{"id":16599,"date":"2025-06-26T18:18:10","date_gmt":"2025-06-26T16:18:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/initial.mentalworks.me\/?post_type=realisation&p=16599"},"modified":"2025-08-27T11:49:25","modified_gmt":"2025-08-27T09:49:25","slug":"sauvages-animation","status":"publish","type":"realisation","link":"https:\/\/initial.mentalworks.me\/en\/achievements\/sauvages-animation\/","title":{"rendered":"Initial and Sauvages"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The magic of animation comes to life thanks to additive manufacturing<\/h2>\n

After Ma Vie de Courgette<\/a>, Claude Barras and his team are back with a moving animated film about protecting our ecosystems: Sauvages<\/strong>. This stop-motion animated film<\/a> offered us a unique opportunity to put our CAD and additive manufacturing expertise to work on a sensitive and technically demanding work.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n
\n \n \"sauvages\n <\/picture>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n\n
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Despite the technical complexity of shooting a film like Sauvages, I could never imagine making it in CGI. Indeed, the path is much more important to me than the final result.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Claude Barras<\/div>\n
Film director<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n\n
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\n \n \"tournage\n <\/picture>\n \u00a9 NICOLAS BURLET \u00a9GR\u00c9GORY BEAUSSART \u00a9NADASDY FILM<\/span>\n <\/div>\n
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An animation challenge: Bringing characters to life<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Stop motion animation is based on a simple but demanding principle: bringing inert characters to life on screen, frame by frame.<\/strong> This means that each character has dozens, if not hundreds, of interchangeable parts (mouths, eyelids, eyebrows, etc.) to enable an infinite number of facial expressions.<\/p>\n

But that’s not all: beneath their expressive faces, these puppets must also be able to hold, run, fall and stand up. They therefore need a solid, articulated, precise skeleton<\/strong> – an invisible structure, but essential to the illusion of movement. This is where our expertise comes into play.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n\n

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From scan to stage: the production stages<\/strong><\/h2>\n

To meet the artistic and technical requirements of the project, our intervention took place in three main phases<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n\n

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1. 3D scanning and reverse engineering<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Our work began with a 3D scan<\/a> of the elements sculpted by the artists. Based on these volumes, we reverse engineered<\/a> the heads to generate usable CAD files<\/strong>. This step ensured the modularity of the various character components and the compatibility of all parts (heads, eyes, joints, etc.).<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n

\n \n \"scan\n <\/picture>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n\n
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\n \n \"cao\n <\/picture>\n <\/div>\n
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2. Design and CAD modeling of all parts<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Each element – face, mouth, eyelid, skeleton – was designed and modeled taking into account mechanical constraints, interlocking, internal articulations, and of course the final aesthetic rendering. A true work of digital goldsmith.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n\n

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3. 2,500+ parts produced in additive manufacturing<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Production was then launched in plastic and metal additive manufacturing:<\/p>\n