Since opening its doors 15 years ago, Cyber Group Studios has relentlessly pursued new technology that could enhance and enrich storytelling and the overall entertainment experience. \u201cTechnological innovation is in the DNA of the company,\u201d says Pierre Sissmann, chairman and CEO. \u201cIf you can improve the image, you can immerse your viewers into the stories even better.\u201d<\/p>\n
Its use of CG in the preschool series Ozie Boo! <\/em>was innovative for its time. Zou <\/em>was among the first shows in the preschool genre to animate the movement of CG grass and fur on an affordable budget. Mini Ninjas<\/em> mixed 2D and CG and used a scale that could adapt lighting, compositing and the like. For Zorro The Chroni<\/em>cles<\/em>, the company developed a tool that enabled 100 different animated characters to be featured in the same image without replication. Continuing on its path of innovation, Cyber Group Studios has moved into real-time animation. This new technology accelerates the production process and enables a mutualization of linear series\u2019 animated content across social media, video games and digital games and the production of artwork for toys and other consumer products.<\/p>\n The inspiration to venture into this new territory came following season one of Gigantosaurus<\/em>, which was accompanied by a video game and ancillary products based on the IP. \u201cWhen I started to see all the different kinds of content that we were producing based on the series, I began to think about how we could utilize the pipeline between all of the product and media around Gigantosaurus<\/em>,\u201d says Olivier Lelardoux, senior VP of studio and associate producer at Cyber Group Studios.<\/p>\n The team began to study the work of Epic Games and its Unreal Engine technology, as well as motion capture. \u201cThere are two aspects of real-time animation: motion capture for the animation and the game engines for the 3D real-time rendering, compositing and special effects,\u201d Lelardoux explains. \u201cWe started developing both sides of the global real-time animation pipeline.\u201d<\/p>\n The first result was amazing, Lelardoux says. \u201cWe realized that it\u2019s very easy to improve the quality and level of detail in our animation. We also learned that we can produce so much faster through the motion-capture systems and the real-time compositing\/special effects\/rendering engines. As a creator, it\u2019s amazing to utilize all of these aspects, making sure that there\u2019s a real consistency between all of the platforms you can work with. We\u2019re able to produce very good-quality content for digital platforms and social networks. Also, we are optimizing the budget for traditional series.\u201d<\/p>\n The first series from Cyber Group Studios to make use of this new technology is Giganto Club<\/em>. The show\u2014directed by Lelardoux, written by Mickael Frison and technically supervised by Andreas J. Carlen\u2014is inspired by the Gigantosaurus<\/em> series. It allows its dino characters to discuss events that link back to the original show, along with host games, musical segments and more. The series can be live-streamed and can link to Instagram or TikTok to talk directly to kids.<\/p>\n \u201cBecause we are using real-time animation, we can not only produce this as a one-off, but we can also produce targeted and individualized versions,\u201d says Sissmann. \u201cIf it\u2019s on the air in a given country, we can communicate immediately with the kids in that country, adding a real-time sequence into the show itself. It\u2019s built in two different ways: as a stand-alone comedy program that you can watch, and as a companion to the Gigantosaurus<\/em> series that kids can participate in.\u201d<\/p>\n Real-time animation is \u201cfaster, cheaper and much better quality,\u201d he adds. It also allows the audience to interact with the content in real time and can be localized in any language.<\/p>\n Cyber Group Studios is currently building a large studio in the north of France slated to open at the end of the first quarter to support these efforts and will use this real-time animation technology with new IP looking ahead. This includes Monster in My Pocket<\/em>, co-produced with MEG, and Alex Player<\/em>, co-produced with Bee Prod and Webedia.<\/p>\n Cyber Group Studios is currently building a large studio in the north of France to support these efforts and will use this real-time animation technology with new IP going forward.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re passionate about what we\u2019re doing,\u201d says Sissmann. \u201cWe think about how to use technology to tell stories in a better way. We have to follow that trend; anything that helps us immerse viewers even more into our stories is something we should be looking for. We\u2019ve been doing this since the beginning of Cyber Group Studios.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Pierre Sissmann, chairman and CEO of Cyber Group Studios, and Olivier Lelardoux, senior VP of studio and associate producer, discuss pioneering the use of real-time animation technology. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":350,"featured_media":20039,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[145,5865,357],"class_list":["post-20038","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-top-stories","tag-cyber-group-studios","tag-olivier-lelardoux","tag-pierre-sissmann","pmpro-has-access"],"yoast_head":"\n