Game Convention Display Powered by EFX-TEK

[JonnyMac]

When Red 5 Studios wanted a display for their new game, Firefall, they turned to legendary Hollywood FX wizard, Steve Wang; knowing that the display would benefit from lighting control and audio, Steve called me.  This project uses a Prop-2 as the master controller, an AP-16+ to play sounds, and two custom controllers (that I designed and built for Steve) that take care of the character lighting.

This display was a huge hit at PAX (in Seattle) and it was fun seeing the gamers' reactions to it (there are other displays there, but none of this quality, and none that moved and made sound).  We really shook things up by taking the channel used for low frequency ("thumper") sounds and routing it to two amplified speakers.  I added some subsonic frequencies to the sound effect and you could feel it in your chest.



Close-up of the male character, Typhon:



The female character, Morningstar:



Here's a short video that someone shot and posted on YouTube (doesn't do justice to the sound, but you can see the thing moving):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbZdEgtx5Lc

Until a full video gets posted, here's what happens with the display:
-- Characters to start their lighting programs
-- (audio) Typhon says, "Call in the thumper!"
-- (audio) Drop ship responds, "Package in route."
-- (audio) Thumper drops in
-- Smoke bursts from top of thumper
-- Thumper doors open (with audio)
-- Thumper "thumps" (with audio)
-- Doors close (with audio)
-- (audio) Thumper flies away

To facilitate testing I uses SFXnn.WAV files in the AP-16+ which allowed me to press the manual start button to check a sound.  We have one set of speakers in the thumper (primary) and a second under the platform (low frequency sounds).  There is a sensor on an internal flywheel that the Prop-2 monitors for sending the "thud" audio command.  We actually have to insert a short delay between the switch input and sending the command to get perfect sync, and once we did this there were smiles all around. 

An interesting note on the "thud" audio: That track has the "thud" plus the machine "wind up" sound which actually comes last and is longer than we need.  The reason for this is that when we send a Play command to the AP-16+ through the serial link it will immediately play that file.  The only way to achieve sync with the physical display was to sync on the thumper hitting the platform.  The motor that powers the thumper is speed controlled by a VFD so it ramps up (on getting signal from Prop-2) and then ramps down (when Prop-2 removes signal).  What this means is that the loop timing changes as it runs.  I constructed the "thud" audio track using game audio (enhanced to add subsonic components), some debris fall (from Hollywood sound FX CD), and machine sound for the "wind-up" (that I found on the Internet).  The wind-up is long enough to cover the longest rotational period, and has a fade out for the last cycle when the thumper stops. 

If you're a gamer, do check out Firefall -- it looks really cool.

[JonnyMac]

A friend pointed out this G4 interview with Steve Wang.  If you don't blink, you'll see me picking up a soldering iron at about teh 1:25 mark.

-- http://www.g4tv.com/videos/54915/firefall-statues-behind-the-scenes-with-steve-wang/#video-54572

The display at the end of the video was in China; yes, Steve's crew built two of these displays.  I didn't have a lot of time for fancy programming on the first; the second is better; it even includes the characters' suits flashing "Red 5 Studios Firefall" and then their names in Morse code.  The character controllers are custom but use a lot of the same circuitry as the HC-8+ so I'll be able to show you how to use some of those tricks.

[gadget-evilusions]

Looks awesome Jon

[bsnut]

Looks awesome Jon

You took the right out of my mouth again. Of course,  Jon did another bang up job

[JonnyMac]

I just installed and programmed the electronics.  The real work was done by Steve and his team, some of the best artisans in Hollywood.

[HauntedWolf]

WOW!  Nice work on that....I would love to see the longer video!

[JonnyMac]

The "boss," Steve Wang, posted this video on Facebook -- not sure if this link will work for everyone but we'll try.

-- http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=10150301535093697

Note, though, that the on-camera mic does no justice to the audio.  For the "thump" I sweetened the sound file with sub-audio frequencies and we pumped that sound through two speakers under the platform and two external 100W amps.  When it was running the room was booming!