The Fifth Edition Of Next Lab Generation Arrives In Annecy With Its Winning Projects
Skwigly
For the fifth consecutive year, the winners of the Next Lab Generation call will be present at Annecy MIFA 2025, having the opportunity to show their projects at one of the most internationally relevant events in the animation industry. The festival will host, for the fifth year running, a conference on Next Lab Generation, the annual event held last March in Madrid, which focuses on innovation, new technologies, and process optimization in animation and video game production.
Ashes by Fran de Olano; Echoes of Drowning by Baboo Matsusaki, Gabriela Diniz, and Caco Diniz; and Padre nuestro que estáis en los cielos by Aroa Talens Ferrís, were crowned winners of Next Lab Generation 2025 by its jury, made up of creative director María Luquero; director and designer James Castillo; and art director Tigran Arakelyan from Armenia.
These three innovative projects, selected from over 70 submissions, will have the opportunity to be showcased at the Next Lab Generation space on Friday, June 13 at 9:45 a.m., in the Rotonde de l’Europe at the Imperial Palace. Details of the event can be found on the festival’s website. During the conference, representatives of the projects will discuss the experience of participating in the Next Lab call and its workshop, in which, over the course of seven weeks, they developed their creative processes by incorporating technologies such as VR and real-time rendering engines into their workflows.
Next Lab R&D&I: Applied Innovation with a Holistic Approach
The presentation will also feature a speech by José Luis Farías, Director of Next Lab, who will share with attending professionals an analysis of the Next Lab’s journey. Over its five-year history, this initiative has supported 81 projects from more than 30 countries, offering training and guidance from professionals while applying R&D&I and the latest technologies. Additionally, some of the most recent initiatives developed by Next Lab R&D&I, the innovation and research arm of Next Lab, will be unveiled.
One such initiative is the “HaMo Real-Time Animation System”, one of the most advanced systems in the field of digital puppetry. This cutting-edge project stands out from other available alternatives due to its high adaptability. While other motion capture technologies require a controlled environment and special cameras, HaMo’s inertial motion capture technology allows it to be used in live events or real-time productions for social media in virtually any location.
Also to be unveiled at the event are the latest advancements of “Next Lab Grease Pencil VR”, a software still under development that allows drawing and animating using virtual environments. This new tool opens up a new way of working in animation production, enabling faster prototyping and preproduction processes for all types of animated audiovisual content. A demo of the tool can be downloaded for free by following the instructions at this link. Next Lab Grease Pencil VR is a project by Paramotion Films made possible thanks to funding from the CDTI as part of the call for applied business R&D projects in the audiovisual and video game sectors.
Second Edition of XR&Games Area, the Space Dedicated to Video Games and XR
Following the success of its first edition, XR technologies return to Annecy with a premium platform thanks to the XR&Games Area. This space, open to all registered attendees, focuses on video games and immersive experiences in a setting designed for discovery and networking. It will once again bring together professionals from the animation and new media sectors and serve as a catalyst for innovation. In addition to an XR and video game showroom, the space will feature conferences, pitch sessions, and a cinematic and video game trailer competition co-organized for the second year in a row with Weird Market. The selected works will be screened on June 10 in the Salle de l’Europe at the Impérial Palace. The full program is available here.
Next Lab Generation 2025 is primarily sponsored by the Community of Madrid, through the Department of Culture, Tourism, and Sports; with the participation of Ibermedia Next; the collaboration of the ICAA, the Ministry of Culture, Madrid Film Office, Madrid Audiovisual Cluster, Annecy Festival, and FOM; and the support of Weird Market, Pixel Cluster, and DIBOOS.