Blue to orange and back again
June 12, 2012 2:39 PM Subscribe
With a little bit of help from Aperture Laboratories, these guys created a real Portal gun.
Metafilter: Please note that we have added a consequence for failure.
posted by Fizz at 2:57 PM on June 12, 2012
posted by Fizz at 2:57 PM on June 12, 2012
You beat me to it, disillusioned. This is really well done.
posted by zardoz at 3:04 PM on June 12, 2012
posted by zardoz at 3:04 PM on June 12, 2012
One continuous shot. Wow. That's some terrific editing.
posted by beaucoupkevin at 3:05 PM on June 12, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by beaucoupkevin at 3:05 PM on June 12, 2012 [1 favorite]
I would like to see the storyboards for that.
posted by Think_Long at 3:09 PM on June 12, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by Think_Long at 3:09 PM on June 12, 2012 [1 favorite]
This guy put his framed diplomas in a shot because this is basically his resumé, right?
posted by gusandrews at 3:15 PM on June 12, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by gusandrews at 3:15 PM on June 12, 2012 [1 favorite]
I've played all the Portal content and yet I'm pretty sure it would take me less than a minute to kill myself if I had one IRL.
posted by sourwookie at 3:19 PM on June 12, 2012 [9 favorites]
posted by sourwookie at 3:19 PM on June 12, 2012 [9 favorites]
I'm surprised there isn't a real Portal movie in the works. If they can make a film out of Battleship, this should be a piece of cake.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 3:25 PM on June 12, 2012 [4 favorites]
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 3:25 PM on June 12, 2012 [4 favorites]
I like in the description he's like, if I knew it'd actually turn out good I wish we would have done more of a story with it. They did a pretty good job on this.
posted by Phantomx at 3:46 PM on June 12, 2012
posted by Phantomx at 3:46 PM on June 12, 2012
Fake
SSHPCS2 7 minutes ago
God I love youtube.
posted by George_Spiggott at 3:46 PM on June 12, 2012 [18 favorites]
SSHPCS2 7 minutes ago
God I love youtube.
posted by George_Spiggott at 3:46 PM on June 12, 2012 [18 favorites]
This is pretty stellar.
posted by restless_nomad at 3:47 PM on June 12, 2012
posted by restless_nomad at 3:47 PM on June 12, 2012
You could give someone a circular path by putting a portal in the floor and one in the wall, positioned such that when you fell through the floor, you'd fly out the wall, arc down and fall through the floor again. Subjectively you'd seem to be going in a circle rather than a straight line, and your velocity would be lower.
posted by George_Spiggott at 3:55 PM on June 12, 2012
posted by George_Spiggott at 3:55 PM on June 12, 2012
I don't think that would work, because if you lose velocity, the next time through you won't have the momentum to make it to the floor portal. (At least with the game physics, which I think are fairly reasonable.) You'd have to have the gun and re-shoot the floor portal every time.
posted by restless_nomad at 3:58 PM on June 12, 2012
posted by restless_nomad at 3:58 PM on June 12, 2012
If they can make a film out of Battleship, this should be a piece of cake.
I wouldn't be so sure, man, you know what they say about cake.
posted by maqsarian at 4:14 PM on June 12, 2012 [8 favorites]
I wouldn't be so sure, man, you know what they say about cake.
posted by maqsarian at 4:14 PM on June 12, 2012 [8 favorites]
I'm usually all 'meh' about games posts.
But this was awesome.
posted by PeterMcDermott at 4:31 PM on June 12, 2012
But this was awesome.
posted by PeterMcDermott at 4:31 PM on June 12, 2012
You know, it's just occurred to me - would you reach terminal velocity? Or normal terminal velocity for a human in atmosphere, anyway? The average person is big enough that they're going to make a lot of air move with them, and that air is also going through the portals. Indeed, the air coming through the top portal is going to push on the air below it, sending it faster through the bottom portal and creating a positive feedback loop. I suspect the limiting factor here is going to be either the turbulence at the edge of the air column slowing it down, or relativity.
