control cameras
14:16and scaled models
14:17give an impression
14:18of flying through streets
14:19and buildings.
14:27Combined with computer graphics,
14:29the illusion is a celluloid reality
14:30larger than life.
14:34It does not just look like we are moving,
14:36we are moving.
14:38Our seats mounted
14:39in a motion simulator
14:40move in a perfect match
14:42with the on-screen action.
14:46Simulators use
14:47oil-filled hydraulic cylinders
14:48or air-filled pneumatics.
14:52Within a small space,
14:54they can move seats
14:55in all directions,
14:56forward,
14:57side to side,
14:58up and down,
14:59and at an angle.
15:02Although operating
15:03in a very small space,
15:04they can still pack a punch.
15:09With fast movements
15:10in different directions,
15:11speed and inertia
15:12can deliver high G's.
15:16Back to the Future
15:17is recognized as a benchmark
15:19in the world
15:20of illusion ride masters.
15:23They are now looking beyond
15:25to take the thrills
15:26further and higher.
15:29IMAX specializes
15:30in large format cinema,
15:31films designed
15:32to immerse your senses.
15:35The film itself
15:36is ten times larger
15:37than normal
15:38and it runs faster.
15:40At 48 frames a second,
15:42twice as fast
15:43as ordinary film.
15:46The gigantic image
15:47is intended
15:48to look more real
15:49than ordinary cinema
15:50with more color
15:51and detail.
15:54Now they are developing
15:56another dimension.
15:57They are reviving
15:59the old concept
15:59of 3D movies.
16:02Already hugely successful,
16:04the next step
16:04will be 3D ride films.
16:07To add the third dimension,
16:09the filmmakers
16:10copy human vision.
16:12They shoot two films
16:13with two parallel cameras,
16:15just like two eyes.
16:17Both films are also projected
16:19side by side.
16:21Special viewing glasses
16:22use an electronic liquid
16:23crystal shutter.
16:26An infrared signal
16:27from the screen
16:28triggers the shutter
16:29to open and close
16:3048 times a second,
16:32allowing each eye
16:33to see the correct image.
16:40playing tricks with our visual sense
16:42is a powerful tool
16:43for the illusionists.
16:47But what we hear
16:48can be just as important.
16:56Sound intensifies experience,
16:58but even on its own,
16:59it can create its own world.
17:05At Disney World in Florida,
17:07a soundproof room,
17:08a pair of headphones,
17:09and a carefully created soundtrack
17:11is all it takes.
17:16It is called a haircut.
17:18The sound action is designed
17:20to move around your head
17:21in 360 degrees,
17:23to be heard as it would
17:24in real life.
17:28Sound is crucial
17:29to the terror
17:29of Disney's ride
17:30Alien Encounter.
17:32An alien swoops
17:34inches above your head.
17:35Your only clue
17:36to listen for its cries
17:38and the flap of its wings.
17:40Technological wizardry
17:41is constantly improving
17:43and refining
17:44the effects of immersion,
17:47making it ever more difficult
17:49to work out what is real
17:51and what is fake.
17:53But where are we going next?
17:56What do we really
17:57want to experience?
17:59What challenges lay ahead
18:00for the Ride Masters?
18:02What I'm seeing
18:03in the entertainment industry
18:04is that there's
18:05a tremendous desire
18:07on the part of the audience
18:08to have experiences
18:09that are more than real
18:10or hyper-real,
18:11as I sometimes say.
18:12They want to experience
18:13a dinosaur.
18:14They want to experience
18:15a tornado.
18:16They want to experience
18:17a flood.
18:17They want to experience
18:18an earthquake.
18:21There's many ways
18:23to make the experience
18:24more and more realistic
18:25to where your brain
18:26just can't tell
18:27the difference
18:28between a reality
18:29and this simulated reality.
18:33Lifelike experiences
18:34are not just about effects.
18:36A strong story
18:37gets us personally involved.
18:40Just as we can be moved
18:41by our senses,
18:42we are also moved
18:43by our emotions.
18:45The movie-making skills
18:47to create suspense
18:48and drama
18:48are powerful ingredients
18:50for an ultimate experience.
18:53In the race to impress,
18:55the roller coasters
18:56and illusions
18:56are getting wilder
18:57and weirder.
18:59So what would happen
19:00if all powers of mind
19:01and motion
19:02somehow came together?
19:08Imagine Super Ride Masters
19:10using all the possibilities
19:11in the worlds
19:12of both coasters
19:13and illusion.
19:15It is already
19:16beginning to happen.
19:18One of the latest visions
19:19from Disney's Imagineers
19:20took shape
19:21at Epcot Center
19:22at Disney World Florida.
19:24It is called
19:25Test Track.
19:27Disney wants to put you
19:29in the driver's seat
19:30to take new vehicles
19:31through the sorts
19:32of extreme tests
19:33for the performance
19:34and handling used
19:35in the car industry.
19:37Test Track
19:37is one of the first attempts
19:39to combine the tricks
19:40of the illusionists
19:41with the physical thrills
19:42of coaster makers.
19:44Imagineer Oren Shivley
19:45spent the first years
19:46of his career
19:47designing Italian racing bikes.
19:50Now he's designing
19:51state-of-the-art cars
19:52to create
19:53a lifelike experience.
19:54Take a familiar experience
19:56but somehow amplify it
19:58or increase it.
20:00So for example,
20:01it may be
20:03your perception
20:04of what something is.
20:05If it's something
20:06to do with speed,
20:07we will find ways
20:08to increase the perception
20:11or the feeling of speed.
20:15Disney is one of the first
20:19but not the only one
20:21working on hybrids.
20:26Hey, I'm starting
20:27to see a pattern here.
20:29I think we're going to see
20:33ride attractions
20:34that combine multiple screens
20:36and multiple forms
20:37of simulation
20:37combined with sets,
20:39props, lighting,
20:40environments,
20:41audio-animatronic figures
20:42and rollercoaster tracks
20:44in a way that's going
20:46to be completely amazing.
20:52So what is the ultimate ride
20:54for the Masters of Illusions?
21:01I like to parachute
21:02but most people
21:03don't like to do that
21:05so boy if we could give
21:06a freefall experience
21:07to our guests
21:08and they knew
21:09that they were going
21:09to be safe
21:10and they could say
21:10I did that,
21:12that would be
21:12a pretty neat ride.
21:16The ultimate ride
21:17is under construction.
21:18The Ride Masters
21:19are more powerful
21:20than ever.
21:21They want your mind
21:23as well as your body
21:24in every dimension possible.
21:27Whatever you dare
21:28to imagine,
21:29your most frightening dream,
21:31most terrifying
21:32physical sensation,
21:33most fantastic worlds
21:35filled with wonder.
21:37You are in there,
21:38taken away,
21:39terrified
21:40and completely safe.
21:42Courage is your only protection.
21:45Get ready.
21:46They are coming for you
21:49and they are going to get you.
21:52You are in there.
21:54...
22:10...
22:11You're in there.
22:12...
22:13...
22:14...
22:20...
22:21...
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