Are there changes to the original series in this new "re-imagining"?

Yeah, quite a few. For a start, there's a lot more hand-to-hand combat and action than there was in the original...

Is Gerry Anderson (the original creator of Captain Scarlet) pleased at the way the show is going?

He is ecstatic. Gerry is very hands on, but in a "Big Picture" kind of way (which is appropriate as he's the executive producer/creator). The way I like to run a studio is more like live action (less like animation) and Gerry understands this world very well. Apart from the editors and directors he is always the first to see any episodes we've finished.

How many people are working on Captain Scarlet?

About 60 at the moment, but it will be about 90 when we go into full swing.

Are you still looking for LightWave people then?

Step right up... Looking for talented... modellers, texturers, riggers, more riggers, character animators, lighters and TDs... If you know AfterFX as well it's a plus.

Is this the biggest team you've worked with/managed?

No, Foundation Imaging was 250 when we were working on Roughnecks (we had between six and 12 people when we worked on Babylon5). We have fewer people here, but more time.

What sort of machines are they using?

Dual 2.8GHz Xeon machines with 2 GB ram, small SCSI hard drives, QuadroFX 1000 graphics cards and GB Ethernet.

Is the show completely hand animated, or are you using motion capture?

It's about 60% mocap... will be more now we've got our new system - a brand new Vicon MX40.

Are you rendering everything at Pinewood?

Yes, there is a 180-processor render stack here.

Are there pre-defined departments - lighting, modelling, texturing and so on - or is everyone chipping in on each stage?

The way we are now set up is there is an asset creation department that builds episodic characters, sets, props, vehicles, etc. Then we have four animation teams who take a show each and animate, light and render the shows.

Is there a lot of post-production work on the frames once rendered?

It's not that there isn't much post... but it is quick to do. Almost every shot has some elements that need to be composited. There are memory limitations on some of the character stuff.

What memory limitations are we talking about with the character stuff?

The MDD files from The Beaver Project (used to transfer data between LightWave and Maya) are quite large. Get a couple of characters in a scene that's more than a few frames long and you are chewing space.