Hi I'm on Metafilter and I could overthink a portal of beans.
posted by ZsigE at 4:39 PM on June 12, 2012 [6 favorites]
Hi I'm on Metafilter and I could overthink a portal of beans.
posted by ZsigE at 4:39 PM on June 12, 2012 [6 favorites]
These *guys* must be the pride of *subject hometown here.*
posted by tula at 4:55 PM on June 12, 2012 [2 favorites]
posted by tula at 4:55 PM on June 12, 2012 [2 favorites]
...make a lot of air move with them, and that air is also going through the portals. Indeed, the air coming through the top portal is going to push on the air below it, sending it faster through the bottom portal and creating a positive feedback loop... Hi I'm on Metafilter and I could overthink a portal of beans.
Wait a minute. What if the portals are at either end of a constant-speed conveyor belt and there's a jet plane on it, with free wheels, trying to take off?
posted by rh at 4:59 PM on June 12, 2012 [5 favorites]
Wait a minute. What if the portals are at either end of a constant-speed conveyor belt and there's a jet plane on it, with free wheels, trying to take off?
posted by rh at 4:59 PM on June 12, 2012 [5 favorites]
If that's real, it will change everything.
posted by numes with an s at 5:03 PM on June 12, 2012
posted by numes with an s at 5:03 PM on June 12, 2012
¡ǝƃuɐɹo ǝɥʇ uı ʞɔnʇs ɯ,I ʍou puɐ ǝnlq ǝɥʇ pǝʞɔılɔ I ¡dlǝH
posted by oulipian at 5:05 PM on June 12, 2012 [5 favorites]
posted by oulipian at 5:05 PM on June 12, 2012 [5 favorites]
So great! Thanks! Now, if you guys are thinking of bday presents, this would be perfect...
posted by dejah420 at 5:18 PM on June 12, 2012
posted by dejah420 at 5:18 PM on June 12, 2012
Really? This works? Well, then, 8008!
posted by elwoodwiles at 5:18 PM on June 12, 2012
posted by elwoodwiles at 5:18 PM on June 12, 2012
Oh, it doesn't work. And I'm probably not getting a portal gun for my birthday.
posted by elwoodwiles at 5:19 PM on June 12, 2012
posted by elwoodwiles at 5:19 PM on June 12, 2012
Awesome until the last moment. There's ways of saving that guy that don't leave him dead or with several broken bones, but that's not one of them.
That final blue exit portal is much too high on the house. Even without considering all the other momentum the guy has, he's basically falling out of a second story window!
But worse, if you look at how high he fell from, he should have flown horizontally much, much farther (he'd have gone farther than that if he was moving back up against gravity). He ought to have been a horrible splatter against that fence.
When he made that blue portal, I assumed he was dumping the guy into a lake or pool that was off screen. When he just fell in some bushes--and got up again, apparently fine--I was really disappointed.
posted by straight at 7:03 PM on June 12, 2012 [2 favorites]
That final blue exit portal is much too high on the house. Even without considering all the other momentum the guy has, he's basically falling out of a second story window!
But worse, if you look at how high he fell from, he should have flown horizontally much, much farther (he'd have gone farther than that if he was moving back up against gravity). He ought to have been a horrible splatter against that fence.
When he made that blue portal, I assumed he was dumping the guy into a lake or pool that was off screen. When he just fell in some bushes--and got up again, apparently fine--I was really disappointed.
posted by straight at 7:03 PM on June 12, 2012 [2 favorites]
I understand why this guy painted the whole inside of his house with moon rock-based paint, but I'm having a hard time figuring out why he did the same for his roof. Foresight, I guess.
posted by Copronymus at 7:47 PM on June 12, 2012
posted by Copronymus at 7:47 PM on June 12, 2012
I suspect the limiting factor here is going to be either the turbulence at the edge of the air column slowing it down, or relativity.
