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  1. Moonbase: The Next Step

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    July 21, 1969 at 02:56
    From the moment mankind first set foot on the moon we have dreamed of making a base there. A foot hold on the moon, where we can extract water and minerals, grow food and live on a more permanent basis.
    For the last 20 years, humans have continuously lived and worked aboard the International Space Station 250 miles above Earth, preparing for the day we move farther into the solar system.
    In the next 10 years that dream will become a reality. Mankind will return to the Moon and develop a sustained, strategic presence near the lunar South Pole. The moon will become our first ‘staging post’ from which Mars and the rest of the solar system becomes tantalisingly closer.

    MOONBASE: THE NEXT STEP is the story of this human endeavour, pushing scientific and technological advances to the limit. Travelling the 250,000 miles and surviving the hostile and alien conditions of reduced gravity, extreme temperatures and toxic lunar dust, we explain the science and technology for this brave mission to happen. Follow our story filled with awe, danger, trepidation and share the wonder of the lunar environment made for 360 fulldome format.
    Prepare for a hostile and breath-taking lunar experience…

    Director’s intent:  “We will place the viewer in an immersive environment that sells the sheer scale of the moon itself and then the immense scale of the task of surviving in such a hostile environment….”
    The audience will experience spectacular visuals soaring and interacting overhead moving from stylish graphical model animations into photo-real ‘point of view’ visuals as we dock, land and explore the lunar world.

  2. Dr. Who Experience

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    We were commissioned by Sarner International to produce stereo 3D sequences and visual effects for BBC Worldwide’s eagerly awaited Doctor Who Experience. The immersive live event, which ran for a year in London’s Olympia Two venue and currently in Cardiff, takes visitors on a journey through time and space, and includes encounters with some of the best-loved and scariest monsters from the hit international television series.

    We spent around three months on the project, creating several sequences including a thrilling crash landing on Planet Skaro and the breath-taking 3D Stereoscopic finale featuring the Time-Worm monster that plays out on a 12-metre screen.

    The goal was to achieve a seamless integration of animated elements with the set design, painted backdrops and glass screens that would house the stunning graphics and VFX sequences.

    Credits

    Client: Sarner, For BBC Worldwide
    Director (Sarner): Michael Bennett
    Producer (Sarner): Ed Cookson
    VFX Creative Director: Simon Clarke
    VFX Supervisor: Graham Stott
    3D Supervisor: Jem Grimshaw

  3. Fram Museum

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    Moonraker were commissioned by award winning Visitor Attraction Design and Installation company Sarner International to help refresh the dramatic and exciting exhibition at the Fram Museum in Oslo.

    The exhibition brings to life Norway’s most famous ship, the Fram whilst telling the incredible stories of the famous Arctic and Antarctic explorers that sailed her.

    Moonraker had the challenge of creating a new 60 fps 15 minute fully CG film for the immense 18k, 280-degree field of view projection space viewed from the deck of the ship.

    We optimised Maya rendering in Redshift to help with the sheer volume of rendering 27,000 frames at 18k. We also wrote tools to create a QC process that allowed us to review the film in sections on a 4K projector to cope with the unusual aspect ratio.

    The CG included an epic ocean storm sequence and photoreal ice fields and flows as well as a highly detailed CG recreation of the Fram ship.

    We also produced a series of interactive shots for projection onto a half dome recreating the journeys at the Arctic and Antarctic taken by the Fram explorers.

    The finished product has received extremely positive reviews within Norway and the wider Visitor Attraction community.

    Key Credits

    Production Company: Sarner
    Executive Producer: Andrew McKinna
    VFX Creative Director: Simon Clarke
    VFX Supervisor: Tom Downes
    VFX Producer: Scott Metcalfe

  4. Carrickfergus Castle

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    Moonraker partnered with tech studio Zubr and Tourism Northern Ireland, to bring the benefits of Augmented Reality (AR) to one of Northern Ireland’s best loved attractions – Carrickfergus castle.. The result of the project is a unique and immersive experience for castle visitors, allowing them to use an app to reveal hidden layers behind the castle’s walls, taking visitors on a journey through pivotal points in the castle’s history.

    The studio played a leading role in the process, using their expertise as visual effects artists to create high-quality and believable content. To really bring the past to life, the team chose three points of interest within the Carrickfergus Castle to be visualised. The plan was to combine beautiful visuals with a bespoke app, powered by cutting-edge technology.

  5. Calvados

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    Moonraker were commissioned by Sarner International to support them on the creation of content for the world-class visitors centre – The Calvados Experience in Pont l’Evêque, Normandy.

     

    Set on the site of France’s most famous distillery, the Calvados Experience takes the visitor on a journey charting the rich history of the region and ultimately the processes involved in creating the luxury drink. Moonraker created a variety of content to help bring the experience to life. This included VFX shots to help explain the origins of the region and the Vikings who settled there as well as a giant projection mapped CG apple mountain detailing a whopping 10,000 tumbling apples.

    We also supported the multi-sensory journey through the experience by creating large format material to be projected showing the distillation technique and the barrel ageing process.

    • Changbaishan

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      Moonraker and award-winning production company Talesmith joined forces as ‘Flyride Films’ to deliver this incredibly ambitious project for the new visitor’s centre at Changbaishan National Park in China.

      Commissioned by P.E.L Creative we were tasked with creating a pre-show and 5-minute film for the Brogent iRide system at the park, a fully immersive and sensory ‘flying ride’ simulation which takes the viewer on a journey through the beautiful Changabaishan National Park in Jilin Province.

      The ride system suspends the audience, feet dangling, in front of a 4K, 60-foot half-dome screen. Special effects like wind, mist, sound and scent combine with the chair’s sensory motions and our striking visual effects and custom VR technology for a truly immersive experience.

