Tidmouth Beach (T&F)/Behind the Scenes

Background Information
Tidmouth Beach is a fictional beach on the west coast of the Island of Sodor created by the Rev. W. Awdry. It is situated at Tidmouth on The Little Western and The Main Line.

In 1991, Tidmouth Beach was introduced in the third series of Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends. Unlike in the Railway Series, it is significantly larger and is along the island's coastline.

Close-up sets
Close-up sets of Tidmouth Beach 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. Tidmouth Beach 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.