LAIKA is animating life with the help of 3D printing technology.

Invention, innovation and adaptation are said to all be creative processes that that apply exiting solutions, techniques or products to new scenarios or changed conditions. Innovative creativity however, refers to thinking that results in new solutions and the ability to do things differently than they’ve ever been done before.  These thinkers and artists often challenge our existing paradigms to uncover and question the status quo. This might be the category of creativity that drives Brian McLean, Head of Rapid Prototyping at LAIKA to think differently about the ways to make an animated film, incorporating 3D printing technologies to bring their ideas to life.

A scene from Kubo and the Two Strings, and a 3D printed Giant Undersea Eyeball character on display at the Portland Art Museum.

Prototoyping Gives Form to Imagination and Brings Characters to Life

The team at LAIKA offers visionary thinking and innovative creativity in the art of animation, and will be displaying a look inside their unique and wonderfully crafted world at the Portland Art Museum with “Animating Life: The Art, Science and Magic of LAIKA”.  Some of LAIKA's award winning films include Coraline, The Boxtrolls, and Kubo and the Two Strings.  The films use characters crafted using the polyjet-based technologies of the J750 and Connex3, which offer life-like qualities enhancing the ability to grab and hold the viewers’ attention, helping to tell stories that will endear for generations to come. “Bringing inanimate objects to life is one of the oldest forms of movie magic.” said Brian – who won a Scientific and Engineering Oscar in 2016 for pioneering Rapid Prototyping in character animation. “By harnessing the power of 3D printers, we are able to create emotions and subtle facial performances never before seen in stop-motion animation.  It is this technology - combined with the amazing talents of so many different creative disciplines within LAIKA - that allow us to tell really complex and enduring stories.”

Innovative Creativity on Display

As a proud sponsor of the retrospective at the Portland Art Museum, we were on hand yesterday for a behind the scenes look at what visitors can expect as the show opens October 14, 2017 and runs through May 20, 2018. Rich Garrity, President of Americas, at Stratasys shared some of his thoughts on the ways in which LAIKA Studios uses 3D printing to bring form and life to their animated characters.  “LAIKA’s advanced use of our 3D printing technology is not only breaking new barriers in film-making, but expanding what's now possible across 3D printing in general to encourage use across a diverse range of businesses. We consider LAIKA a valued and collaborative partner, opening new doors for what our customers can achieve."

Click here for more information on the printers that LAIKA used to create their custom characters.