The project: Constructing a 3D roller coaster for Six Flags Magic Mountain
The tools: Discreet 3D Studio MAX, Digimation Glider, Adobe Photoshop, Real Trees

The project was to animate a new themed roller coaster called Goliath for the Six Flags Magic Mountain amusement park in Valencia, CA. It's a new high-speed mega coaster that travels up to speeds of 85 mph & drops from 225 feet. The purpose of the animation was: 1) to show Six Flags' corporate executives back East the new addition to the California park; 2) to promote the coaster by airing clips of the animation on local news stations; and 3) to get their coaster enthusiasts to come back to ride Goliath by running clips on monitors throughout the park.

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Liquid Light's main software is 3D Studio MAX run on Intergraph workstations. They also had to also build Six Flags' legendary Colossus coaster, because Goliath sits right next to it and the park's executives wanted to focus on the heights in comparison. The entire coaster was built with the aid of CAD files and blueprints from the Swiss design company. The course of the ride is 1:55 and the animation shows a variety of loops, drops and twists. The theming is an Indiana Jones jungle feel with a large stone entrance and a slew of lush trees.

1) What are the origins of Liquid Light Studios, what is its mission, and how many people are there?
Liquid Light Studios (Los Angeles) was founded in 1996 by Steve Brinca, who is a lead animator and head of production. I became Steve’s partner in 1997 and I am the Executive Producer at our studio. In addition to me and Steve, our team consists of three animators, an art director/designer, and a Marketing/Sales Director. We are small in size, but huge in talent. We are best known for Ally McBeal's dancing baby and the short film, Pronto Saldremos del Problema which won five awards worldwide.

2) How did the Six Flags project come about? Has Liquid Light done similar projects for others?
Last year, we created ‘The Riddler’s Revenge’ for Six Flags Magic Mountain. ‘The Riddler’ is another high-speed roller coaster. Serving also as Liquid Light’s rep, I had been pitching Six Flags on our work in order to get them as a client. I gave them a presentation, they liked our work and they hired us to do ‘The Riddler’. We created the entire ride in 3D and, needless to say, they loved it. This year, the park was introducing another new roller coaster and they hired us to create Goliath. The name pretty much speaks for itself; Goliath reaches heights of 255 feet and travels to speeds of 85 mph. Liquid Light Studios would love to get its feet grounded doing 3D animations on a regular basis for the theme park industry. Now that we have the experience and have successfully created two major attractions, we will definitely present our talents to the industry.

3) How long did it take from start to completion of the project? How many animators were involved? How did you keep the East Coast executives apprised of your progress? Did you send them continuous comps for approval?
We had only two animators working on Goliath and it took them about six weeks to complete the project, which included modeling, custom textures, themed lighting and animation. They modeled Goliath as well as Colossus because it was important to show the height of Goliath in comparison to the legendary wooden coaster. One of the reasons for creating Goliath in 3D was to show corporate executives on the East Coast what was coming to the California park, but we worked exclusively with the executives at Magic Mountain (Valencia). They oversaw and approved all stages of production. The main reason for the 3D animation was to promote the new attraction. The piece aired on news stations throughout the state, as well as in the main cities of Nevada and Arizona.

4) How easy was it to import CAD files of the blueprints straight into 3D Studio MAX? Were the CAD files in AutoCAD?
Importing CAD files is pretty easy; we prefer the client to give us .dwg files. In creating Goliath, however, only the track was available in CAD. Specs for all other elements were taken straight from blueprints (train, loading station, entrance, themed props). Animating roller coasters can be tricky. With ‘The Riddler’, for example, we built the entire ride from the Swiss engineers blueprints. At first, we had difficulty getting the train to stay on the track as it performed barrel rolls and loops, but these problems were remedied by Digimation’s Glider, a Max plug-in.

5) What kind of research did you do to develop an accurate portrayal of a roller coaster going 85 mph and dropping 225 feet? (Ride some roller coasters?) Is the animation shown from the perspective of the rider, or from the ground, or both?
When it came to doing research for this project, our animators had a blast. Making trips to the theme park to ride various roller coasters was part of their study. We also communicated regularly with the Swiss engineers who designed the coaster. They supplied us with any details or information we needed. The animation is shown from both the perspective of the rider as well as from the ground.

6) What software did you use besides MAX; for instance, were there plug-ins that were partcularly helpful with building things like trees to give a good Indiana Jones feel, or for people? What features in MAX were used most?
Aside from 3D Studio Max, Glider from Digimation was the most important plug-in. Glider allows for the sleek flow of the train over the tracks. Without this plug-in we would have a jerky motion rather than a smooth effect. Photoshop was used to create custom textures, and Real Trees was used for a swarm of bushes and trees. We animated the palm trees to look as if they were being whisked by a gentle breeze. Then we added a trio of birds flying overhead which gave the scene a life-like feel.

7) Are you working on any virtual ride projects?
Not yet.