See VFX breakdowns for Season 3 of Foundation in one place
Visual effects studios have begun to release their breakdown reels for Season 3 of Apple TV+ science-fiction series Foundation, based on the stories by Isaac Asimov.
Below, we’ve collected the breakdowns we’re aware of into one place – the original story covered Framestore and Rodeo FX’s work, but we’ve updated it to include Outpost VFX’s reel.
Framestore: Clarion Station and the Novacula
Framestore worked on the show from previs onwards, eventually delivering 500 VFX shots, including its VES Award-nominated work on Clarion Station.
The 5km-wide megastructure functioned as a fully rigged vehicle with three rotating habitat panels, each simulating its own day-night cycle.
Framestore’s team used a USD-based pipeline to detail the environment, scattering hundreds of thousands of structures, from a brutalist cyberpunk city to the mycelium-rich Secretorium.
Other key sequences on which Framestore worked include the Novacula, a weaponized station containing a black hole.
Click the image to watch Rodeo FX’s breakdown video for Season 3 of Foundation.
Rodeo FX: environments of Trantor City
Rodeo FX also delivered 494 VFX shots on the series, including action sequences like the opening traveling shots leading to a large-scale battle on the planet Kalgan.
The studio also created intricate CG environments, including Trantor’s Imperial Library, and the lower levels of Trantor City, for which Rodeo FX designed a new library of CG buildings.
Outpost VFX: modular cityscapes and melting robots
Outpost VFX delivered over 230 VFX shots for Season 3, including the vast CG cityscapes of Mycogen, which the studio created by assembling modular assets “like little LEGO pieces”.
The studio also worked on sequences featuring the robot character Demerzel, including a spectacular sequence in which she is gradually melted by an intense energy beam.
Project: Foundation (Season 3)
Studios: Framestore, Outpost VFX and Rodeo FX
Artist credits: On IMDb
Other info: On Framestore’s website, Outpost VFX’s website, and Rodeo FX’s website
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