Thread: Has anyone attempted a vortex tunnel? Size restrictions

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Ok, so I'm narrowing down my "WOW" prop list for this year and am enamored with the vortex tunnel. It looks do-able, but I do have one concern. Most of the how-tos I've seen on building these things are ALL 20' long bridges. My question is - would a shorter bridge be as effective? I have about 13' of linear space in my haunt if I really stretch it tight. Would that be sufficient, or would it make for a pretty weak effect? I would rather go for a less dramatic prop if I had to, than have a watered down one, if you know what I mean.

Stacy

I am really interested to hear opinions on this as well. I had a similar amount of space(13 feet) and ended up not building one. Not for any particular reason other then I wasn't sure and I always error on the side of cheapness when questions arise like this.

What if you put up reflective mylar mirrors on both ends? Kinda of an endless hallway and vortex effect combined. Have your guests enter the vortex from the side.

There have been many haunters here that have made vortex tunnels.

Using the handy-dandy search feature...

Rotating Tunnel

my home made vortex tunnel

Vortex Tunnel "stationary"?

Building a vortex tunnel

I personally don't think that a 13 foot tunnel would be an issue - the reason most plans are longer is primarily about getting the most distance out of the non-center supported bridge. A real vortex tunnel is usually made out of very strong metal struts or thick wood which is only supported on the entrance and exit sides - to allow the tunnel tube to turn around the walkway bridge. Most folks want them as long as possible while still allowing the walkway to retain it's strength and not flex from the weight of the people walking through. I think the plans I've seen all expect the tunnel to be built and a space found for it, not to build it to fit a specific space. (Taking all of my ramblings with a grain of salt - I'm no expert and definitely not a mechanical whiz )

I would think the shorter length would actually be an advantage since the walkway would be stronger for the shorter distance and less chance of bowing under weight.

The only thing that I'd be sure to do if it was slightly shorter is make sure that the entrance and exit were properly lit so as to not cause even a hint of light bleed and ruin the effect inside. Love andisnw's idea of having a mirror/reflective surface at the start and end!

I love vortex tunnels - and I'd be absolutely thrilled to go through one while TOTing... especially since it would be free.

I'm also currently working on a vortex, but I'm approaching it from a different direction.

The vortex tunnel itself is an extremely difficult structure to build. Then there is a bridge, railings and ramps into and out of the vortex. I don't know about you, but the complexity (not to mention the expense) was more than I was wiling to take on. After pondering many a night I came up with an alternative.

The ultimate goal is to make the guests lose perception of what is still and what is moving. Instead of building a physical tunnel I just need to build something that the eyes would focus on. So I'm currently building a simulated vortex tunnel. It simply consists of multiple laser beams arranged in a ring that spins. The ring is an 8' diameter structure, but it is only 6" deep. I let the beams shoot 20 foot through fog. In addition I'm going to recess the bottom of the ring into the ground so that ramps are not required and a bridge is not required (I also thought this was much safer). I'll probably just have some guide ropes through the tunnel.

I started it the day after Christmas, and I'm about 90% complete. I'll have to upload some photos when I'm done.

From one of Frankies Girl link I navigated to this option....a fortune but I bet it would be pretty slick!

http://www.digitalsl.com/products/pr...httunnels.html

Dan

I could see a black tunnel with florescent paint along the sides glowing under blacklight, with side entrances like Andisnw's diagram above, and something like this but larger (also done using florescent paint and spun by a slow motor) at the "exit" end. Walking in the dark towards this large spinning, glowing wheel might be interesting.

An old friend of mine (Alan Tura) owns VortexTunnel.com and has created many different sizes of these animals over the years and just got back from an installation in Brazil (he has them all over the world now) where he installed one of his bigger models (a drive through). In his shorter models he uses mirrored end or middle panels to extend the apparent length. The key is building a good strong bridge (with no sagging in the middle). In the middle mirror types the mirrored circle panels are attached to the center of the bridge and reflect on both sides. He also runs a pro haunt called Fear Forest and the Insanitarium so he has a lot of experience. Personally I like his transparent bridge models where you get the full effect.

Mechanically or electrically rotating lights aside, I believe Devilsfans question is whether the optical illusion that a 20 foot vortex tunnel can produce can still be reproduced on a shorter run. Say 10 to 13 feet.

Ghost of Spooky touched on an idea that a spinning disc of sorts instead of the mylar might work. I believe the spinning disc has some plausibility as well. It would probably need to be a big disc though (6 feet or more). It would have to be at least as big around as the tunnel.

My idea was to optically lengthen tunnel by use of the mylar. Simple and easy modification that requires no adittional mechanical support (motors, bearings, electricity, ect). I'm wondering whether it may also enhance a standard size tunnel's effect.

Re: Deathly's comments: I've been through only one or two professionally done tunnels and they really are a cool effect. I can't imagine a drive thru model ! and a transparent bridge would have me heaving for sure.

The Crypt O Spinner I linked to by Morbid Industries is only 19 inches in diameter so I'm in agreement that you would want something much larger if anyone goes that route. I'm considering an effect like it for use in just a tunnel (without the tunnel sides spinning). Getting just a disk to spin is a bit more my speed right now mechanically. I'm thinking an old ceiling fan motor might be a good motor to use.

Going back to the mylar, if it's reflective enough without muddling too much of the light (a mirror would be best), I think it's definitely worth a try. For a cheap test maybe a roll of mylar-backed metallic wrapping paper would be a good first start. Staple it to some cardboard and see how well it reflects. If it works well enough, I'm still seeing mylar Xmas paper out there on clearance right now that might do it for you and keep costs down. Keeping it really smooth and wrinkle-free would be the objective to mounting it.

I would suggest creating a bottomless pit as the end wall except it would take up physical space too and you probably would be better off just extending the tunnel in that case. But since construction space was the issue to begin with, more likely a moot idea anyway.