US-based distributor, 1602 Group, demonstrated the TiMax to Niagara Fury creator, California-based Technifex who claim they were "so impressed it was immediately added to the budget". 1602 Group's Duncan Crundwell, who provided TiMax programming support on-site comments: "It made the howling wind feel much more real and as if you were a part of it. The moving effects were very smooth and you could pinpoint the water droplets as they splashed around you."
For periods during the show, the room is plunged into darkness without even the benefit of a lit exit sign. Sound is the only effect, and exact positioning of the sound effects is critical for the audience to build an imagined visual image of a waterfall, of icy wind, of drips from the ceiling, or of an avalanche of ice, rocks and splintering trees rushing past them.
The TiMax showcontrol software helps match the audio activity with the other sensory elements, most of which are created through a series of technological firsts: seamless, one-screen, 360-degree, high resolution, Dalsa projection - a technology previously used exclusively for satellite and medical imaging; over 170 million litres of water creating real waterfalls and glacial melts across a 56ft diameter area; also "real" snow, wind and the ability to drop the room temperature by two degrees Celsius in less than three seconds.
The TiMax ImageMaker matrix receives eight playback sources and feeds them to six channels of JBL surround speakers - one overhead and five positioned around the room - as well as JBL subs and additional custom supersubs capable of reproducing 140dB from 0-30Hz. TiMax handles a variety of sound effects using continuously varying Haas effect delays to create absolute aural realism for each of the 100 visitors within the attraction.
(Jim Evans)
