JUNGLE FEVER.

WHEN THINGS GET TOO HOT FOR SHEENA STAR GENA LEE NOLIN, A DIGITAL STUNT DOUBLE SWINGS INTO ACTION

At one time or another, most of us have thought of our work environment as a "jungle." For Gena Lee Nolin, that description couldn't be truer. A former Baywatch star, she has traded in her surf surroundings for new roots as Sheena, a modern protector of the jungle. In the hour-long live-action television drama named for the character--who was raised in the jungle--Sheena uses an ancient tribal secret to morph into a hawk, leopard, elephant, and various other animals in her quest to keep the wilds safe and free.

Sheena's shape-shifting isn't the only transformation that occurs during the show. In situations that are especially dangerous or impossible to accomplish otherwise, Nolin is replaced with a stand-in--a 3D digital double. "We've created a 3D version of Sheena to act in complicated situations, like running through a herd of wildebeests, jumping across a river, or scaling a cliff," says Art David, visual effects supervisor at Victory FX Animation in Orlando, Florida. "There's a lot of interaction between Sheena and wild animals, and many scenes would put [Nolin] or even a stunt-person too close to the animals for comfort," adds Douglas co-executive producer at Corsica Productions, the production company.

Set elements and backgrounds also are digitally replaced or composited. Although the program's geographical focus is a lush African jungle, the episodes are filmed on sound stages and locations at Disney MGM Studios in Orlando. Photorealistic computer-generated images and some stock film footage are often added to the scenes. "We're trying to build a specific universe for this show, which encompasses a lot of fantasy aspects, and it's difficult to do many of the effects practically without having the budget or time schedule of a feature film" explains Steven Sears, co-executive producer at Corsica. "So we decided early on to do as much as we could with CGI."

Seeing Double

Based on the 1930s comic book "Sheena the Jungle Queen]' the Columbia TriStar syndicated production began airing this past fall. Of all the digital effects in Sheena, the most stunning by far are those involving the 3D character. First hired by production facility Disney i.d.e.a.s, to do the morphs only, Victory FX expanded its role after broaching the idea of a digital Sheena. Sears notes that the digital Sheena was so convincing that it appears in the show's opening title sequence.

For the computer-generated Sheena, a team led by David used a Cyberware scanner to create a digital reference model of the actress. Next, Joe Spadaro, modeling supervisor, built a NURBS framework around the scanned data using Alias|Wavefront's Maya, then converted it into subdivision surfaces to make the model seamless--from the head to the toes. For further accuracy while building its model, the group used reference photos taken of Nolin from all angles as well as precise physical measurements.