It depends on if you're going with a frictionless conveyor belt or not.
posted by FatherDagon at 10:13 PM on June 12, 2012
It depends on if you're going with a frictionless conveyor belt or not.
posted by FatherDagon at 10:13 PM on June 12, 2012
Youtube link for folks whose computers can't handle Vimeo
posted by Anything at 1:46 AM on June 13, 2012
posted by Anything at 1:46 AM on June 13, 2012
That was almost awesome. It would have been completely awesome if the guy in the hat could act, even a little bit.
posted by Uncle Grumpy at 8:32 AM on June 13, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by Uncle Grumpy at 8:32 AM on June 13, 2012 [1 favorite]
@ZsigE: I suspect the limiting factor here is going to be either the turbulence at the edge of the air column slowing it down, or relativity.
I forgot who - maybe Larry Niven - suggested that this kind of technology would have major implications. At the least, you could get free energy out of it: a continuous waterfall. Or you could use it as a railgun: set the thing up in an evacuated vertical cylinder - so no terminal velocity - and use it to accelerate a projectile before opening another portal to fire it. Or at worst, it could destroy the Earth: use the same railgun setup and don't release the projectile, and in not long it'll be falling at relativistic speeds, and bad things will happen whether you release it or not.
posted by raygirvan at 3:08 PM on June 13, 2012
I forgot who - maybe Larry Niven - suggested that this kind of technology would have major implications. At the least, you could get free energy out of it: a continuous waterfall. Or you could use it as a railgun: set the thing up in an evacuated vertical cylinder - so no terminal velocity - and use it to accelerate a projectile before opening another portal to fire it. Or at worst, it could destroy the Earth: use the same railgun setup and don't release the projectile, and in not long it'll be falling at relativistic speeds, and bad things will happen whether you release it or not.
posted by raygirvan at 3:08 PM on June 13, 2012
@raygirvan Maybe Larry Niven
Ah, found it: The Theory and Practice of Teleportation.
posted by raygirvan at 5:35 PM on June 13, 2012
Ah, found it: The Theory and Practice of Teleportation.
posted by raygirvan at 5:35 PM on June 13, 2012
Wait. Wouldn't he eventually "burn up on re-entry" if allowed to continue the ceiling-floor loop long enough?
posted by sourwookie at 9:46 PM on June 13, 2012
posted by sourwookie at 9:46 PM on June 13, 2012
Sourwookie, that depends on the answer to the question above about terminal velocity. Air resistance might put an upper limit on his speed which could be below what it takes for friction to hurt him that much. Or maybe the air is moving through the portal loop with him, in which case it won't slow down his acceleration, but neither will there be any air friction to hurt him.
But you made me realize the biggest problem with this video. They take much too long to rescue him from the loop.
He falls through the portal loop for 56 seconds. Which means that when he flies up out of the portal in the ground outside, he's moving fast enough to fly up for (almost) 56 seconds. That's enough to fly about 9,000 feet into the air! The world's tallest building is only 2700 ft tall.
In the video, he unaccountably only flies upward for a couple seconds, reaching an apogee of maybe a few hundred feet.
posted by straight at 12:32 AM on June 14, 2012
But you made me realize the biggest problem with this video. They take much too long to rescue him from the loop.
He falls through the portal loop for 56 seconds. Which means that when he flies up out of the portal in the ground outside, he's moving fast enough to fly up for (almost) 56 seconds. That's enough to fly about 9,000 feet into the air! The world's tallest building is only 2700 ft tall.
In the video, he unaccountably only flies upward for a couple seconds, reaching an apogee of maybe a few hundred feet.
posted by straight at 12:32 AM on June 14, 2012
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That was awesome.
posted by Admiral Haddock at 2:43 PM on June 12, 2012 [1 favorite]