Netflix Animation Studios
2022 | Burbank, California
Manifesting the joy of animation.
Netflix's first dedicated animation studio is a 171,000 sqft facility that is a bold declaration of the streaming giant's intent to become the world's leading animation house.
In the public areas of the first floor, each of the four media architecture exhibits demonstrates novel approaches to permanent installations, featuring not only traditional digital media, but also robotics and kinetics.
As Technical Director, 13th Eye Co-Founder Jay Ho conceived the engineering approach and managed the technical development and production of the project. This ambitious and complex project was the result of close collaboration with the client team and multiple external partners specializing in interior architecture, IT, software development, and mechanical engineering.
This project is another example of success in remote collaboration during the pandemic.
Partners:
Design - Gensler
Production & Engineering - VTProDesign, Oat Foundry
AV Integration - D'Angelo & Associates
IT Integration - Client internal team
The centerpiece, "Drawn Together", features two custom-designed-and-built robots that draw with permanent marker across a 22ft x 4ft paper canvas. Animators at the studio have access to a custom cloud application wherein they collaborate on a virtual canvas -- and the robots manifest their virtual work in real life.
Video credit: Andrew Capeluto
The framed displays of "In My Shoes" use computer vision to create a whimsical experience for viewers, whose facial expressions are "mirrored" by characters from Netflix animation properties.
"Content Showcase" expands the visual impact of traditional direct-view LED display with bordering LED light-boxes that display moving washes of sampled color from the main content.
Video credit: Andrew Capeluto
"Flip Book Wall" consists of a grid of modules that display scenes from animated films and shows. Scenes change in a cascade of movement as the modules cycle through dozens of printed flaps via pre-programmed animations.