Behind the scenes of the Series 12 of Thomas and Friends | Part 4

The twelfth series marked the beginning of the show's transition into wholly-CGI visuals.
Although engine characters' forms continued to be represented by live-action models, their facial expressions were now animated through CGI, aided by a motion-capture process in which the models' moulded faces were replaced by white targets with triangles to fix a computer-animated face in post-production. The characters' traditional resin faces were primarily used only in background shots or scenes where the CGI faces proved difficult to convincingly superimpose (e.g. if there was too much smoke blocking the motion-capture triangles). The static figures traditionally utilized to depict the show's human and animal characters were likewise fully replaced by mobile CGI elements, as were vehicle props whose faces were integrated into their body (most notably Harold), presumably due to the technical challenges of meshing CGI facial features with an identically-coloured and continuous model body. Backgrounds and environments, conversely, continued to be depicted through physical modelwork, albeit with recurring CGI embellishments, such as flocks of birds.

Photos:
https://ttte.fandom.com/wiki/Thomas_the_Tank_Engine_Wiki

Music:
Freefall through Color by Squire Tuck is licensed under a Attribution 4.0 International License