Planet Dinosaur is a 6 X 30-minute series for BBC One, entirely constructed in CGI. The first major dinosaur series for the channel since Walking with Dinosaurs, this ambitious series covers 24 different stories and over 50 dinosaurs from giants and lethal killers to flying and swimming monsters. There has been a considerable amount of new knowledge and information collected on dinosaurs over the last 10 years and many of the most remarkable stories and discoveries will be told in this series.

Jellyfish Pictures collaborated with BBC Science in creating the look and approach for the show. The advances in CGI and, in particular the pipeline developed by Jellyfish, allowed them to meet the huge ambition of creating entirely CGI environments as well as over 50 different dinosaurs. The major challenge was to deliver a series that not only looks spectacular but also successfully engages and tells the stories in a way that hasn’t been achieved before. In order to succeed, the decision was made early to keep shot lengths short and keep the pace quick and dramatic, avoiding unrealistic and labour intensive roller coaster type shots. Using a very fast cut rate with a hand held feel that makes the action play like a fast paced drama, shots could be constructed relatively quickly while still not compromising on quality.

Jellyfish Creative Director Phil Dobree set up a pipeline for the series that was modelled on a feature animation production. With over 2,500 shots to deliver in little over a year, meant that efficiency, specialism and precision were key features of the pipeline and workflow. The tasks were divided into specialist sections with every person in the pipeline absolutely proficient in their area of expertise. From asset and model creation right through to compositing and editorial, the different skills involved included base modelling, sculpting, texture paint, technical setup and rigging, storyboarding, pre-visualisation, animation, shading, lighting, FX, compositing and digital matte painting. Environment builds was a major challenge of the series and the solution that Jellyfish came up with was to use features in compositing to construct the environments from a series of matte paintings and projections, combined with 3D assets to construct a “stage set” at the end of the pipeline where flexibility is paramount and speed essential.

Dobree insisted the entire series be edited in-house at Jellyfish in order to facilitate quick feedback to keep a project of this enormous scale moving. BBC series producer Nigel Patterson, along with his research team, worked at the company’s offices full time in order to help facilitate the process.

As usual with a BBC factual series it was essential that the quality of the information and science was second to none and so Paterson and his team had to be extremely thorough in ensuring the veracity of their stories and getting the right blend of factual accuracy along with engaging storytelling that worked for animation.

Many of the stories originate from very recent or current knowledge and finds on dinosaurs, while others are based on older discoveries that haven’t been told before due to the enormous complexity involved in realising them.  One particular sequence involved the discovery of several hundred dinosaur remains all in one place at one time. Evidence pointed to a massacre on a huge scale and the conclusion was that this herd of Centrosaurs met their end not only at the hands of giant predators but also drowning in a huge flood. Normally this would have been a huge obstacle for a CGI series, however using the workflow, camera cuts and editorial pacing the team brings this story to life in a compelling way.

Factual accuracy was of course paramount in terms of the dinosaurs themselves and the BBC spent considerable time researching finds and remains to help accurately reconstruct the creatures. Previously it would have been normal to build machetes (clay models) of all the dinosaurs before they went anywhere near a computer, but Jellyfish’s creature pipeline is based around base modelling, sculpting and painting all in the computer, which is considerably quicker and more flexible.  Having signed off the size, shape etc, it’s ready to go to the more detailed stage of fine sculpting and modelling, where muscle definition, scales, weight and detail are added. And when this is complete it goes to texture paint where patterns and colour are created. This is always an area of some speculation and Paterson spent some time finding patterns and colours that would suit the various dinosaurs, based on type, geography and current bird and animal markings.

Much of the science and factual evidence for the series is being told in a unique way using motion graphics that seamlessly ties in the CG stories linking and helping setup the sequences. Jellyfish’s motion graphics department use the same pre-viz techniques to construct the shots and sequences before going on to finals to finish off the sequences. Tom Brass, working both for the BBC and Jellyfish headed up the motion graphics team to storyboard and visualise the sequences before they were realised on computer.

Andrew Cohen – BBC Head of Science & Executive Producer:

“The collaboration between the BBC and Jellyfish on Planet Dinosaur has been a unique opportunity to create a new model in VFX production. With the BBC team embedded in the Jellyfish production base we have been able to innovate both visually and editorially at all stages of the production. It's been over ten years since the BBC produced a landmark dinosaur series and so expectation around this project is sky high.  But the early footage is already suggesting that this will be one of our factual highlights of 2011. Combining the very latest paleontological findings with a unique visual style this series will bring a new generation of dinosaurs to life to a new generation of viewers.”