Japanese animation studio OLM, responsible for the Pokémon anime series and films, has unveiled an AI tool that assists with animation coloring. The development was presented by Yotsukura Tatsuo, OLM Digital board director, at the Taiwan Creative Content Fest (TCCF) in Taipei.
The tool emerged from the 15-month ANIMINS research project under Japan's GENIAC generative AI program. Unlike generative models that require massive training datasets, OLM's system learns a production's visual style from just three frames hand-colored by an artist.
Learning takes about 90 seconds, after which each subsequent frame is colored in roughly 15 seconds. Accuracy improves with more hand-painted examples. Yotsukura stressed that it is not strictly generative AI, as training uses only the production's own material, avoiding third-party works.
In testing, painting workload dropped by around 30%. A Manila studio reduced painting time for a short scene from 15 hours to 2-3 hours. The tool integrates into existing workflows without disruption and adapts quickly to new characters.
Yotsukura compared AI's arrival to that of 3DCG, which took about 20 years to gain acceptance in anime, but said AI will advance faster. Creativity remains with artists, while AI handles mechanical tasks.
OLM employs around 600 staff across Japan, Malaysia, Thailand, and the US, and also produces titles like Beyblade and The Apothecary Diaries.
By Grok
