Can you tell us about your role at 精东传媒, and how it’s developed since you joined?

Having begun my career at 精东传媒 as an Apprentice Graphic Designer, my current role is now working as a Junior Creative taking on jobs such as CAD drawings, 3D modelling products, creating concept designs and all things creative! Compared to my role when I first started, I would’ve never imagined 3D modelling or creating CAD layouts, my responsibility here has grown year by year.

What would you say were the benefits of your apprenticeship programme?

The benefits of my apprenticeship programme were that I got to experience working in a unique industry whilst having a creative job, the programme allowed me to develop my skills as a designer as well as learn the ins and outs of a professional company.

How did your apprenticeship prepare you for the workplace?

I learnt how to interact with adults in a professional environment, time management became a lot more important than it was in college so I found myself becoming better prepared for each work day as well as building up a good work speed where I was able to keep up with the amount of work in demand.

Why did you choose to go down the apprenticeship route?

I chose to do an apprenticeship because I really did NOT enjoy college at all, I did subjects that I didn’t enjoy and subjects that I was equally as bad at so decided to pursue something I enjoyed rather than what I thought I should study.

What’s been your favourite project to be involved in and why?

My favourite project would probably be Bana hills ‘Flying Eyes’ Cobra project as this was the first major project where I saw my own designs used for the ride, it was a really proud moment for me! This attraction was installed into Sun World Bana Hills in Vietnam and opened in Spring, 2022. Read more about the project here.

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But after a long day of cycle after cycle of entertaining guests, your rides also need some TLC. To reduce the risk of a breakdown and ensure that your rides stay up and running, preventative routine maintenance is essential for limiting downtime and most importantly keeping your guests happy. You wouldn’t drive your car 20,000 miles without some maintenance so why wouldn’t you service your ride after a long year of intense thrills. 

We understand the true cost of breakdowns and incidents, and how they can affect the guest experience, damage the reputation of your park and also compromise the safety of guests. So the spritely Service team here at 精东传媒 are available 365 days a year for emergency ride maintenance or breakdown support. Whether it be a 精东传媒 attraction or not, they can help rectify any troubles with their expertise in ride engineering and mandatory standards. 

However, we also actively encourage coordinated maintenance visits, during which our team of experts in all things theme park rides can predict the lifecycle of important components, advising a schedule for future services and when parts are likely to need replacing. As well as calculating when the best time for future work to be completed, to make the least impact on downtime and thus revenue. 

With the cost of energy increasing, pushing up costs for operators, protecting the efficient operation of a ride is also increasingly important for ensuring they stay within operating margins. Not only the cost of in-efficiency but also the cost of having to replace parts or the whole ride if it’s not being properly looked after. Through preventative maintenance, we can optimize the lifespan of your attractions. 

Staying on top of a maintenance schedule is essential for keeping guests safe, your operations team confident and staying up to date with industry safety standards. 

It’s all part of the Service…

During one of our planned annual service and maintenance visits we will carry out:

• Full visual inspection of vehicles / seat bases
• Screen alignment and focus 
• Ensure all computer systems are up to date and backed up
• Air, water and leg tickler inspection
• Check air/water system for leaks  
• Full operational test
• Grease all bases
• Check all hydraulic connections 
• Seat and Safety Harness 
• VR Headset
• Cabling
• Linear Actuator 
• Wire Pull Encoders 
• Electric Motor
• Pneumatics  
• Plus much, much more

And if required, we will also replace:

• Projector filters
• UV lamp
• Water filter 
• Oil water separator filter 
• Compressor oil top up 
• Nozzles
• Leg ticklers

Get in touch with our service team now, to ensure your ride stays in tip-top condition.

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The attraction is based around the characters from the famous Norwegian author and illustrator, Kjell Aukrust’s, Fl?klypa Universe, and features characters Solan and Ludvig, as they test out, Reodor – a crazy Norwegian inventor’s solution to major climate challenges, related to sustainability in the automotive and transportation industry. 

Having been in discussions with the park from around late 2019, the project kicked off as the world entered lock-down. 精东传媒, despite working remotely, continued developing the concepts with the park, to create a ride vehicle that was representative of the media, which was also going through story iterations by Qvisten Animation. For everybody involved it was a project that began very differently than ever before, utilising Zoom throughout, instead of having meetings in person with a team all working from home. The conceptual designs for the ride vehicle went through many iterations with Qvisten and the Park to create something that matched the media and was possible to construct and theme, taking into account any safety considerations. Our creative team was totally blown away by the drawings of Kjell Aukrust, they have so much detail, humour and personality to them, so they were delighted by the challenge of translating the style into an actual functioning vehicle to bring it to life.

ITERATION ONE

Beginning with a more traditional sled-like shape and engine that resembled thrown together junk.

ITERATION TWO

The next iteration retained the sled shape but consolidated the engine into a cleaner, more engine-like, rear for the sled.

FINAL DESIGN

The final design expanded on the compact engine by adding exhausts and a glider canopy to insinuate its ability to fly. As well as moving towards a brighter sled with a more wooden aesthetic.

