The Rise of Cinamon: Revolutionizing 3D Animation with AI
The world of art creation is undergoing a dramatic transformation, fueled by the rapid advancements in artificial intelligence. Creating and publishing art has never been easier, and AI is poised to make the process even more efficient, particularly in video production. Several companies are leveraging large language models (LLMs) to develop tools that allow users to produce high-quality videos and animations with minimal effort, using simple prompts and actions. These tools include well-known players like Google’s Veo 2, OpenAI’s Sora, Runway, Luma AI, and Hailuo. Now, a South Korean startup named Cinamon is striving to carve its niche in this rapidly expanding market.
Cinamon and its AI-Powered Video Generation Platform, CINEV
Cinamon recently secured $8.5 million in funding to further develop its animated video generation platform, CINEV, scheduled for beta launch in the first half of 2025. This investment round attracted participation from existing investor Altos Ventures and Saehan Venture Capital.
Cinamon’s CINEV platform offers a unique approach to AI-driven video creation. Unlike many existing platforms that generate videos pixel by pixel based on text, images, and video references, CINEV employs a different strategy. It combines a comprehensive 3D asset library, advanced AI motion generation capabilities, and a specialized LLM tailored for filmmaking. This combination allows CINEV to initially construct complete 3D scenes, populating them with characters and other elements, before offering users a suite of sophisticated video production and editing tools for further refinement.
This approach, according to Cinamon’s CEO, Doosun Hong, offers significant advantages. The process simplifies the direction and editing of scenes, minimizing issues related to consistency and physics simulations. This is particularly beneficial for producing longer-form content such as films and dramas. Furthermore, Hong envisions CINEV as a complementary tool to existing AI video platforms, potentially providing high-quality reference material that can be further enhanced using other AI tools.
Cinamon’s Journey: From Interactive Storytelling to 3D Animation
Cinamon’s origins trace back to 2019, when it was established as Cinamon Games, a subsidiary of content production company Vonvon. Initially, Cinamon partnered with NAVER WEBTOON, a prominent Korean digital storytelling platform, to develop "Maybe," an interactive storytelling app. However, facing concerns related to data privacy, Vonvon merged with Cinamon Games in 2019, refocusing its efforts on social content storytelling.
While competitors like Crazy Maple Studio focused on creating animated interactive story apps, fiction apps, and short-form videos, Cinamon strategically chose to concentrate its resources on developing 3D animation tools. This decision, despite requiring significantly more investment compared to 2D tools, was driven by the belief in its greater long-term scalability and market potential.
In 2022, Cinamon began developing its 3D animation platform and integrated AI capabilities to streamline production workflows. This effort led to securing $10 million in Series A funding from Krafton, Naver Z (a Naver subsidiary), and SNOW (a camera app also under Naver).
Leveraging Partnerships and Expanding Capabilities
Cinamon plans to leverage the intellectual property (IP) and 3D assets of its investors to enhance its offerings. Krafton, a major player in the gaming industry, brings considerable IP and 3D assets from its Battlegrounds games. Meanwhile, Naver Z operates the Zepeto metaverse platform, potentially providing a wealth of assets to be incorporated into CINEV. Cinamon projects this collaboration can extend these IPs, facilitating their use by content creators beyond gaming platforms and boosting user acquisition for Krafton and Naver Z. Further solidifying its position in the industry, Cinamon is also partaking in Nvidia’s Inception startup accelerator program.
The potential user base for CINEV is incredibly diverse, encompassing a wide array of creative professionals. This includes comic artists, manga creators, webtoon artists, web novel writers, game developers, video creators, and traditional animators seeking to improve their workflows. Cinamon is targeting individual creators as well as large content IP companies. The target audience’s needs include creating anime, VTuber content, and cinematic video game content in a more efficient and cost-effective manner.
Future Plans and Financial Backing
Cinamon intends to utilize its newly secured funding to expand its team of AI engineers and to accelerate its research and development efforts. Currently, the company boasts a team of 60 employees possessing expertise in 3D graphics, AI, gaming, and content production. The latest investment round brings the company’s total funding to $18.5 million. This substantial backing not only provides the financial resources but also reflects the industry’s confidence in Cinamon’s innovative approach to AI-driven animation. This strong financial position positions Cinamon well to further its mission of revolutionizing the animation world with its groundbreaking 3D animation platform. The future of animation, it seems, is looking brighter and more accessible than ever before.