Vine FX brings the final hours of Pompeii and Herculaneum to life through historically grounded environments, epic volcanic simulations and cinematic destruction
Produced by Disney and Plimsoll Productions for National Geographic, Pompeii: Out of Time with Tom Hiddleston reexamines one of history’s most infamous disasters through the real stories of the people who lived through it. Guided by Tom Hiddleston, the series challenges the familiar narrative of Pompeii’s destruction, uncovering evidence that some residents may have had a brief window to escape as Mount Vesuvius erupted.
Exploring archaeological discoveries, ancient records and the lives of real Romans, the series reveals a human story of survival, sacrifice and uncertainty beneath the shadow of the volcano. As the eruption unfolds from its earliest warning signs to the devastating pyroclastic surges that engulf Herculaneum and Pompeii, Vine FX’s work supports the scale and drama of the reconstruction while maintaining the historical accuracy central to the production.
Delivering 58 VFX shots across the series, Vine FX recreated these ancient cities, extended practical locations and developed complex volcanic simulations, including ash, pyroclastic flows, volcanic bombs and atmospheric effects, helping to visualise the final moments of one of the world’s most studied archaeological events.
Developing the VFX Blueprint for Pompeii
Joining the project in November 2024, Vine FX became involved during the development stages of the
show, helping shape the VFX approach long before filming began.
“We came onto this project very early on. We read the first scripts and created 11 versions of a breakdown to get the project moving.”
Kaitlyn Beattie, Executive Producer
“The early versions of the scripts were understandably ambitious. Coming on board early meant we could work with the production team to shape the VFX, looking at what would have the greatest impact and how we could make the most of the assets we created. It became a really collaborative process, as the writers refined their scripts to ensure the visuals supported the story in the best way possible.”Simon Carr, Creative Director
From Avianius, a young boy whose survival is supported by evidence from his gravestone outside Pompeii, to Julia Felix, a businesswoman and homeowner in ancient Rome, these stories shaped the environments and visual details Vine FX needed to recreate.
With Mount Vesuvius central to the narrative, large-scale visual effects were inevitable.
“You can’t avoid a volcano that’s going to have to happen. Anticipating the scale of the digital build ahead,
securing the core assets early was invaluable. It gave us a strong foundation to develop the world you
see on screen.. The beauty of Roman civilisation was that they were literate and they kept good records, so this was a great
opportunity for us to take those details and use them to tell the stories of the people who lived there,”Simon Carr, Creative Director
This combination of archaeological research and character-led storytelling helped Vine FX prioritise the
environments and effects that best supported the narrative.
History First; Rebuilding Pompeii
Although Pompeii: Out of Time with Tom Hiddleston features dramatic recreations of one of history’s
most famous disasters, historical accuracy remained at the heart of every creative decision.
“This was a docudrama. Everything had to be very historically accurate, especially during the concept
stage. Working closely with National Geographic, the team referenced old documentation, fresco paintings and archaeological collections to ensure that every detail, including the appearance of Mount Vesuvius before the eruption, was authentic.”Kaitlyn Beattie, Executive Producer
Lead CG Generalist Jake Newton led much of the digital reconstruction of Pompeii, creating a historically grounded environment based on archaeological maps, surviving ruins and extensive research.
“It was a very interesting project. The environment had to be historically accurate for the drama to feel authentic. We were rebuilding a world that is partially preserved and partially buried, which made it a fascinating challenge.”
Jake Newton, Lead CG Generalist
To recreate the ancient city efficiently, Vine FX prioritised key locations while ensuring the wider environment remained consistent with historical layouts.
“We broke the city up into chunks and built separate areas that we knew were going to be key locations. One of the biggest challenges was working with a vast collection of maps from different time periods and merging them with data from the parts of the city that have been preserved. The entire road layout and urban layout were based on these historical maps. Bringing all that information together was essential to recreating the city as accurately as possible.”
Jake Newton, Lead CG Generalist
To build Pompeii as a cohesive yet varied environment, the team developed a modular library of architectural assets, including houses, courtyards, apartment blocks and set dressing elements.
With the core assets established, the team focused on introducing variation and detail across the environment to create a more believable cityscape.
“We spent a lot of time trying to get variation in roof shapes. Nothing’s the same. It helps with the breakup and makes it not look too repetitive.”
Jessica Lennox, Lead Lighter
To extend the city beyond the CG builds, Vine FX combined full CG environments with digital matte paintings.
“It was a pretty big mix of CG and DMP for these environments. There’s a huge gap between the city and the volcano in real-world distance, so we made the decision pretty early on that that patch would be a DMP.”
Jake Newton, Lead CG Generalist
Simulating the Eruption of Mount Vesuvius
The eruption of Mount Vesuvius became one of the production’s most complex VFX challenges, requiring the team to develop a fully integrated simulation approach.
“We had a specialist pyro effects team for this. They built all of the assets – the pyroclastic flow, volcanic bombs, pumice and ash – and all of those simulations worked together. There are some documents describing the shape of the volcano’s eruption as an umbrella tree, we really emphasised that shape.”
Camille Gerstenhaber, VFX Producer
To handle the scale of the sequences, the team developed a flexible simulation workflow built around reusable caches that could be adapted across multiple shots. Rather than building separate simulations for each setup, the team created a hero eruption asset that could be adjusted and enhanced as needed.
The same approach was applied to the ash simulations.
“We couldn’t do ash per shot. We’d do a big simulation of falling ash and then the lighters could move it into place over where the camera was.”
Jake Newton, Lead CG Generalist
The team also developed shockwave effects to connect the eruption’s force with the destruction unfolding on screen.
Bringing Herculaneum to Life
The production also recreates neighbouring Herculaneum, where the story follows a Praetorian Guard caught in the path of the approaching pyroclastic flow.
This sequence combined practical photography captured in Malta with CG environments and digital matte paintings, transforming a real coastline into the ancient city under threat. Vine FX extended the beach location with a digital coastal environment, CG boats and atmospheric effects to convey the scale of the evacuation and the eruption’s growing impact.
“We had a real beach that was shot in Malta. The city is mainly DMP, although we created a basic layout so we could get the scales right and the lighting right.”
Simon Carr, Creative Director
As ash and smoke began to overwhelm the city, Vine FX built the majority of the atmospheric effects digitally, adding layers of smoke, ash, flames and torchlight to enhance the sense of chaos.
With practical ash effects not possible at the location, the team recreated these elements entirely in post-production, transforming the live-action photography into a city being consumed by the eruption.
From digital city reconstructions to large-scale volcanic simulations, Vine FX developed a VFX approach that balanced historical accuracy with the human stories at the heart of the series.
Watch Vine’s VFX breakdown here:
Stream National Geographic’s Pompeii: Out of Time with Tom Hiddleston on Disney+ now.
