McColl Farm (T&F)/Behind the Scenes

Background Information
McColl Farm is a fictional farm on the Island of Sodor, created by Jenny McDade.

The farm first appeared in the sixth series episode Toby Had a Little Lamb, which first aired in 2002. Its last appearance was in the twenty-fourth series episode Cleo the Road Engine, which was released in 2020.

Close-up models
Close-up models of some areas of McColl Farm were built to be used for scenes involving the close-up scale figures.

CGI set
In 2009, the series introduced Computer-Generated Imagery (CGI) as a replacement for the show's long-standing live-action models. McColl Farm was recreated from scratch in CGI by Nitrogen Studios. The models for the set were "hand-sculpted" in Maya, a 3D animation and modelling software.

According to Greg Tiernan, the CGI models are subjected to many rounds of review before they are submitted to HiT Entertainment for final input and approval.