Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: The viability of 4DX

This is topic The viability of 4DX in forum Ground Level at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by Marcel Birgelen (Member # 6801) on 03-05-2019, 06:55 PM:

In the last six or so months, about three 4DX equipped theaters opened within a radius of about 30 miles around me. Now, I’m not living in the middle of nowhere (although I know people who don’t agree with me on that), but it’s not like I’m living in central Manhattan either.

For those who don’t know what 4DX is and are too lazy to Google, it essentially converts your auditorium into a "cheap" 37.5D-themepark ride. It's essentially D-Box on steroids, plus it sprays water in your face (or into the air, so it falls back onto your head... and your face), puts smoke and soap bubbles in the theater, blows a random fan now and then, flashes some stroboscopes and releases some more or less toxic fumes into the theater now and then. With its "top notch" effects, it almost feels like an 80's disco party, minus the disco ball.

One major difference between 4DX and D-Box is that you need to offer an entire room to the system and can't mix it with regular seats. So, in practice, it's one of the smaller rooms that gets the 4DX treatment, unlike with many of the PLF formats, where it's mostly the bigger rooms that are selected.

I’ve been told that retrofitting 4DX into an existing theater will set you back anywhere from $700k to infinity, depending on the size of the theater.

Now, that's a sizable investment for a single theater, especially since the figure is a guideline for a room with about 100 seats.

Until now, those 4DX shows seem to sell pretty well, although the reactions I'm hearing are pretty mixed. It's still "new" and people seemingly are willing to try it. But I'm pretty sure the novelty wears off after one or two shows for most people.

Those 4DX tickets sell with a hefty up-charge, but still, you need to sell an awful lot of tickets to just get your investment back. Also, we didn't even cover the potential maintenance costs for those systems.

It seems like the big chains around here see it as a viable investment, or maybe they take it as a "loss leader", in the general race of grabbing people's attention. I'm wondering though, how many of those installs will still be around in 3 to 5 years...

Posted by Carsten Kurz (Member # 5396) on 03-05-2019, 07:05 PM:

I regularly find 4DX press news on new installations, and frankly, am clueless why they seem to be doing so well. Expensive trash for me.

- Carsten

Posted by Adam Martin (Member # 641) on 03-05-2019, 08:50 PM:

Posted by Frank Cox (Member # 6258) on 03-05-2019, 10:32 PM:

Sounds like a good way to make a bunch of people sick, unless the water is well chlorinated. And who wants to smell bleach while watching a movie? Not to mention getting water in your popcorn and on your glasses...

No thanks.

Posted by Marcel Birgelen (Member # 6801) on 03-06-2019, 03:06 AM:

I've seen one show in 4DX now, for me that's sufficient to draw the conclusion that my expectations were met: It's an expensive gimmick, mostly adding distractions, rather than immersion. Zero repeat value.

Yes, the water will get on your glasses and into your popcorn. Although, the movie I saw (Glass) was in 2D, many people were confused why nobody handed them 3D glasses. Maybe they should've marketed this show 3DX or 4DX-1.

The water is apparently "purified" but not chlorinated. While that helps to keep the smell out, I guess that increases the need to regularly clean all the plumbing and also to increase the ventilation in the room, in order to avoid mold building up...

There is a button to disable the water effects though. But, the rain of your neighbor will still land partly on your head.

The theater where I went to, officially denied particular foodstuffs to be brought into the auditorium. Nachos with cheese sauce were not allowed, although you could guess what the couple behind me was eating...

Thanks to Martin for putting up some pictures of the interior of a typical 4DX theater.

I found this YouTube movie that lists all the effects and also shows the system in action.

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 03-06-2019, 11:09 AM:

I think a theater would be better off sinking all that extra money into better sound systems. And maybe projection.

Posted by Jarod Reddig (Member # 6363) on 03-06-2019, 12:43 PM:

Ive experience a few of these rides. Honestly my favorite ever version was the original Soarin' at Disneyland.

I think these type things are best for 20 min theme park rides.

Posted by Marcel Birgelen (Member # 6801) on 03-06-2019, 02:46 PM:

Yes, the original, film based Soarin' attraction was a very well executed attraction. Besides new versions of the attraction itself, there are a few noteworthy copies of the concept, but most of them I've seen are pretty well executed.

But 4DX is nothing like Soarin'. While Soarin' gives you a pretty good sense of flying, the 4DX effects are by far not as sophisticated or immersive. Also keep in mind that none of the movies they show, was ever really made with 4DX in mind.

Posted by Jarod Reddig (Member # 6363) on 03-08-2019, 05:40 PM:

Thats a good point about the movies in 4DX not being made with it in mind. I need to check one of the new instalations out some time just to see.

Posted by Tony Bandiera Jr (Member # 2365) on 03-09-2019, 12:43 PM:

The worst of it is all this ugly-ass equipment hanging out in the open, in an otherwise nicely decorated auditorium....what the F**k were they thinking?

Posted by Martin McCaffery (Member # 37) on 03-09-2019, 01:07 PM:

Sounds like where you have your kids' birthday parties after they've outgrown Chuckie Cheese. [Embarrassed]

Posted by Kenneth Wuepper (Member # 1174) on 03-09-2019, 05:12 PM:

This is an example of the style, "form follows function". It is also the reason that many shows have lots of truss and lights showing. It is supposed to impress the audience with the "tech!"

BLAH!

Posted by Marcel Birgelen (Member # 6801) on 03-09-2019, 06:36 PM:

Yes, the barely exposed equipment in the room looks extremely ugly. What you don't see on the picture, is the two hoses in front of the screen for the smoke effects. They look kind of pathetic and like someone has just forgotten them there.

Looking back at the previous pictures, I noticed that they're actually not from a 4DX install, but an MX4D install... A VERY similar, but competing system.

The image below is from a rather large 4DX room:

As you can see, the motion base is shared with 4 seats, just like with MX4D. Those red cords were also between the seats in the room I visited. I guess they're there to avoid people standing there.

There is even more equipment on the sides than with the MX4D setup. Also, in the first row you see something that seems to be missing in the MX4D setup. The vertical bar holds the "face air", "face water" and scent sprayers. For all other rows, they're implemented in the seats in front of them.