Cinema Control Panel for 5D Movie Theater

By order of the animatronics supplying company we developed the CinemaControlPanel program for a 5D movie theater system. It allows controlling reproduction of movies, special effects and platform movement in a cinema hall. The software was implemented using cross-platform library Qt 4.7 and DirectShow technology.

Cinema Control Panel key characteristics for 5D movie theater

Control / User interface
- Understandable interface — running the program without studying documentation
- Control: touch screen or computer mouse
- Selection of movies from a convenient list with posters and detailed description
- Display of the current time of 5D movie reproduction
- English interface support

Video / Audio operation
- Video output from a cinema hall camera to an external monitor of a 5D movie theater
- DVD video recording capability from a camera in a cinema hall
- Support of an external monitor for installation near a 5D movie theater
- Transmission of MP3 files in a cinema hall — for a greeting or advertisements
- Output of commercials, posters and trailers to an external monitor of a 5D movie theater — for customer acquisition

Video licensing / Security assurance
- Authorization of an operator and an administrator using a password
- Automatic and manual diagnostics system blocks movie launch when detecting failures of a 5D movie theater platform
- Emergency stop capability of the movie being played
- License control system of equipment and 5D movie theater movies
- Maintenance of viewership statistics — daily SMS-message sending from a 5D movie theater with an indication of viewership

Project results
In the process of developing Cinema Control Panel program for a 5D movie theater Promwad experts accomplished the following tasks: — Hardware platform development — Software development — Production of device prototypes

Read about the first stage of this project, in the framework of which we designed a software and hardware platform to create a 5D movie theatre from scratch.

Customer

A developer and supplier of animatronics (robotic models) and stage sets for trade and entertainment centers, theme parks, water parks and museums

Objective

Development of an application for the playback of movies, effects and motions of a 5D cinema platform.

Solution

The software is implemented using the Qt 4.7 cross-platform library and the DirectShow technology.

Benefits and Features

The application is designed both for touch-sensitive control and computer mouse control
Intuitive interface which requires no detailed study of documents
Support for English interface
The possibility of selecting movies from a convenient list with posters and detailed descriptions
DVD recording of images generated using the movie theater video camera during the viewing session
Support for an external monitor, which can be installed next to the 5D movie theater
Data from the video camera are displayed on the external monitor of the 5D movie theater and in a separate window of the application
To attract customers, it is possible to show promotional videos, pictures and trailers on the external monitor of the 5D movie theater
The current time of the 5D movie shown is displayed
It is possible to stop the movie playback in case of emergency
It is possible to broadcast an MP3 audio greeting or advertisement in the movie theater
As a means of protection against unauthorized access, the software features operator and administration authorization through password entry into the application
It is fitted with automatic and manual diagnostics which does not allow the movie to start in case of malfunction in the 5D movie theater equipment
It includes a license control system for 5D equipment and movies
It keeps track of the number of people visiting the 5D movie theater
It features the function of sending text messages from the 5D movie theater, showing a total number of spectators per day