Going Beyond What’s Been Done Before – Cause and FX on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds S3
OCTOBER 31 2025
There’s something special about seeing your name roll up next to Star Trek.
The franchise has been redefining what’s possible in science fiction for nearly 60 years, and Strange New Worlds S3 takes that legacy even further.
In a recent VFX Voice feature, the series’ creative leads shared how virtual production expanded their sets, storytelling, and scope from the haunting depths of the Gorn Hive to the infinite reaches of space. Alongside some of the industry’s biggest names – Pixomondo, Ghost VFX, Storm VFX, Crafty Apes, Zoic Studios and others – our team at Cause and FX was proud to help bring this ambitious season to life.
Blending Practical and Digital Worlds
The third season of Strange New Worlds was built around the mantra: capture as much as possible in-camera. That meant visual effects and virtual production had to work hand-in-hand with special effects, lighting, and art departments to extend environments seamlessly, hiding the line between what’s real and what’s rendered.
The Gorn Hive sequence is a perfect example of this. Practical pods were built on set, extended through virtual production to create a living, breathing alien environment that felt real (and terrifying!).
For us, that balance between the practical and the digital is what defines modern visual effects, and it’s something our VFX artists bring to every project.
“While the crew of the Enterprise battled the Gorn, our team worked behind the scenes to make every frame feel real. Using a mix of 2D and 3D procedural assets, we crafted everything from phaser fire and sparks to eerie atmospheric effects and the haunting detail of torn-out eyes. Realistic lighting and shadow work were critical, helping the digital elements sit naturally within the live-action plates. By building flexible lighting setups, our compositing artists could make interactive adjustments in post, refining each shot with precision and efficiency,” explains Paul Dickson, VFX Supervisor at Cause and FX.
Collaboration Across the Galaxy
Big shows like Star Trek depend on collaboration at a global scale. Each studio brings its own speciality, with shared creative and technical problem-solving across time zones and workflows.
For the Strange New Worlds team, that meant every frame had to meet the expectations of one of the world’s most passionate fanbases, while delivering to the highest technical standard.
“From our small introduction on Season 5 Star Trek Discovery, we’ve now been entrusted alongside large scale, international vendors. The collaborative environment our client creates is just phenomenal,” shares Dickson.
Pushing Technology, and Creativity
Virtual production isn’t just a new toolset; it’s a new mindset.
As Supervising Executive and Lead VFX Supervisor Jason Zimmerman said in the VFX Voice interview:
“We’re building something for the day we shoot… the most successful assets start practically and iterate into a virtual asset. No one knows where it starts and ends.”
That same ethos sits at the heart of Cause and FX, practical thinking meets creative innovation.
What We Learnt
Every project leaves its mark. For Star Trek: Strange New Worlds S3, it was about scale, collaboration, and precision, pushing both our artists and our systems to new levels.
“The team at Trek are an incredibly talented bunch, and the way we collaborate is something special. Most of the time, we get the freedom to take the brief and run with it from start to finish. That kind of trust isn’t something you come across every day, and it not only allows us to create awesome visuals but also keeps our team deeply engaged. I’ve admired Star Trek for as long as I can remember, so to contribute to a world I truly believe in feels like a real privilege,” says Dickson.
Explore More
You can read the full VFX Voice feature here:
Going Beyond What Was Done Before for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds S3
And for more behind-the-scenes insights into our recent projects, check out our Case Studies or follow Cause and FX on LinkedIn.
