Creating a buffalo stampede for Amazon’s Outer Range

Premiering on Amazon Prime Video, Outer Range is a supernatural western created by Brian Watkins and starring Josh Brolin as Royal Abbott, a rancher who discovers a mysterious black hole. 

The sci-fi series, which also features Imogen Poots, Lili Taylor and Tom Pelphrey, has impressed viewers with its supernatural twists and includes a number of ambitious VFX shots, including in the final episode of season one which sees stampeding buffalo emerging from a black hole on Abbott ranch.

Well known for high-volume creature work in films like News of the World, Outpost VFX were tasked with creating this technically ambitious sequence. Due to the sheer number of buffalo in the scene, as well as several interactions with actors and vehicles, the complex sequence was a technical challenge that would take in everything from custom tool development to cloud rendering.

“Hundreds of furry beasts kicking up a dust storm as they charged through the scenery.

“Right off the bat, we knew we’d be dealing with crowd sims, dust volumes, kicked up dirt and debris. Since the buffalo would be covered in fur, and there would be hundreds of them, we realized this show would test the limits of our render farm.”

The team were able to quickly build a buffalo asset which could be used in crowd sequences but was also detailed enough to feature in close-ups. Himanshu adds: “The challenge was, of course, to optimise it to render a crowd of the beasts without compromising the level of detail we had built in.”

To do this with hundreds of buffalo assets, without compromising on detail, the team had to develop bespoke tools that wouldn’t slow down the production process. This included a tool to control the amount of fur and geometry detail on the buffalo depending on position relative to the camera, a tool that automatically culled assets as they went off-screen, and a tool to automatically split the buffalo crowd into three distinct render layers so the artists could adjust the distance per layer as needed.

VFX Supervisor Mathieu Assemat says: “The team had to design a flexible system to be able to iterate quickly on the crowd for the buffalo stampede. Not only for the crowd but the FX was also an integral part of the sequence, like a character on its own.”

The artists used Houdini to generate crowd simulations, FX volumes and dirt, as well as lighting and rendering the shots. Himanshu continues: “Our animators put together a library of animation cycles which would feed into the crowd sim, with several walk and run cycles, and a variety of movement options such as jumping, avoiding, skidding, climbing and so on.”

Himanshu adds: “The crowd sim team had the additional challenge of making sure the buffalos avoid trampling Autumn, a character who is caught up in the midst of this stampede. We also had a couple of shots where the buffalo interact with a car, pushing it away in the process.”

Due to the sheer number of buffalo in the scene, it wasn’t possible to generate dust volume FX for each creature. To not overwhelm the teams’ workstations, the artists used a smaller percentage of the crowd to optimise the FX. The same applied to the dirt being kicked up by the buffalo, which were generated using a smaller life span so particles would die out once they hit the ground.

Compositing involved a range of techniques, including stitched plates, inserts, warping and reworking footage, as well as well as invisible VFX to go along with the tentpole shots of the bison herd. 2D Supervisor Geoff Wigmore says: “Trying to sell the interactions between the bison and the actors, the weight of the impact on the ground and the violence that comes with such massive beasts storming through the scene were the most difficult parts for sure. 

“We used a mix of CG renders and live-action VFX elements to try and get the job done but it was the skill of the Compositors on the team that really made a lot of the shots shine.”

The artists in Montreal managed the whole project while working fully remotely. Despite this, Wigmore recalls the positive atmosphere surrounding the team. “There was definitely a lot of joking and positive collaboration. The meetings were always light-hearted, and everyone was eager to present creative solutions to the problems we were facing.”

Geoff continues: “What made the difference in my eyes was the environment at Outpost specifically. The upper management made sure that the studio was flexible enough and accommodating enough to see that everyone was able to maintain a good work / life balance throughout the course of the project. People were able to pick up their kids, spend time with their family, take sick leave and schedule much deserved time off – and the project would keep going strong without any loss in productivity.”

VFX Producer Jordan Petterson adds: “The artist team was wonderful to work with; they approached each day eager to learn, ready to rise to any challenges, and helped keep the overall mood light.

“Artistically, I believe the end results speak for themselves – the stampede contains some of the best shots I have seen come out of Outpost Montreal!”

Outer Range is available to stream on Amazon Prime. To read more about our work on Outer Range, take a look at our Outer Range project page.