The Dope Sheet - June 6, 2025
This week in animated AI news
This week in news at the forefront of animation and AI, Maya introduces a new AI tool that may prove to be transformative, and New York Magazine reveals how Hollywood is really using AI, despite what they say.
Let’s get into it.
Tools
On Wednesday, Autodesk released MotionMaker for Maya, an AI tool that generates motion directly onto Maya rigs, which you can then edit and refine. This is a big deal. It may seem just like a fancy previz tool for now, but as I’ve written about previously, any model that can control existing animation programs, remains completely editable, and is trained on legally licensed data could be a game-changer as the technology improves. (via CG Channel)
Studios
Lila Shapiro at New York Magazine has written an in-depth piece about the current state of AI in Hollywood, and reports that “Everyone’s using it, they just don’t talk about it.” I found an anecdote about the unofficial use of AI in animation particularly revealing:
One animator who asked to remain anonymous described a costume designer generating concept images with AI, then hiring an illustrator to redraw them — cleaning the fingerprints, so to speak. “They’ll functionally launder the AI-generated content through an artist,” the animator said.
Festivals
After making a stir last year by announcing they would allow shorts made with AI to enter official competition, the Annecy Animation Festival will showcase two AI-made films when it gets underway next week. (via Animation Magazine)
Also at Annecy, a collection of animation labour unions will be hosting a demonstration during the festival to protest the use of AI in animation. The back and forth between tech and labour continues to shape how this story plays out. (via 3DVF)
Games
Epic Games’ Tim Sweeney told IGN that AI will let a 10-person team build a game on par with Breath of the Wild. The claim echoes Jeffrey Katzenberg’s prediction that animated features could be made with a tenth of today’s crew sizes. (via IGN)
Executives
Speaking of Katzenberg, the former head of DreamWorks Animation told Axios that AI disruption is similar to the arrival of CGI in the 90s. He added, “If change is uncomfortable, irrelevance will be much harder.” Ouch. (via Axios)
Katzenberg also doesn’t seem to be slowing down with his investment in AI start-ups either. The latest is Creatify, an AI advertising firm. (via Fast Company)
Artists
Finally, Abel Gongora, season 2 director of the popular anime Dandadan from Science SARU, talks about pushing back against AI in his own way by insisting on using real pencils on real paper in the show’s opening credits. It’s all about celebrating the human hand in the frame. (via Comicbook.com)
Seeya next time,
Matt Ferg.