FX
Simulation

EmberGen fire and smoke for the Bodden House sequence, grounded with a LIDAR scan of the set geometry so volumes interact correctly with the thatched structure. Houdini FX for Connor's torch simulation and the pirate ship's ocean in heavy rain.

Houdini procedural leech placement and body decomposition simulation. Rapid plant growth FX — Houdini-driven with real-world time-lapse referenced throughout, calibrated so the acceleration carries genuine physical logic.

Houdini FX chum simulation — blood and floating organic material dispersing in water. CG ocean matched to plate conditions across a bay, a dock and a swimming pool. Blood simulation for the wound in the climactic shark breach.

FX simulation across 500+ shots — fire, destruction and action effects as the ongoing VFX infrastructure of the series.

The vapour text — a three-system Houdini build combining a suction target system, a pyro force micro solver and a pop advection simulation, with words hand-drawn on a Wacom tablet as the emission source. Water simulations for a splashing fish and a car crashing into a lake.

Houdini FX ocean simulation for Sydney Harbour — waves, wake and ripple interactions around the James Craig, lit and rendered in Redshift. Drone plates retimed and CG ocean animated to match the accelerated pace.

EmberGen virtual fire and smoke — 3D camera-tracked virtual sets with prop and character geometry so CG smoke flows around objects correctly. Flaming Richard: fire spread animated from a hand-drawn Houdini guide with procedural noise and thickness.

Houdini fluid simulation in a water tank — CG cow as a collider driving surface displacement, white-water foam and splash interaction. Selective 2D splash elements added in compositing for the most active moments.

Houdini FX burning trees with skeleton rigs — animation transferred to EmberGen for fire layering. Custom ember particle emitters with collision geometry for character and environment interaction. Episode 4 firestorm: full set reconstruction in 3D, wind direction and timing planned to the frame.

Houdini Vellum solver — wallpaper and plaster tearing from a wall surface as an axe drags across it, with dust and plaster chips driven by the same sim. Combined with on-set reference footage of a real axe dragged through drywall.

Houdini rain simulation with a wetness map following the complex geometry of Camelot's Victorian facade. Lightning rendered as dedicated passes of the building exterior, calibrated by perceived distance for each strike.

Houdini Flip simulation for wine streams — animated velocity bursts driving particle emission with proxy actor geometry as colliders. Full CGI van crash sequence — environment and digital double rebuilt from on-set scans, Houdini physics for cracked windshield and debris.

Houdini HairGen and Vellum per-strand physics for enchanted hair that spells BEWARE — prototype animated guides fed into Vellum constraints for physical per-strand dynamics. POP and Pyro simulations for magical beams, orbs and energy effects.

Houdini FX snowstorm — falling snow and mist simulations composited across a prehistoric 10,000 BC camp. Storm front built from layered 2D still photography of severe weather cloud formations, animated to camera.

Houdini ash simulation for two characters turning to ash and dispersing toward camera. Insect swarm FX, wound healing animation and water droplet suspension across multiple supernatural sequences.