Animationsfabrik is a production company focused on computer animation, cartoon movies and visual effects.

Since its foundation in May 2000 the company is concerned with concept planning and realization of animated movie productions in 3D and 2D, as well as digital visual effects for advertisement, cinema and TV. Until today Animationsfabrik with their studios in Hamburg and Cologne have contributed to production of nine cinema movies, several TV series and a large number of commercials.

Due to their company structure, Animationsfabrik are able to offer the entire production process at one stop. Moreover, the individual production stages, such as compositing, 3D modeling, motion capturing or HD editing are also provided as individual services.

And the company also supports their customers in the field of story and project development with their creative and logistic services and through consulting for planning and management of movie projects.

Services

Design / Storyboard
Designs and storyboards form the essential basis for every project, no matter whether it's an epic cinema film or a 20 second advertising spot. With the storyboard the treatment and/or script is converted into film images and then timed as Animatic in layout language. After this step the type and length of the settings for the film are fixed.
In the design the appearance of the characters is developed, requisites are drafted and landscapes and sets are designed.

3D Modeling and Animation
During the last years 3D animation films such as "Toy Story" and "Up" were spectacular successes around the world. The way these productions revolutionized the "look and feel" of family entertainment, their unique ability to delight audiences of all ages is a phenomenon without precedent. Long since, 3D-animated characters cannot be found on the movie screen only. In series, advertisements, music videos - they all follow the trend with head-spinning speed.

Animationsfabrik dealt with the technical as well as creative challenges of this new movie language quite early and, today, we can refer to a number of impressive 3D-productions.

2D Animation
More than 70 years after Disney's "Snow White" animated cartoon movies haven't lost any of their charm and magic. The unique aesthetics of hand-drawn animations in combination with lovingly designed characters and an intriguing story put a sparkle in the eyes children and adults alike.

Due to our contributions to many animated cartoon movies, TV series and commercials with animated effects, we can draw on our large pool of creative, technology-related and logistical know-how. This leaves us in a position to be able to cover all aspects of animated cartoon production - from storyboard and design to animation and the complete digital finishing process - on a high artistic level and within an calculable and reasonable time frame.

Motion Capture
Motion Capturing enables transferring and recording of complex real movements onto 3D characters in real time. Consequently, animation of the characters is no longer artificially generated but adopted directly from nature. Working with professional actors, additionally allows for elaborate directing work.

With our Visualeyez VZ3000-Tracking system we provide our customers with one of the most powerful MoCap technologies. The real-time feature reduces post-processing efforts to a minimum and allows for faster and more flexible productions.

Massive / Crowd simulation
Massive is an Oscar®-winning 3D software for realization of mass scenes for movies and TV. Based on intelligent agents and a procedural animation system this technology allows for generation of very complex scenes with a large number of characters.

Editing / Grading
Professional HD-editing with the most varied real-time features at various HD work stations and color grading in the stereoscopy-compatible in-house theatre.

Project Management
Before a project is transferred to production, it is first analyzed by means of our in-house management software and the ideal concept is determined for in-time and cost-effective completion. Deviations from the schedule are detected by the system over the course of the project and corrected accordingly, which ensures foresighted project management.