Article courtesy Epcot^â Brand Management

NEW NIGHTTIME SPECTACULAR UNDER CONTROL

BIRKET Engineering has completed work on Epcot’s^â newest nighttime spectacle, “IllumiNations 2000: Reflections of Earth”. The nightly show is the largest of its kind in the world, culminating a full day of entertainment that has been created for the year long Walt Disney World^â Millennium Celebration.

Under the direction of Walt Disney Imagineering’s Kirk Winteroth and Jerold Kaplan, the team designed, built, and installed the system to meet the show's October 1999 opening. During the critical period of rehearsals, the team provided round-the-clock support for the after-midnight "IllumiNations 2000: Reflections of Earth" rehearsals while maintaining support for the daily maintenance and running of the original show. The schedule demanded that the new control system be phased into service as equipment was renovated or delivered. This put the system's architecture to the test as it incrementally replicated the old show's functions one-by-one while remaining ready to rehearse the new show at 11:00 each night after the park closed.

BIRKET Engineering’s involvement with Epcot’s^â Millennium project began when Dan Birket presented a concept for a robust and extensible global show control system using off-the-shelf components and familiar technologies to meet Walt Disney Imagineering’s tough requirements and the short, inflexible schedule of the impending millennium year.

The show control system manages and cues show equipment spread over more than 70 acres in and around the Epcot^â lagoon, including all pyrotechnics, six lagoon barges, eleven nation pavilions, nineteen flame towers, lasers, and eight syncro spot lights. The four renovated and two new lagoon barges include all-new controls for pyrotechnics, water, flame, and mechanical effects, including the centerpiece flower-petal earth globe.

Special function control systems (including the earth globe's video system and the fire barge's flame control) by others were integrated into the global show system. Other sub-system controls (including the flame tower controls and the core of the audio system) were delivered by Birket Engineering together with the global control system.

Several robust data networks were used to connect the components of this far-flung installation, including wired and wireless SMPTE time code signals, active safety-enable signals, shore-side programming ports, and a lighting control network three times larger than usually employed. Critical signals are carried by redundant routes, permitting the show to go on despite a cable loss. The existing cable plant was updated to carry modern data protocols where possible and a new wireless Ethernet provides extensive monitoring capability and compatibility with next-generation show equipment.

The system architecture permits easy development of new shows and live control of most elements from a familiar lighting board user interface. The extensible architecture encourages the addition of future elements and made it easy to add elements during rehearsal as the show's creative concept matured.

Delivered equipment included six barge show control cabinets, six fireworks control cabinets, one lighting control cabinet, three show and audio control cabinets for use in the technical director’s booth, and numerous enclosures to interface with the lagoon torches, sea wall mortars, nation pavilions, synchro lights, fountain and fire barges, and fireworks launcher.

The system includes ten Alcorn-McBride Light Cue DMX playback devices, seven Anitech Media Pro 4000 show controllers for the analog functions, seven Allen-Bradley SLCs for safety systems, effect control, and equipment monitoring, and six Pyro Digital controllers.