It’s not every day that someone can conjure up some of the creepiest, most disgustingly disturbed imaginations from the darkest parts of the mind.
Not just any day. It takes weeks upon weeks. Months, even. Many of them.
If you’re reading this, you know this. You’ve come to know AtmosFX and its industry-leading digital decorations. In fact, as you WOW the neighborhood with your Halloween or Christmas decorations, you’ve counted on them to be mind-blowingly cutting edge. And that’s exactly what Nightmares Decoration Collection is.
How did we build this one? It was a little bit different. And, too, exactly the same.
Like any AtmosFX Decorations, family-friendly or downright creepy, it starts with those who we call the Mad Geniuses of the AtmosFX Developmental Dungeon. Others might call them animators, but we think of them differently. AtmosFX animators have built some amazing decorations over the last 15 years that, we are proud to say, have become the industry standard. We know you know this!
That’s how the nightmares in Nightmares took shape. It’s the same way we always create characters: stretching our minds and boundaries, creating storylines and narratives, and then working ideas over and over (and over!) to make sure we get exactly the right look.
For example, take the initial renderings of Doll Face. The Mad Geniuses had multiple concepts for this character, continuing to tweak the image until they got it just right.
You expected cutting-edge decorations, and the Mad Geniuses at AtmosFX expect that too. Nightmares is unique because this is the first time that AtmosFX has utilized AI-generated characters. This isn’t a way to replace the classic style of our decorations; AtmosFX has many 3D animated and live-action decorations on the way in 2025. When considering AI, we wanted to push the limits of technology and create phantasmagorical imagery that would be nearly impossible to make with our usual animating tools. And we think the results will truly give your audience nightmares!
Computer animation has always been about working with a hodgepodge of high-end technical software, and the advent of AI doesn’t appear to change that. In the case of Nightmares, our animators used at least six different AI-based animation software products, from character exploration to 3D model generation, to base model generation and rigging. And this doesn’t even include all the usual animation software the Mad Geniuses always use.
So how do we think about AI-generated content, now that this experiment is unleashed into the world? We think the results are pretty amazing. And when you download Nightmares, we think you’ll agree.
Did AI save time? Not even close. Will we continue to use it? Only when it makes sense – and when it makes our decorations better. After all, we’ll always pay attention to cutting-edge technology, because we want to remain on the cutting edge.
And we will – AI or not. Look no further than our next decoration, Boo Crew 2 Decoration Collection, coming next month. This digital decoration was made the same way AtmosFX has been doing so for more than 15 years – no AI. The sheet ghosts in this beloved franchise demanded that we do it this way, and it was absolutely the right choice. We think you will agree.
