The Wheel of Time S3

Project Overview

Outpost VFX returned to the world of the Aes Sedai for the third and final season of The Wheel of Time, once more taking a leading role in building some of the series’ most recognisable environments.

Led by VFX Supervisor Oliver Winwood and Overall VFX Supervisor Andy Scrase, the most substantial body of work involved the build and integration of a newly upgraded and optimised Tar Valon CG environment. Although this environment has featured in the show as a key location since season one, Outpost expanded on it once again to breathe more life into the city, as well as the addition of interesting new elements.

These included the construction of a new harbour in the north of the city, as well as a rework of some of the architecture and shading to give more variety to the different districts within Tar Valon. Additionally, two training arenas were built to augment the base of the White Tower, the centrepiece of the Aes Sedai kingdom.

Beyond work within the city walls to improve Tar Valon for season three, Outpost built a number of surrounding areas in CG that were formerly obscured from view or reliant on heavily adapted plate photography. We looked carefully into the makeup of the surrounding villages, added settlements and clearings among the hills to add interest, as well as expanded the geography from the books.

As well as a significant amount of CG environment work, Outpost also took a key role in a major battle sequence; created ghostly apparitions; and built and animated a possessed axe that flies through the air to assault one of the main characters. The latter required some surprisingly delicate animation to get the balance just right to avoid it looking comical.

In total, Outpost delivered over 200 shots for the series, with work featuring in every episode.