Canicas

IMCINE / Cocoa López

Runtime: 12 Minutes | Production time: 3 years

The Challenge

Create a short film that resembles a 2D Animated Cel style from the 70’s and 80’s in full 3D

References:

Paperman, 101 Dalmatians, Triplettes of Belleville

Our Take

We crafted a unique pipeline that respects the technical limitations of vintage multi-plane cameras, restricting animation and camera movements for authenticity.

By stylizing motion to echo the snappy, energetic charm of 80s animation, we achieved a perfect balance of nostalgic artistry and modern precision.

Raw Animation | Animatic

How we did it:

(Use our custom player to explore the layering process for this shot)

Canicas

New tools:

We developed a series of tools to optimize the rendering workflow from 3D to 2D, transitioning the pipeline from full 3D to TVPaint for frame retouching and paint-over. At the core is a custom 3D Xsheet that calculates and renders only the necessary frames based on limited animation principles, then rearranges and integrates them efficiently within TVPaint. This approach maintains artistic integrity while significantly reducing rendering times.