01 / 7 seconds
Passport scan & removal
Where the passport goes, and how it is removed.
Rockwell Collins / ARINC · 3D modelling, animation & airport visualisation
Now part of Collins Aerospace
Global journeys.
Made clear
in 3D.
Complex equipment.
Simple, visible steps.
From a passport placed on a scanner to a complete check-in hall, we brought airport self-service into focus.
Our work for ARINC and Rockwell Collins combined detailed 3D modelling, passenger instruction animations and visualisations of kiosk configurations in terminals around the world.
Watch the work ↓
3D product modellingInstructional animationTerminal visualisationKiosk configurationsCharacter animation
The commission
A global brief.
A human task.
Help people understand what to do next.
Initially contracted by ARINC, which was acquired by Rockwell Collins, we were asked to animate the processes used by airport self-service check-in machines. We modelled the equipment and showed the actions clearly, step by step.
Those animations were used on machines installed in airports around the world. Alongside them, we recreated terminal environments in 3D to show how different kiosk styles could be configured within existing buildings.
Two connected challenges: explain the equipment to the passenger, and show the installation concept to the client.
01 / Passenger instruction animations
Every movement.
A clear next step.
Show the action. Make the process visible.
A scanner, a print slot, a baggage tag: familiar objects can still need careful explanation. Our animations isolate the relevant part of the machine and show how the passenger interacts with it.
Different models and formats called for different views. Close-ups make small actions legible; wider shots explain where the bag or passenger belongs.
Select a film below to play. Original portrait and landscape formats are preserved.
02 / 14 seconds
Paper or mobile. The same clear action.
Showing both paper and mobile boarding passes at the reader.
03 / 5 seconds
Collecting the boarding pass
The printed pass emerges from the machine.
04 / 6 seconds
Printing the bag tag
Locating the printer and following the tag as it emerges.
05 / 11 seconds
Attaching the bag tag
A close view of a small but important physical task.
06 / 11 seconds
Scanning the tag
Moving from the whole unit to the scanner detail.
07 / 6 seconds
Placing the bag on the belt
Showing the bag in relation to the complete machine.
08 / 7 seconds
Laying the bag flat
An alternative instruction for the position of the bag.
09 / 13 seconds
The enclosed bag-drop sequence
A wider sequence showing the bag entering the enclosed unit.
10 / 8 seconds
Positioning for the camera
The passenger and camera shown together.
11 / 65 seconds
The complete boarding journey
A longer character-led explanation of the biometric gate experience.
12 / 31 seconds
When the passenger needs to step back
Guidance for an exception within the boarding process.
02 / The equipment in 3D
One discipline.
Many machines.
The detail changes. The need for clarity stays the same.
The archive spans freestanding kiosks, bag-drop units, scanners and biometric devices. Each model gives us control over the angle, lighting and movement needed to explain a particular action.
Our role was to model, animate and visualise the equipment and its use.
03 / Airport configuration visualisations
Think beyond
the machine.
See how the equipment belongs in the terminal.
We also modelled existing airport environments and placed different kiosk configurations within them. Counters, finishes, lighting and surrounding architecture provided the context for reviewing the proposals.
The result was a view of the whole arrangement: how individual units related to the desks, the building and one another.
The images below are 3D configuration visualisations, not photographs of completed installations.
Check-in row and kiosk configuration · 3D visualisation
Kiosk groups within the terminal · 3D visualisation
Freestanding kiosks and existing check-in desks · 3D visualisation
Check-in and bag-drop layout · 3D visualisation
Bag-drop concept visualisation · 3D visualisation
Equipment placement within the terminal · 3D visualisation
04 / Hong Kong
The same equipment.
Two perspectives.
From a row of counters to the tag on a bag.
Hong Kong brings the two sides of the brief together. Terminal views show the configuration at scale. Instructional animations move in close to show the individual passenger action.
It is the same physical world, presented differently for the person who needs to understand it.
05 / Building the scene
The work
behind the view.
A terminal is more than a background.
Recreating the environment means building a scene that can be viewed from different positions, with equipment arranged within it. That makes it possible to communicate the configuration as a coherent place.
The Southend working scene shows this process directly: a modelled check-in environment, populated with the kiosk layout.
The bigger picture
Detailed work.
Worldwide reach.
A specialist brief with an international audience.
This project brought together product modelling, character animation, process explanation and airport visualisation. Each element served a practical purpose, from communicating a proposed layout to helping a passenger take the next step.
For IMStudios, it demonstrates how carefully constructed 3D work can make complex systems easier to understand.
Your next project
Something complex
to make clear?
From products and processes to the places they belong, let’s talk about what 3D can help you show.
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