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project the big burn
company rlmg
client idaho state history museum
role lead animator
header photo courtesy of idaho state museum
photo courtesy of Idaho State Museum
telling the story of the Great Fire of 1910
We brought a gallery-sized mural to life with a fully integrated wall projection that tells the story of the 1910 forest fire that ravaged Idaho. The main show is a double wide projection area that feathers out into the surrounding wall graphic. An additional ultra-wide projection casts light and color in sync with the show to enhance the immersion.
The Big Burn won a 2019 Muse Award for Onsite Digital Experience.
This is an FX breakdown showing the many pieces of landscape photography that made up the show’s “stage.”
the nitty gritty
Once the stage was created, I produced a 2D depth map by filling the layers from white to black as they approach the camera in Z space. The foreground hero trees were created in Speed Tree, which meant I could pull a true 3D depth map.
The depth map allowed me to easily drop in smoke and fire elements. Then a final layer of post effects like heat distortion and blooms were added.