      The film follows a Manchu Falconer’s bird of prey as it soars across lush wide-open plains, races through rocky ravines and weaves through dense forests, eventually reaching a magnificent lake at the summit. As the falcon sweeps through stunning scenery and over the varied wildlife of the expansive area, the audience experience the spectacular Changbaishan mountain in all its seasons. In an area prone to bad weather we wanted to give our audience the opportunity to see the area at its best, so it was very important for us to show the beauty of the landscape through the course of a year.

      In one of the most technical projects we have ever undertaken we encountered some interesting challenges along the way.

      One such challenge was creating a film for a dome theatre – we needed to find a suitable camera to take on the job! As we were shooting in 8k for a 180-degree ‘fisheye’ field of vision we needed to have a camera with the biggest sensor possible. After much testing we decided upon the Red Weapon with a Vista Vision Sensor. Very few of them exist in the world! A ‘fisheye’ lens is naturally problematic to track. Our 3D team used specialist software to track the camera allowing us to seamlessly blend computer generated elements with the real-life footage.

      Another key challenge for our team was rendering footage for a 180-degree field of view projection. As the camera sees everything from the ground to the sky we had to render everything within the same field of view. The file sizes our team worked with were huge. Given the size of the output we invested in a new GPU render farm to process all the 3D assets and visual effects.

      Shooting, tracking, animating and rendering in a completely unique, 180-degree pipeline was a huge learning curve for the team.

      We used aerial photogrammetry and photography to capture the terrain so we were able to reference and precisely match details of the landscape including species of trees and flowers native to that area. The use of drones was particularly useful in capturing areas unsafe to fly across in a helicopter such as the waterfall. We were able to build incredibly intricate and accurate 3D models from the data which gives a unique level of detail and authenticity to an area otherwise inaccessible to the viewer.

      Flyride Changbaishan has been hugely successful, wowing visitors with a unique, fully immersive and sensory perspective on an environment rich in natural history.

    • Norwegian Nature Centre

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      Continuing Moonraker’s ongoing collaboration with award winning Sarner International, we were commissioned to produce visuals for the stunning Norwegian Nature Centre.

      Moonraker worked with renowned scientist Christopher Scortese to produce animations of the Earth’s tectonic plates over the last five billion years showcasing Norway’s journey (starting in the southern hemisphere!) to become the landmass it is today. These animations were designed to work with the unique Pufferfish projection globes creating a unique spherical 360 degree view of the evolution of the continents.

      We also created a CG sequence showing the volcanic chain of islands created billions of year ago that lead to Norway as it is today. These formed part of a cinema film enjoyed by visitors to the museum.

      This work has built on Moonraker’s ongoing work in large format and bespoke screen sizes.

      Key Credits

      Production Company: Sarner
      Executive Producer: Nina Ludgate
      VFX Creative Director: Simon Clarke
      VFX Supervisor: Graham Stott

    • The Calvados Experience

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      Moonraker were commissioned by Sarner International to support them on the creation of content for the world-class visitors centre – The Calvados Experience in Pont l’Evêque, Normandy.

      Set on the site of France’s most famous distillery, the Calvados Experience takes the visitor on a journey charting the rich history of the region and ultimately the processes involved in creating the luxury drink. Moonraker created a variety of content to help bring the experience to life. This included VFX shots to help explain the origins of the region and the Vikings who settled there as well as a giant projection mapped CG apple mountain detailing a whopping 10,000 tumbling apples.

      We also supported the multi-sensory journey through the experience by creating large format material to be projected showing the distillation technique and the barrel ageing process.

      Key Credits

      Production Company: Sarner
      Executive Producer: Chris Lethbridge
      VFX Creative Director: Simon Clarke
      Creative Lead: Graham Watts
      Production: Emma Kolasinska

    • The Bodmin Jail Experience

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      Moonraker were commissioned by leading visitor attraction experts, Sarner International to transform Cornwall’s historical site Bodmin Jail into an immersive and cinematic experience for visitors. Sarner led the overall design process and Moonraker provided all Audio Visual content for the experience.

      The objective was to create a haunting and historically-accurate experience that will attract guests from the ages of 8 to 80. The new attraction features a series of immersive rooms, enhanced by Moonraker’s eerie and atmospheric projections, as well as sinister surrounding sound effects and real-life characters.

      To achieve film-like quality, Moonraker’s production team conducted extensive research into the history behind the Jail, down to the small details such as replicating the exact buttons on the character’s costumes and their cornish accents. The objective was for visitors to feel as though they are fully immersed in the stories and life of the 18th century Jail.

      Moonraker combined its skills from screen, immersion, graphic and VFX projects to deliver over 30 different bespoke formats, with each projection and hologram requiring a different size and format that needed to be seamlessly blended into the scenic background.

      Process

      Moonraker were very excited to commission Peter Key, a respected and well established sound production specialist for museum exhibitions and visitor attractions. Peter spent several days on site at the jail and in Cornwall so that each sound and VO used was authentic. The end result is very dramatic and works well to tie all the scenics and projections around the entire exhibition perfectly.

      What was unique about this project is that Moonraker worked as the pre-production, production and visual effects team. This enabled us to think about the project in a 360-way and shoot with our visual effects capability in mind.

      Key Credits

      Client: Sarner International
      Sarner Creative Lead: Michael Bennett
      Sarner Project Manager: Mollie Bishop
      Sound And Audio Production: Peter Key
      Creative Director: Simon Clarke
      Immersive Creative Lead: Graham Watts
      VFX Production: Emma Kolasinska

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