Raysan Al-Kubaisi's 3D reconstructions

Time Team's 3D graphics supremo, Raysan Al-Kubaisi, is a talented artist able to bring the archaeology of the trenches to life with striking and often eerily realistic three-dimensional computer models. When his smooth morphing reconstructions are combined with actual film footage of Time Team sites, the viewer is witness to some dramatic effects as presenter Tony Robinson appears to walk through a computer world that emerges from the basic archaeological foundations of a site.

With his special knowledge and love of architecture Raysan brings his own magic to the Time Team party. This was especially useful for the Grace Dieu programme, where it would have been very difficult otherwise to communicate a sense of the scale and structure of Henry V's ship.

'If I'm building a reconstruction then I start with a "wire frame" on the computer,' says Raysan. 'This is drawn with each part having its own "identity" within the whole. If something is going to move it has to be a separate part within the object. The next stage is rendering the model with textures to make it look solid and more realistic. It's here that I play around with light and shadow.'

Raysan can create some real depth to a graphic by altering the way a virtual light source is reflected from the surfaces of the model. The next step is animation.

'To make an animation work properly you need to blend different frames together so that you get a smooth movement,' says Raysan. 'Of course sometimes when you need a bit of reality you need to make things judder about a bit too. The end result can be a very short piece of film that takes a good couple of days' work.'

Audio file: Listen to Raysan talking about his reconstructions.

Meet the Team: Find out more about Raysan and how he produces his reconstructions.

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