The new system blends 2D and 3D techniques, promising to blur the line between concept art and production.
Canada’s Mercury Filmworks (The Bob’s Burgers Movie, Hilda, The Wonderful World of Mickey Mouse, The Lion Guard) and France and Canada’s Blue Spirit Studios (Blue Eye Samurai, What if/Marvel, Rocket and Groot), part of TF1 Group’s Newen Studios, have launched Seraphim, a new animation pipeline that produces high end animation by blending 2D and 3D techniques, promising to blur the line between concept art and production.
Seraphim brings together Mercury Filmworks' 2D animation with Blue Spirit's 3D production capabilities, combining both studios’ pre-production and storytelling styles. According to the companies, the partnership “will deliver ground-breaking premium animated content that is visually breathtaking and narratively compelling.”
The pipeline, designed for high-budget projects for adult and family audiences, offers comprehensive production services from visual development to post-production. It leverages both studios’ creative and production resources across hubs in Ottawa, Montreal, Paris, and Angoulême locations boasting access to top talent as well as tax credits and financial incentives.
The pipeline is onboarding its first client, with visual development set to begin this summer.
“Seraphim addresses the global shortage for reliable sophisticated animation capabilities for big-budget series and movies,” said Mercury Filmworks CEO Clint Eland. “It will operate as a bespoke production service for each project and be configured to meet specific creative and production needs. Our clients are producers seeking a design and production pipeline solution for unique and artistically ambitious projects that push the boundaries of animation.”
“By combining our strengths, we can explore new creative horizons and deliver sophisticated animated content with compelling characters, intricate stories, and groundbreaking visuals,” added Blue Spirit CEO Olivier Lelardoux. “This unique approach ensures that each animation produced is not just a project, but a masterpiece.”
Mercury Filmworks and Blue Spirit Productions note that Seraphim is not for use on their original content productions and will not impact the studios’ service work development and productions.
Source: Mercury Filmworks
Debbie Diamond Sarto is news editor at Animation World Network.
