Animation is a time -consuming process, which requires numerous steps, including storyboarding, rendering, composition, and lighting to develop a single scene. If a director wants to experiment with a different tech of a scene, an animation team has to go back before finalizing the scene and things have to be compromised.
ChioA startup established by a mixture of Hollywood executive and technologists, wants to create an AI -powered tool to make the creations easier to produce dynamic content.
The startup production company was born from Rideback, which developed the Lego Movie franchise. Rideback co -CEO, Michael Lofaso and Jonathan Erich, are part of the founder of Chihu, as well as Rideback co -founder Dan Lin. Other members of the founder include Chris Diferia, former president of Dream Works Animation and former Apple AI researchers, Habert Tasai and Wei Cheng Kovo.
In a conversation with the Tech Crunch, Lofaso said that the Chihu wants to be on the way for the studios and the creators to revive its animation.
“What we got through Rideback is that in Hollywood, the process of creating animation was becoming more expensive and complicated,” said Lofaso. “It was difficult for the creators to create an idea in the world. We wanted to create a tool that belonged to the creators’ workflow and make their lives easier.”
Chihu’s tools provide creators a way to type proto and move faster on animation. They help with the form of data such as integration, file conversion, and consistency, allow creators to move between different stages of the animation process.
Chihu’s workflow, which can connect with existing platforms such as Maya or Family, to make changes in animation to users and immediately. Allows to see. Creators can turn on or off the features of AI to gain more control over the modification process. Chhu uses the Inner AI model to help create character and assets, and allows users to connect the Open AI, runway, and other third -party models for tasks such as post generation, motion stylization, and scenario.
Chihu did not announce any launch partners, but the company said it was already working with several IP holders, studios and creators. Chihu has raised $ 10 million in funds led by Grikroft, with points 72 ventures, base sets, headline Asia, powerhouse capital, playground preparations and ridebacks.
Gree Craft Principal, Brent Baltimore, said the venture firm has always been inclined to invest in companies that create “New Age” media. He added that he thinks Chihu has the right mix of Hollywood, media and technology DNA to solve problems in animation pipelines.
Baltimore said in an interview, “Chihu has the opportunity to reduce the cost of overall animation production.” This means that sophisticated creators can easily create animation films without expensive studio setup. […] The AI, the company is trying to put an enterprise or large studio -level workflow in a tool that enables independent film stars to be creative with dynamic features. It is also doing all this by providing creative control to users, which creations always want.
Looking at the future, Lofaso said that when Chho is working primarily with businesses and processes, it intends to produce more consumer -based products. This can help Chihu compete like startup Excel -backed Kart Wheel And Neur -backed cenimonWhich are also making tools tools to help simplify aspects of animation preparation.