Join us at Annecy International Animation Film Festival 2026
We’re heading back to southern France for the Annecy International Animation Film Festival this year, and we’d love to see you there!
Join us for a selection of sessions and workshops that will explore the latest developments in real-time animation. Here’s what we’ve got in store for you.
Join us for a selection of sessions and workshops that will explore the latest developments in real-time animation. Here’s what we’ve got in store for you.
Courtesy of Angel Studios
Painted Worlds: Five Years of TV Animation in Unreal
Speaker: Keith Lango, VP of Production and Co-Founder, Shining Isle Productions1:30 PM, June 24
During five years spent producing a stylized animated TV series entirely in Unreal Engine, Shining Isle Productions has pushed the tool well beyond its expected boundaries—from developing a painterly look using custom shading techniques to transitioning from Maya in favor of animating fully inside UE.
This talk will cover the reasoning behind those decisions, explore the challenges and wins along the way, and provide a glimpse into the studio’s experiments with using MetaHumans in unconventional ways to serve stylized character animation.
Courtesy of Agora Studio
Beyond Simple Keyframes: Real-Time Animation Workflow in UE5
Speaker: Sebastien Dussault, Cinematic Director, Agora Studio11:15 AM, June 25
In this session, Agora Studio will explore how adopting UE5 has redefined the real-time animation pipeline behind their animated A-COM series. By performing previs, set dressing, rigging, animation, and lighting directly in-engine, they eliminate traditional loops to work within a full-scene context.
The session will dive into custom Sequencer structure and advanced animation workflows, including smears, stylization, and shot sculpting. This cohesive ecosystem demonstrates how high-fidelity visuals and real-time playback converge to significantly boost creation speed, precision, and refinement.
Courtesy of Praxinos
Workshops
We’re also hosting five animation workshops at Annecy on Tuesday, June 23.
- 9:00 – 10:00 AM (1 hr) Breaking the Unreal Look: Stylized Rendering with Flair - Santiago Montesdeoca
- 10:30 AM – 12:30 PM (2 hrs) Stylized Rigging Tools in Unreal Engine 5.8 - Chase Cooper, Benoit Gadreau
- 1:00 – 2:00 PM (1 hr) Working Effectively with Subdivision Surfaces in Unreal Engine - Rich Hurrey, Brad Clark
- 2:30 – 4:30 PM (2 hrs) In the Playground: Fun with Animating in Unreal Engine 5.8 - Fredrik Nilsson, Stephane Biava
- 5:00 – 6:00 PM (1 hr) How to Blend 2D & 3D in Unreal Engine Thanks to Odyssey? - Yann Montgermont
Attending the festival? Come say hi!
We’ll be at Booth A.77 at Annecy this year, and we’d love you to swing by to catch up. There’ll be Epic experts on hand to discuss the latest and greatest Unreal Engine animation features, as well as folks who can’t wait to talk to you about MetaHuman. See you there!