From Paper to Polygons

“Where do machines go when they die? From B-52 Bombers to massive aircraft carriers, from passenger cars to Cold War cruise missiles and remnants of the Twin Towers, all that we manufacture has a life span. But reaching the end of their original purposes can be just the beginning.”
- www.historychannel.com

This animation was created for a two hour documentary on the History Channel called Boneyard: Where Machines End Their Lives, which aired on Father’s Day, 2005. My animation shows a Titan II Nuclear ICBM in mid route to deliver its payload. The Titan II Missile has 4 parts; the first stage, interstage, second stage, and warhead. The animation shows how the second stage separates from the first stage. As the second stage fires, flames come out of the interstage and then the second stage disconnects. Next the warhead disconnects and continues to the target. Boneyard was well received and continued to grow in ratings after its first showing and was still being shown until early this year. Keep an eye out for the 13 part Boneyard Series.I modeled this entire scene except for the pipes around the engines. I also textured all the objects and animated the scene in Lightwave. I composited in the particles using Particle Illusion and Adobe After Affects. This project was completed from August 2004 – June 2005.