Designing the coaster

[Eric_Smith]

i am just wondering how all the pros like b&m, intaman, Arrow design there coasters. Do the designer do it differently?

[TheArchfiend]

Well, you could just look at the finished products of each company to see how they design their coasters.

[Eric_Smith]

i mean how do they come up with the design.

[Guest]

There is a good post here about how the GCI guys come up with their designs. I think all of the designers have their own techniques, such as radii changes, banking and heartlining, etc. as to how they come up with their coasters, which is why you can see differences in layout/elements.

[BDG]

i mean how do they come up with the design.

 

1. It has to fit in the park, more specifically the area of the new roller coaster. This includes the topography (the shape of the land), but also buildings, rides, trees, paths, etc. either existing or to be built.

 

2. Usually, parks have a height limit. And budget restricts them to a certain height and length too. Thus, designers have to work within those boundaries as well.

 

3. Finally, it's a matter of putting as much fun into a track as long as possible.

Most designers have enough experience and/or knowledge to sketch a lay-out, then calculate the exact heights, banking, slope, support placement, etc.

They also have computer programs that do alot of the work.

[Eric_Smith]

do you think any use no limits?

[easytoremember]

No.

[Eric_Smith]

what programs do you think they use?

[BDG]

do you think any use no limits?

 

Yes, but only for 3D sketches or presentations. It's an easy-to-use tool to show the press an on-ride video or off-ride impressions without having to render it in advance.

 

But to actually design and calculate, they use professional software (Solidworks, Catia, SolidWorks, AutoCAD, etc.) tuned and customised with their own programs.

[Eric_Smith]

do you think that everyone uses the same software?

[TheBannedKid]

No

 

What is this like a questionnaire or something?

[BDG]

do you think that everyone uses the same software?

 

No they don't. As I said in my previous post, most companies use their own programs and plugins.

[TheArchfiend]

i mean how do they come up with the design.

 

My money is on K'nex and a lot of spare time.