Avid Technology > Case Studies > Leveraging IoT in Animation: A Case Study on Netflix's Trollhunters

Leveraging IoT in Animation: A Case Study on Netflix's Trollhunters

Technology Category

Sensors - Acoustic Sensors
Sensors - Autonomous Driving Sensors

Applicable Industries

Equipment & Machinery
Glass

Applicable Functions

Product Research & Development

Use Cases

Time Sensitive Networking

About The Customer

The customer in this case is the production team of Netflix's animated series, Trollhunters. The team includes the director, Guillermo del Toro, lead editor John Laus, editor Dean Jackson, and Graham Fisher, who comes from a background in documentary editing. The team was tasked with creating an engaging and visually stunning animated series, with a complex blend of sound design, music cues, scene sketching, and character movement manipulation. They needed a reliable and efficient tool to facilitate their work and enable easy collaboration. The team also included assistant editors who helped with assemblies and media management.

The Challenge

The challenge was to bring the fantasy world and characters of Netflix’s animated series Trollhunters to life. The series, created by Guillermo del Toro, required a complex blend of sound design, music cues, scene sketching, and character movement manipulation. The team also needed to collaborate efficiently, given the evolving storyline and the fantastical creatures that were part of the series. The process of animation editing was significantly different from documentary editing, which was the background of the editor, Graham Fisher. The team had to work with various components of the episode, from storyboards to dialogues, sound, and music, and knit them together to create a cohesive and engaging narrative.

The Solution

The team turned to Avid Media Composer to build the sound design and music cues, sketch scenes, manipulate character movements, and collaborate with ease. Avid Media Composer's tools helped in manipulating everything from a character’s eyeline to mocking up camera moves and lens choices. The software also facilitated easy collaboration among the editorial team, allowing them to easily open each other’s episodes to cross-reference creative decisions. The assistant editor team also used Avid for assemblies and media management. Avid’s compositing tools were used to create alternate versions of scenes, which were then incorporated into the show. The software proved to be reliable, with zero failures reported over two years of production.

Operational Impact

The use of Avid Media Composer resulted in a seamless and efficient production process for the Trollhunters team. The software's tools enabled the team to manipulate various elements of the animation, from character movements to camera moves and lens choices. This allowed for a high level of creativity and flexibility in the production process. The software also facilitated easy collaboration among the team members, enabling them to cross-reference creative decisions and work together effectively. The reliability of the software was another significant benefit, with no failures reported over two years of production. This ensured that the production process was not disrupted and that the team could focus on their creative work.

Quantitative Benefit

The team was able to efficiently collaborate and cross-reference creative decisions using Avid Media Composer.
The software facilitated the manipulation of various elements, from a character’s eyeline to camera moves and lens choices.
Avid’s compositing tools were used to create alternate versions of scenes, which were then incorporated into the show.