A very popular topic that began when Home Run Pictures was tasked with the creation of animation and visual effects for a multi-part documentary series airing across several years on the Discovery Channel. Working with production company, Stardust Visual, and a team of scientists from the 1996 and 1998 TDC expeditions to the wreck, Home Run Pictures created realistic scenes of the famed oceanliner striking an iceberg and eventually sinking to the ocean bottom. In all, there were six programs on the Titanic for the Discovery Channel.

Based on new found evidence at the two and a half mile deep Titanic wreck site, VARIOUS VISUALIZATIONS for the first documentaries were generated by our animators. Scenes show the ship sinking bow first and then breaking apart as it sank to its present resting place. Since a clear understanding of the "breakup" theory was being redefined, the underwater simulations were the first time these scenes had ever been visualized. Simulations of submersibles exploring the wreck site were also created.

One show pulled in the highest viewer ratings ever for The Discovery Channel and has been a popular rerun for years. Clips from the animation sequences were also screened at the 1997 Siggraph Show. The fourth program followed the 1998 expedition to the site. The team of scientists involved hoped to determine further details of the sinking... why did the steel plated ship's scrape with the iceberg deal such a strong blow... why did she split in two... how high did the stern section really rise during the sinking... and why is the stern section so much more destroyed than the bow?

Home Run Pictures was once again called upon to create animated scenes depicting the details of the sinking as determined by the expanded team of scientist-experts. Working again with documentary production company, Stardust Visual, scenes were created concurrently with the off-lining of the program with revisions being made as the scientific team's theories developed during the six month time frame from expedition to finished documentary show. In all, three of the shows for The Discovery Channel earned viewer ratings in Discovery's top ten list. Two of the shows held the number's one and two ratings positions as the most watched programs on the network at that time.

Then later, the re-visioned Titanic imagery from the documentaries made it's way to the fulldome world as an immersive program for planetariums and then recently as an immersive VR GAME playable in small portable inflatable domes or headsets. Here the player gets to explore the wreck of the Titanic miles below on the ocean floor using an ROV [Remotely Operated Vehicle] just like actual explorers would. The 360 degree view gives the educational game player an experience that only a few explorers have had on a North Atlantic expedition to the sinking site... to explore the deck of the ship, go inside the hull and possibly find the wireless room, the first-class dining room, the bottom deck boilers and other areas.

We even created a 3D VERSION of the wreck site viewable here as red/blue 3D if you have a pair of glasses available. Considering the never-ending popularity of the Titanic story, we expect to be creating many more visual experiences about the famous ship's sinking in the future.