A CORNISH CGI specialist studio has recreated legendary rock guitarist Jimi Hendrix’s former Brook Street flat in London, helping secure National Lottery funding to launch a new historic space.

Hayle based visual effects studio, TIGERX, was enlisted by Handel House to develop a 3D computer generated visualisation of the Mayfair flat, bringing together cutting edge technology and a selection of original photos from the era.

The short animated film was used to create a hyper-realistic vision of a fully reconstructed flat and was critical in securing funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund and private donors, allowing Handel House to restore the small flat to a realistic snapshot of Jimi Hendrix’s life in 1969.

From a reverse-strung, right-handed Fender Stratocaster and vinyl records, to a scorched cigarette burning in a white ashtray among psychedelic furnishings, the video is a meticulously crafted depiction of 23 Brook Street; the doorstep to the London music scene of the late swinging 60s.

This was a dream brief for TIGERX director, Dougie Cross, a huge Hendrix fan, who said: ’To be able to recreate a period in the life of one of your idols, with access to such rare and detailed research material was amazing.

’I’m a bit of a Hendrix buff, which gave us a head start. I helped make sure everything was as authentic as possible, right down to the strings on the guitar.’

The digital design team at TIGERX worked with original black and white photography, borrowing colour palettes and patterns from Hendrix’s clothes worn at the time.

The animation was composed from fastidious research, interviews with those who knew and loved Hendrix, and a creative perspective of the era.

Visit the studio’s website for more at www.tigerx.com