Jump to content

Banshee On Ride Cameras


jtmorningview
 Share

Recommended Posts

This is a neat concept.

I have an off topic question about the trains on Banshee and don't want to start a new topic. When the ride op goes to check your restraint I always see them look up above the OTSRs. I tried to look up there after the ride but I saw nothing. Is there something there that tells the ride ops if the restraints are locked in that row?

There is a control box with LEDs on it for the seats..tells if they are locked or not by that point. Watch from the station or after leaving the gift shop and you can see it in the middle of the row

Do they just light up green or red?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

^ nah. Most people are in the front seat for on-ride video. It wouldn't work too well.

I can assure you that that is not correct. Onride recording can get you ejected from the park and possibly even prosecuted.

No loose articles means no loose articles. Safety.

And, call me cynical, but the park will also not want competition for its sales. No outside food...no onride photography.

I'm going back a while here but I got the impression CoasterOhio was referring to official media such as those you can find from reputable sources on media outlets such as YouTube. You always see POV and reverse POV filmed from the front row.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Once upon a time (two years ago, to be exact), I was taking a joyous ride on The Beast with my middle daughter. Going up hill was great. At the top of the hill, we began our descent and 4 people in front of us got out their cellphones. The rest of the ride, I feared for my daughter and I's safety on the ride. Phones were not only out, but up in the air. Did I enjoy my ride? Absolutely not. My eyes were on the phones at all times, just waiting for one to become a pain inducing projectile. The phones were turned around to film the 'on ride experience' and back around to get the track. Very scary. Upon return to the station, many security personnel were awaiting the would-be, uh, photojournalists. At this point, my daughter (who at that time was 10) looked at me and said "I'm glad they'll get punished for being so stupid". Some people have no regard for the safety of others.

That said, I'm off topic a bit, but yes, if this is something we can purchase soon, I'd love to do so when my youngest conquers the ride for the first time :)

I just had to deal with this last visit- it turns a fun fear into a real one. I don't want to dodge things as I ride.

I'm hearing the cameras cover two seats in their taping. When the cameras photograph four seats, sometimes your on ride phot gets nixed because some guy you don't know gives the finger.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

And people are different as well. Five years ago, people would have thought you were crazy if you took a "selfie" and posted it online. Imagine the amour of money the park would make if they made a 5 min (or much less depending on the ride) videos that you could buy for $10 and it would be emailed to you...

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just look at the reverse POVs from several media outlets that were taken on Media Day. Those were taken with a GoPro (or similar small, ultra-portable camera). The permanent ones in place now are much larger and probably take even better video. But this still leaves me with one question. How do they get the footage reliably from point A (the camera) to point B (the computer that stores the captured videos) without dropouts or lower quality? On media day, they were able to remove the small cameras from the enclosures that they were in and swap in another to film the next rider while someone extracted the video from the previous camera on a laptop. The transfers were all done via SneakerNet (as techies like to call it) and so there were no complex file transfer mechanisms to work out. Wireless networking technology is good, but good enough to send (presumably) HD video from 14 cameras to some computer in the 30 seconds that a train sits in the station? I just don't see that being the case. Perhaps there is some sort of contact in the station that aligns with another contact on the train, allowing for a high-speed transfer over a hard line.

I am legitimately more interested in the technology behind the product than I am in the product itself...

  • Like 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1080p video on YouTube (which is at about the lowest bitrate that would be acceptable for that resolution) is somewhere between 3-4 mbps. So if you go with a bitrate in that realm, for 14 cameras, you're looking at a total 42-48 mbps for the entire train. Dispatch to brake run is about 1 minute, 45 seconds. That means that if it is to be transmitted wirelessly, you have the amount of time that the train is sitting in the station in which to transfer somewhere around 550-650 megabytes of data. It's a total guess, but I'd venture that you have somewhere between 40 seconds to a minute in the station, and you have to be able to get the video transferred in the shortest amount of time possible. Unless my math is wrong, you would need speeds that are certainly possible over wireless, but I'm not so sure you could do it in a coaster station full of metal, concrete, people, cell phones, and all sorts of other things that would harm the strength of the signal. I can't realistically see this happening with 802.11 wireless technology under the circumstances they'd be working with, but maybe Kings Island has something else up their sleeves.

Of course, it all depends on the medium. If they're selling DVDs, then all they really need is 480p, GREATLY simplifying things, as the necessary bitrates are MUCH lower. Not to mention, it works on SlingShot for one camera. So we know that HD on-ride video is possible for one camera. It's just a matter of making it work for 14 and in the amount of time that the coaster is in the station.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

^^ I'm sure FUN simply contracted with a vendor who figured out the technical details and provided ready-to-go equipment. :)

1.5mbps is sufficient for 720p (or 1080i), which seems more than sufficient for this offering. With 14 cameras, 1:45 of video, and 1 minute average in the station, that's only 36mbps for the train. Well within the range of current 802.11 equipment on a single transmitter.

Of course, one device doesn't have to send video for the entire train. Multiple devices on multiple channels could extend bandwidth considerably. I'd actually guess that each camera or pair of cameras transmits independently.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Could you imagine how much slower it would be to view the photo booth if video is added and if the riders want to watch their on ride video? The photo booth could be in a larger area or have the option to exit without having to go through the gift shop. I don't like being caught up in a crowd of people.

having witnessed the selling of 'on-ride' video at the photo booths at Dollywood on Wild Eagle....

I can say that I didn't notice any longer wait....to view photos/video...etc. The monitors were basically just looping the videos just like they do the photos...when people entered the gift shop.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Could you imagine how much slower it would be to view the photo booth if video is added and if the riders want to watch their on ride video? The photo booth could be in a larger area or have the option to exit without having to go through the gift shop. I don't like being caught up in a crowd of people.

I believe there already is an exit for Banshee that allows you to by-pass the photo area.

Regarding the discussion on people taking selfies on-ride: I think anyone who takes a selfie while the ride is in motion should be fired from their job, even if it's not a job in the park. These people seem to enjoy showing people on Facebook what they do more than they actually enjoy what they do, which is baffling to me. Narcissism seems to grow more and more out of control by the day.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There is one, but the only time I've ever encountered it unlocked (and open in that case) was at the beginning of 9:00-9:30 ERT at the Coaster Crew Banshee Bash. That was only because they hadn't opened the shop yet.

I am hoping they start unlocking it as a bypass if the store does start getting too clogged due to on-ride videos.

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...