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Animation AI Workflow That Manages Costs Too

Bumsang Lim, director at Red Dog Culture House, refuses to abandon the value of traditional animation even amid the overwhelming speed offered by machines. Cautious of blind faith in technology, he applies a 'hybrid pipeline' that combines traditional animation techniques with AI into the production process. He is tackling industry anxiety over AI possibly replacing traditional illustration-related jobs by introducing a new concept. The outcome of this approach is the One Source Multi Use (OSMU) project that expands writer Seol-ah Jung’s children's literature "A Ghost Lives in My House" into animation, webtoons, and comics.

Animation produced by Red Dog Culture House / Red Dog Culture House.

Director Lim stated, "It is important to respect the boundaries between traditional 2D·3D production processes and AI when combining the two." While certain tasks are entrusted to AI, when machine-generated images fail to capture a delicate visual atmosphere, Lim insists on designing by hand. He also emphasized, "I want to make it clear that we did not use AI 100%," underscoring a balanced approach.

This does not mean AI is handled carelessly. Lim highlighted the Split Layer and Compose Layer features of the Acorn platform, which break down a single image into numerous Photoshop layers, as "extremely important for creators," praising the efficiency they bring to partial edits. He also avoids sticking to one particular model. Lim repeatedly cross-checked cost and quality across platforms such as Waan 3.0 Prime, SeeDance 2.0·2.5, GPT Image 2.0, and Minimax Hailuo 3. He pointed out a flaw in GPT Image 2.0, noting, "It introduces a lot of blemishes to the screen, disrupting the clean color blocks unique to animation."

This attention to detail carries through to content accuracy. A prime example is the self-initiated "Suwon Mascot Project," conducted to perfect the AI animation workflow. This short film, starring Suwon city's mascot "Suwoni" and the mascots of Suwon Samsung Bluewings and Suwon FC, draws on real-life events such as the relegation of both Suwon Samsung, a once-elite club, and Suwon FC to the second division.

AI Content Creation Forum Site / Morpheus Studio.

Director Lim commented, "We can’t just use any image, so much time is invested in validation and research." In fact, he even reflected in the workflow the 2-2 draw between the two teams that took place on August 15. This was part of a thorough effort to authentically recreate the glory days when Suwon Samsung was in the first division. Lim personally researched the evolution of Korea Football Association sponsors and football designs—which change every two years—and inputted this data as conditions for content generation.

Such meticulous work inevitably comes with substantial costs. This is why planning skills and financial responsibility have become just as important as creativity. To prevent excessive credit usage, Lim implemented a resource management system within the company, enabling team members to monitor and control their own tokens. He explained, "Producing 30 seconds of 4K video costs 4,868 credits, which is about 100,000 won. We calculate 1 credit as 25 won."

Under this system, a weekly token limit is pre-set for each team. On the strict allocation system, Lim noted, "We're in an era where even a single click carries responsibility." The rationale is that careful planning and generation within allocated resources, instead of indiscriminately pressing the 'generate' button, can minimize unnecessary rework.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.