As the year wraps up, I wanted to share a short holiday we created here at Inkrise, our small animation studio using AI-assisted workflows in a story-first way. We’ve been focusing all year on craft, taste, and intentional shot design.
This six-minute animated Christmas short, Santa X, was a chance to experiment while still chasing a handcrafted feel. From script to screen, it came together in about three weeks with a small team, which made the process especially focused and rewarding. It’s been a really energizing year building Inkrise, working with clients, and putting new tools to work as part of the creative flow.
We used Google Flow and Veo 3 on this piece, along with tools like Scenario and OpenArt AI. Flow made it much easier to iterate on shots, keep scenes consistent, and stay locked on the storytelling instead of the technical friction. We also leaned heavily on Gemini’s Nano Banana throughout the process for visual reasoning and iteration, which has become an essential part of our workflow.
This one’s simply meant as a seasonal share, but it also reflects the kind of work and collaboration we’re excited to keep building into the new year.
If you’re curious about the process or thinking about new kinds of animated work, feel free to reach out in the new year.
Hope you enjoy it, and happy holidays to you and yours.