New proprietary GenAI integrated toolkit, developed on NVIDIA Omniverse, is designed for development, production, and post-production of new animated content as well as upgrading existing catalogs.
Kartoon Studios announced its new proprietary generative AI toolkit and workflow, Gadget A.I., designed for development, production, and post-production of new animated content and to upgrade the quality and distribution of existing catalog episodes and acquisitions. With its introduction, the company aims to usher in a new era of innovation and efficiency in animation production while redefining industry standards.
Chief AI officer and Toon Media Networks president Todd Steinman leads the initiative with support from the internal team that, for the last year, has developed and refined elements of the toolkit.
“During the past year, we have dedicated a great deal of time and resources to understand the opportunities with AI as it pertains to our business and have been speaking extensively with leaders in the field,” said Kartoon Studios chairman and CEO Andy Heyward. “Our commitment to harnessing AI reflects a pivotal shift in our industry’s approach to content creation and distribution. By connecting various tools via OpenUSD into Gadget A.I. with NVIDIA Omniverse, we aim to streamline production processes, accelerate quality, and significantly reduce both times to market and expenditures. Todd has done a brilliant job of using technology to turn Kartoon Channel! to profit in record time for a streaming service, and his fluency in digital technology makes him a natural fit to lead this initiative into the future.”
“AI has reshaped the media and entertainment landscape, driving demands for more cutting-edge technology to maintain productivity and efficiency,” added NVIDIA vice president of Developer Relations and head of Media and Entertainment Richard Kerris.” By leveraging NVIDIA RTX GPUs and the Omniverse development platform, Kartoon Studios will equip producers and media professionals with new tools and applications to elevate their workflows to the next level.”
By aggregating various AI tools into one toolkit and workflow, Gadget A.I. aims to optimize a range of production services in both time and cost.
“Our focus lies in redefining production paradigms and creating opportunities,” added Heyward. “With Gadget A.I., we anticipate cost savings and accelerated time to market, all while fostering job growth. We anticipate this new cutting-edge approach will enable our products to become more profitable while offering a better experience for viewers.”
“Gadget A.I. integrates cutting-edge technologies, including video synthesis, neural radiance fields, and video style transfers, in conjunction with NVIDIA Omniverse and deep learning AI to elevate animation quality while optimizing production efficiencies,” noted Steinman. “Gadget A.I. also revolutionizes the dubbing process, traditionally a laborious and costly endeavor. By leveraging AI-driven solutions, Kartoon Studios anticipates accelerated global market entry for its content, marking a significant leap forward in animation distribution.”
Gadget A.I. leverages NVIDIA Omniverse core technologies for OpenUSD and NVIDIA RTX ray tracing to facilitate seamless collaboration, real-time simulation, and rendering. It will also include a spectrum of other production services, including character design, scriptwriting, music, animation, resolution enhancement, and dubbing, all unified to enhance workflow efficiencies. It leverages state-of-the-art NVIDIA RTX GPUs, deep learning, and generative AI to unlock creative possibilities and potential cost savings.
Steinman continued, “As part of our ethical A.I. use and supporting our desire to protect our own intellectual property, we plan to use Bria.ai, which employs licensed, certified datasets to ensure our AI-driven animation production respects copyrights and upholds the integrity of original content.”
Concluded Heyward, “Forty years ago, we created Inspector Gadget, a simple 2D cartoon, which decades later was recognized in Vanity Fair for predicting many of the technologies that have become part of our daily modern life, from Google search to smartwatches, iPads, iPods, Google Maps, and more. It seemed only fitting that we name our AI platform, which we believe will revolutionize the way animation is produced going forward, Gadget A.I.”
Note that Kartoon Studios’ proprietary A.I. animation toolkit and pipeline is not endorsed by nor in any way associated with WildBrain and its proprietary brands.
Source: Kartoon Studios
Debbie Diamond Sarto is news editor at Animation World Network.
