Finalists Announced For Next Lab, A Workshop For Quill And Unreal Engine

Next week in Madrid, industry figures will gather to discuss the cutting edge of animation production.

February 25–26 sees the culmination of the second edition of Next Lab, an initiative to promote the use of vr, xr, and ar tools, as well as video-game rendering engines, in animation and vfx production. Participants came in January with an embryonic project, and over a six-week bootcamp they developed it using vr tool Quill (for animation and modeling) and Unreal Engine (lighting, editing, and camerawork).

The 11 finalists have now been announced. There are four shorts, four series, and three features, hailing from five countries: Argentina, Brazil, Spain, Portugal, and Israel. Watch clips in the video below:

The finalists will pitch the teasers they have produced on February 26, during a weekend that will also involve conferences and other industry activities. Two winners will get to present their project at Annecy’s MIFA market this year.

During the bootcamp, the artists have been tutored by experts in emerging technologies. As the organizers put it, “The workshop deals with the concept that many of the processes currently carried out by several people can be carried out by a single person working in a vr environment, using the most innovative software.”

Speaking to Cartoon Brew, they add, “We strongly believe that animation studios in the future will use vr tools for quick prototyping and all preproduction issues besides animatic and storyboarding, and in some cases (if the project fits) modeling and animation. This new workflow and pipeline will be powered up by real-time engines for the finishing — camerawork, lighting, post-production — of the product.”

Here are details of the finalists:

• 40 Days Without the Sun by João Furia (Brazil). Short film. Workshop participant: João Furia
• Animal Drone League by Christian Garnez (Spain). Series. Workshop participant: Christian Garnez
• Buscando a Ana by Inés Vecilla Fernández (Spain). Short film. Workshop participant: Inés Vecilla Fernández
• Cretácico 96 by Rafael Carmona González (Spain). Series. Workshop participant: Rafael Carmona González
• Draw by Lorenzo Degl ́Innocenti & Xosé Zapata (Spain, Portugal). Feature film. Workshop participant: Nacho Laya Gómez & Lorenzo Degl ́Innocenti
• Oviblion by Claudia Ruiz (Argentina). Feature film. Workshop participant: Ana Inés Flores
• Lumen by Enric Sant (Spain). Short film. Workshop participant: Enric Sant
• Onion & Pea by David Tomaselli & Jose M. Villena (Spain). Series. Workshop participant: Jose M.Villena
• Plock by Javier Bernardino Alonso (Spain). Series. Workshop participant: Javier Bernardino Alonso
• The Elephant I Found Under My Skin by Shaool Levy & Daniel Sweed (Israel). Short film. Workshop participant: Shaool Levy & Daniel Sweed
• Viaje al Bosque Olvidado by Noelia Mª Muíño González (Spain). Feature film. Workshop participant: Noelia Mª Muíño González