In DreamWorks Animation’s Mr. Peabody & Sherman, our titular duo travel back in time through magical wormholes (Fig. 2). We needed a system that creates intricate and ethereal wormhole tunnels, which were inspired by the mathematical fractal flame images [Draves and Reckase 2008]. Yet, unlike fractal systems, it needs to be highly art­directable and animated so the tunnels can materialize, disintegrate, and branch off as the time machine travels through them. The system also needs to be scalable in order to create lots of tunnels in wide shots while maintaining details in close­up shots. Due to the scale of the effect and its use across multiple shots throughout the show, we’ve set up a pipeline for the Layout, Animation, Effects, and Lighting departments to collaborate on. The pipeline is divided into several stages, and as artists advance through these stages, the look gets more refined from the broad strokes to the finest details.

Research Paper for Time Travel Effects Pipeline in ‘Mr. Peabody & Sherman’