Adventures Thru Inner Space DVD complete!

[subsonic]

Steve over at http://www.atommobiles.com has finally completed his Adventures Thru Inner Space Virtual Ride-thru. It is in DVD format. He's now taking pre-orders.

Some of the features:
- Full CGI Ride Thru of Adventure Thru Inner Space in Full 5.1 Surround Sound (audio rebuilt from the ground up by Paul Barrie)
- Vector line ride thru of attraction
- Animation tests
- Render Mistakes
- Alternate camera fly though

Head over to http://www.atommobiles.com for more information and screenshots.

[DISNEYman]

His CGI ride-through is very impressive, and this looks like a great DVD! I've always been intrigued by this ride, has anyone on these boards actually been on the ride?

[subsonic]

I have many times when I was younger. I remember the eye scaring me a little bit. I really miss it though. I totally believed I was getting smaller. Seeing the Atommobiles shrunk in the shot. Something about that convinced me. I also remember my father taking me back stage (he was helping doing audio on the premiere day of Captain EO. I should have kept that shirt.) to look at them building Star Tours there. They had the cabin bays and the hydrolics in but not the actual cabins.

[Ciciwoowoo]

I remember riding it when I was very young too...Although the only part that really sticks in my mind was the microscope at the beginning.

[Guest]

I remember quite a bit about it -- went everytime I went to Disneyland. As a young boy, it was very exciting, and (for the time) "realistic"...

In the entry area, you quickly moved through the loading area and into the cars, even on busy days. As a child, it was for me one of those, "Wait, I'm not sure I want to go through this, oh no time to load, yikes" rides (similar to the "no windows and no doors" moment). You could see smaller versions of the atommobiles riding up into the apparatus -- that (and the eye) was very convincing that you were going to be getting smaller.

The aura was serious and scientific, like this was a big deal. You seemed to breeze through fairly quickly from area to area, and it was -- I think purposely -- a little confusing, all that was going on, a little overwhelming (in a positive way). Wow!

The problem with the ride was that the science became less compelling over time. Repairs seemed to have been done on the cheap, and the ride eventually became a screw off/make out ride for teenagers. As a result, I believe the lighting was brightened, which in turn highlighted the structure of the building you were in + cheap repairs (obvious placement of new snowflake projectors, fiberglass walls & patches), which in turn led to increased vandalism on the ride (filthy handprints on the many walls within reach, graffiti, etc.) which in turn led to ever increasing announcements (stay seated, stops/starts, etc.) during the ride which kind of ruined the entire illusion.

In retrospect, it was the prototypical Epcot type ride, and perhaps a little out of place in Disneyland.

But wow, the effect (at least in the early years) was kind of amazing. Great, informative ride. When I got off, I remember saying, "I'm going to be a scientist when I grow up!"

And thinking, Monsanto is a great company!

Kind of funny to me now, but at the time, it was *amazing.*

[subsonic]

I miss so much of the old Disneyland.

[sockfire]

That Guest posted a very interesting retrospective on ATIS. We should start a thread about long form retrospectives like that...

[eagle4life69]

Man that guest should register we could use some one with that kind of thought.

[Fantasrick]

I received the DVD yesterday. It is awesome! I highly recommend everyone buying one!

[subsonic]

How much does it look like the real ride?

[Fantasrick]

Having never ridden the ride myslef, I cannot be the best judge as to how close the virtual ride is to the original. However from the pictures of the ride that I have seen the experience seems to capture the ride's details quite well. There is a commentary track on the DVD by Steve Wesson that points out the differences between his virtual ride through and the actual ride.

[subsonic]

I was hoping Steve would give me a free copy. I even donated 20 bucks to his project when he needed to get a new HD. He's not very chatty in his email. But his site's amazing From the clips I've downloaded, it seems the CG is pretty close.

[Disneylad]

Having never ridden the ride myslef, I cannot be the best judge as to how close the virtual ride is to the original. However from the pictures of the ride that I have seen the experience seems to capture the ride's details quite well. There is a commentary track on the DVD by Steve Wesson that points out the differences between his virtual ride through and the actual ride.

Having been on the ride more times than I can count -- due to my being alive for more years than I particularly care to count -- I can say that Steve's work is VERY close to the original, indeed, with the exception of the dark section at the start of the ride (which he explains in his commentary, and I don't blame him for not spending another 3 months rendering to correct it!) My only criticism at all is that the speed of vehicle travel seems a bit fast in the "infinite reflections of water" scene (either that or he rendered the scene smaller, horizontally, than the original).

A brilliant effort, a massive effort, and obviously a labor of love.

[Darren]

His CGI ride-through is very impressive, and this looks like a great DVD! I've always been intrigued by this ride, has anyone on these boards actually been on the ride?

As far as I can recall, I probably rode Adventure Thru Inner Space two or possibly three times. I have fairly vivid memories of it because I can remember my brother, who is four years older than I am, trying to scare me. I was probably seven or eight years old the first time we rode it, and he was pointing out the miniature omnimovers in the microscope and indicating that was what was going to happen to us. Then through the ride he was playing along with the narration about how we were shrinking, etc. I really enjoyed the whole ambiance of the queue area with the giant multi-colored snowflake on one wall, the giant mighty microscope, and the flashing orifice at the end of the microscope where the omnimovers entered. It's my #1 most missed ride at Disneyland, followed by the Peoplemover.

[subsonic]

I guess I should buy this DVD from him even though I've already donated money for him to get a Hard Drive to finish the project. I really want to see it I miss this ride.