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...It was definitely worth it. In short, the movie was awesome, and you would definitely be missing out if you choose not to see this in theaters. I'll admit, I was skeptical of the movie before it began - in fact, I was afraid of how bad it could be - but my fears were extinguished about five minutes after Twilight entered the "human world". Seriously folks, this movie is not bad. Given it's not a good movie (and when I say that, I'm not saying you'll hate the movie, I'm saying the movie is not Forrest Gump, Gone With The Wind, or 2001: A Space Odyssey. Although this really depends on your definition of "a good movie"), it's a fun movie; it's like sitting down and watching Ferris Bueller's day off. The storywriting style for the movie is not unlike the same style you've seen in any of the other FiM episodes. If you can, I would recommend seeing this movie. Don't be fooled by the name, bad internet reviews, or the humanizations - this movie was great and had all of us (in the brony meetup) clapping and shouting shouts of praise the moment the credits were rolling. TL;DR, Keep Calm and Watch Equestria Girls.
Welp, I've finally done it - I've set up a tumblr for the 4DisMagic project I've been working on for the past while. All of my videos, concepts, and sketches will be going there now rather than on everypony.com. If you're interested in checking out the new blog, or if you want to see what's going on at present, then feel free to check it out here: http://rollercoasterrideblog.tumblr.com/ There's not much on it now, but I hope to post some concept stuff there soon. For those of you who are not sure what I'm talking about, 4DisMagic is a not-for-profit themed 4D show - with themed building, queue, preshow, and 4D show experience - meant to be taken to MLP:FiM conventions wherever it is welcome. I am not advertising it as any specific theme as of now, but I am hoping to get a licensing agreement in the future when it is confirmed that this experience will indeed be created; if and when that happens, I will be more open about the project from there.
It's been a while since my last post - I hope I didn't lose your interest by now! (That is, if you've been following my blog on this project up to this point. *Otherwise, welcome to my project blog!) Anyway, I have finally finished the basic layout of the show building - queue, preshow, theaters and all - and I have made a video showing off the different areas and giving an explanation for each of them. I'm anxious to get this video uploaded to YouTube so that I can show you what it's going to roughly look like in an up-to-scale virtual walkthrough, but, of course, there's one problem (of course, the problems always happen to me). You see, the video that I had recorded turns out to be an MP4 file and so far I have not found anything which is able to convert the darned thing to a WMV. That, and I don't have any programs which can play the video, besides CStrike (since I took the video of the map within CStrike). So besides that, is anyone up for coffee? muffins? Eheheh... heh... yeeeaah.
Having gotten started on creating a model of '4D Is Magic' in the Hammer mapping program, the design is coming along pretty well so far (for those of you who are not familiar with the Hammer mapping tool, here is a video of a map created by the program: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CI5VHt2mRGI). I'm still continuing to work on it, and I'll try and get a picture of it uploaded once I'm done with some basic walls and a floor. Until then, I'll keep you posted P.S.: If this is the first time you've read any of these blogs, '4D Is Magic' is currently a concept design of a 4D show which could travel from various MLP conventions across the U.S.. The show building will be themed, including the queue, the preshow, and the theater itself, along with the entire experience following a storyline in order to make it more authentic and immersive.