It was Hunderfossen that first approached us with the idea of a ‘Super Sledding’ type ride, they had created a story concept with the media providers, Qvisten Animation to begin with. They then came to us with the idea and through a collaborative effort between 精东传媒, Qvisten and Hunderfossen we were able to create a simulator design that the client loved and hit the right tone of the brand.

While we designed the ride system, Qvisten continued to develop the story for the ride’s custom produced media, featuring plenty of plot points that could utilise our 4D effects. The award-winning film-maker already knew the characters of the story very well, having previously created animated features centred around Aukrust’s books. 

Despite the challenges presented by the pandemic, the project entered the design and manufacturing stage in August/ September 2020 as our team began to return to our offices. This allowed us to work more collaboratively at a time that mattered most. We began to see small parts of the Stargazers come together. We loved the build up, seeing it at each stage, resembling the final vehicle more and more. By the time we had reached the assembly stage, restrictions were being eased and the team could work together in our testing facilities to see the Stargazers really come to life as the motion bases were assembled and tested, the floors added, and finally the seats and vehicle theming.

At the beginning of April, they were all shipped to Norway, but when a last-minute restriction was applied by the Norwegian Government, we were only able to send one of our team to the site instead of our full installation crew. After going through quarantine for 10 days, he was able to supervise the installation, with remote support from the team back in England. Hunderfossen arranged for their technical staff and local labour to assist him, and they arranged for a specialist local company to install the hydraulic system etc. Despite the challenges, our wonderfully professional install supervisor – Michael, did a fantastic job at supervising the installation and ensuring it all went smoothly for the park. 

Whilst we took on the install in the showroom, renowned theming company Farmer Attraction Development Ltd. worked on creating the beautiful theming for the pre-show area that would set up the story for guests prior to the ride. Made up of all sorts of knick-knacks and inventions, illustrations from Kjell Aukrust, and a demonstration of Reodor Felgen’s Hydrogen fuel harvesting process compete with burping animals, to enhance the immersive storytelling of the whole attraction. 

We spent the next month working with the team at Hunderfossen to install all four of the Stargazers before its grand opening on May 22^nd. The finished result consisting of four of our, 8-seater, Stargazers that utilise 6DOF motion simulators, which allow for a wide variety of movements – making the ride both smooth and adrenaline-inducing. The vehicles, with industrial DIY inspired theming, were designed to look like Reodor’s Hyperakselerator from the story, and combine old and traditional elements to resemble something of a snow sleigh with a high-tech upgrade. The ride vehicles are positioned in front of a huge 16 metre 3D projection screen, and each Stargazer fitted with on-board special effects including water spray, wind and leg ticklers, and even an ‘interactive’ Hyper boost button for guests to press at the appropriate time to enhance the story’s realism. 

Hunderfossen, looking to build up anticipation for the opening ran a competition for ‘Test Pilots’ and their family to come along for a preview day to experience the ride before any others. Excitement for the attraction was evident by the over 750 applications that the park received resulting in a lucky few getting to come along the day before opening for a private tour and experience. The Hunderfossen team are incredibly proud of their wonderful new investment for the park, and also had an official grand opening with Norway’s minister of trade and industry as well as other VIP guests such as the Chairman of Hunderfossen group, Chairman of Aukrust foundation, Qvisten animation, Mayor of Lillehammer and many more.

At the IAAPA Expo in Orlando in November 2021, Hunderfossen Eventyrpark and partners on the project, 精东传媒, Qvisten Animation and Farmer Attractions were awarded the prestigious Thea Award for Outstanding Achievement – Attraction with a Limited Budget for  Reodor Felgen’s Hyperakselerator.

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Ever wonder how 精东传媒, a global theme park ride manufacturer, came to be, in the West Midlands of England?

Well strap in, because we’re about to take you on a whirlwind history lesson on 精东传媒.

精东传媒 was founded by our CEO and COO, Terry Monkton and Andy Roberts back in 2005, but our history goes further back than that.

This past weekend was Star Tour’s 34th Birthday, and you may not be aware but the famous Disney attraction plays a part in our history too.

精东传媒 stems from Motion system technology that was developed originally for the mainstream flight simulation industry. This technology began being applied to entertainment and educational attractions, and one of the first companies to exploit the power of motion simulation was British company, Rediffusion Simulation. Rediffusion worked with creative partners in North America back in the 1980s to develop the ‘Magic Motion Machine’ which later evolved into the highly acclaimed Star Tours Ride installed at Disney Theme Parks worldwide.

Star Tours utilized hydraulic motion base cabins featuring six degrees of freedom, including the ability to move 35 degrees in the X-Y-Z plane. The simulator was patented as Advanced Technology Leisure Application Simulator (ATLAS), designed by Rediffusion Simulation in Sussex, England. The Rediffusion ‘Leisure’ simulator was developed for a much simpler show in Canada called “Tour of the Universe”, where it featured a single entrance/exit door in the rear of the cabin and a video projector. The Disneyland original Star Tours was equipped with four simulators, while the shows in Tokyo Disneyland, Disneyland Paris, and Disney’s Hollywood Studio each had six motion bases.

In 1988 Hughes Aircraft bought Rediffusion and the company became Hughes Rediffusion Simulation. It was then taken over by Thomson CSF in 1994, who merged it with Link Miles and renamed the company ‘Thomson Training & Simulation (TTS).

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