Cerne Abbas: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at Reconstruction Graphics (Patreon)

A look ‘behind-the-scenes’ with some of the graphics work from Bear and his studio Shadow Tor, who create the graphics, animations and interactive worlds for Time Team.

Bear works alongside production, with film shoots, researchers and archaeology site partnerships, all packing together information used for the digital reconstructions appearing on screen - the aim: to illustrate and highlight features discovered in the trenches and described in episodes, to help show the viewers what’s been lost to time.

At Cerne, we follow Bear’s adventures to several historical places, from the Abbey at Sherborne to the top of Abbots Lodge/Porch or 'wizards tower' as he called it, at Cerne Abbas. 3D capturing surviving and comparative remnants of the past, collecting texture references, drone captures and landscape mapping are all part of a mission to re-build the 'lost abbey'.

Whilst the team from diggers, archaeologists, scientists, directors and editors assemble the program and information, Bear's biggest challenge at Shadow Tor is to bring all that different information together to help tell the story.

This involves merging technology and artistry with photogrammetry, texture captures, reference scans, 3d modelling and the benifit of peeking into places very few get to see.

Watch the full episode here: Time Team - Cerne Abbas: Secrets Beneath The Giant | (Dorset) 2025