I just wanted to mention this because of all of the unrest in the fandom lately, because of Fighting is Magic (whose fate is not really said in stone yet), the "twipocalypse", and any other event you can think of. Maybe even the Derpy event - but to me that was just a censored episode, nothing more (uncensored versions can still be found on the internet!). I could say more in blogs to come, but I want to focus on something else with this blog concerning the worries many fans have as of now. First off, I want to say that this fandom is not dying. I don't care what some people want to say - this fandom is not dying, and it's never going to die. The reason why is this - if you feel concerned that the fandom is dying, then chances are, pretty much everyone else in the fandom is just as concerned as you are. That concern that everyone has pretty much means that practically everyone is trying to keep this fandom alive. If that's the case, then the fandom won't die, because the fans - me, and all of you - are actively engaging in the fandom to keep it alive. Why is that? Why does every brony (or pegasister, if you prefer) want to preserve this fandom and the quality of this show? Because this is more than a fandom - it's a movement to spread love, tolerance, and friendship to a world with people fighting each other. Yes, I know that the phrase "love and tolerate" allegedly started as a trolling method on 4chan, but... what wise words, aren't they? Many of us feel that the meaningfulness of that phrase is not hurt by how it had began, but by what it says and supports: to love, and to tolerate. To promote friendship. So again, we all want to preserve this fandom, not just because of our love for this show, but because of the message it sends. We don't want to see this community fall apart - instead, we want it to flourish and blossom as an example to the world. Many of us are worried that the fandom will die, but unlike other fandoms, that worry will actually bring us together more, because we will care that much more for the message and love of this show, giving our community a passion for goodwill unlike any other. A fanmade game being C&D'd, or if Twilight actually will permanently become an alicorn princess, or whatever else is inevitably going to come in the future, is not going to change this fandom. The only people who can truly kill this fandom, is us - not Hasbro, not haters, not "rabid brony fans", or anyone. The only way this fandom can die is if everyone - and by that, I mean every single brony out of the countless number of bronies in the world - disbands from the community altogether. And with the love and connectedness we share in this one-of-a-kind community, that is never going to happen. Heh, I know I"m never disbanding That said, I want to simply say: This fandom will not die. (extra information: and if you're that person who feels the fandom is coming to an end, and the fourth season is going to be horrible, then I want to say its not over! You don't have to throw away the fandom over a silly direction the show is going. Last week I felt the same way - but now I realize that no matter what, I don't have to leave the fandom over this little difference. In the past, I've learned to trust the storywriters for MLP because of the way they are able to transform something stupid and horrible (i.e. permanent twicorn) into something awesome and unforgettable (think of the canterlot wedding episodes - you might have thought they would just be some boring wedding, but those storywriters had you in for a wild ride, didn't they?). All I'm saying is, wait until saturday, watch the episode, and decide for yourself.)
I've finally decided to call this show "4D Is Magic", and after spiffing it up with some add-ons, it's looking pretty decent. View attachment 6452 Here's what the show building would look like from inside the convention. The abstract structures in front of the building will have the name "4D Is Magic", reading left to right, on their individual slab. The queue can also be seen from the right, along with a wait time which will be posted at the front of the standby queue. It's hard to see, but the queue for those who had gotten "quick passes" for the show is just a little further from the standby entrance (it looks like a small black rectangle between the Trixie theater exit and the standby queue entrance). The quick pass queue will be themed differently from the standby queue by appearing to be a special theater utilidor, possibly with some animation cells decorating the walls. View attachment 6453 You can see the quick pass queue a little better in this picture. There is going to be a roof for the show building in order to make it more immersive, but its hidden for now in order to give a better view of the interior of the show building. You can kindof see the theater screens in the back of the building with this picture (the white rectangles with the dark brown/red walls). It won't be long now until I get to start building this in Hammer. Just need to start tweaking the building's scales a little before I take that next step. Thoughts? Questions?
Now the show building has finally been finished. (I didn't add the textures, because that just would have taken more time. I will be adding textures though in Hammer). Here is the finished sketchup product (unless I need to come back and edit the layout later): View attachment 6450 As you can see, the two theaters (codenamed Twilight and Trixie) are finished, with their 4D screens outlined and the audience area zoned out by the rectangle on the floor. Because of the compact design of the building (in order to save space in the convention area) the exit is different for each theater - with Twilight exiting through the back of the theater, and Trixie exiting through the right of the theater. Still trying to think of a good name for it... just calling it My Little Pony: 4D would be lame and it would derail the storyline of the entire experience completely...
Still keeping this idea in mind (designing a [awesome] My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic 4D show for any nearby conventions willing to host it in a good while from now), I've been using sketchup to create a virtual model of what the show building's layout will be in a way which can let me figure out the dimensions and proportions of everything. After I'm done with this I'm going to move on and create another model using the Hammer mapping tool from steam so that it can be seen from virtual space. Images thus far: View attachment 6445 Bird's eye view: the room in the middle is the preshow (guests given a narration by, and safety procedures by, Derpy Hooves herself), with the queue wrapping around the bottom of it within the interior of the building. The line will be moving through the "Manehattan Exhibition Hall", with appropriate theming and nods to the show, including the actual elements of harmony, "Being displayed for today only by their corresponding owners". View attachment 6446 Entrance: What you'd see from the convention, looking in towards the show building. In order to keep the interior queue from crowding, either a sliding door or a rope will be positioned here in order to keep the inside of the show building from crowding (for fire hazard safety); still deciding what to do here. If needed, a second queue will extend outside and wrap around the wall of the building towards the left of this picture. The line on the right of the person here is for those with passes, the line on the left is the traditional standby queue. I'll be finishing the theaters soon and giving more pictures in my next blog update, but right now I'm feeling too tired to keep working on it. This sketchup model should be finished very soon, though, knowing myself.
