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Last year, Wonder Dynamics made a splash when they unveiled Wonder Studio: a tool that allows the integration of CG characters into live-action scenes. The animation is created using a video reference (a real person moving and walking), and Wonder Studio automatically lights the character to match the live-action footage.
Wonder Dynamics also made the news because it received the support of directors Steven Spielberg and Joe Russo, who are part of the company’s advisory board.
Recently, Wonder Dynamics announced a Maya integration, and the partnership with Autodesk is now moving to the next step: Autodesk is acquiring Wonder Dynamics. As always, the details of the acquisition are not disclosed, so we don’t know how much Autodesk spent to acquire the startup.
Before we discuss this acquisition and its impact, here is the video presentation unveiled by Wonder Dynamics over a year ago. It will give you a good idea of what the product is. It should be highlighted that it is not intended to replace studios but rather to automatically perform most of the basic integration work. Artists can then work on finalizing the shot.
Why did Autodesk choose to acquire Wonder Dynamics?
The acquisition of Wonder Dynamics by Autodesk is far from absurd: Autodesk has been investing in AI. For example, they announced the Bernini Project aimed at generating 3D models from prompts, images, voxels, and point clouds.
With Wonder Dynamics, Autodesk can provide their customers with a promising solution, and acquiring a startup is often faster than developing a competing product. It can also be seen as a signal to the M&E (media and entertainment) industry, and a way to reassure customers frustrated by the lack of evolution when it comes to Autodesk software such as Maya or MotionBuilder.
Additionally, investing in AI can positively affect Autodesk’s stock price, which is naturally also one of the company’s goals.
It should also be noted that Wonder Studio’s subscription-based business model fits perfectly with Autodesk’s approach.
As for Wonder Dynamics, this acquisition obviously has a positive financial impact for the team. But the cofounders emphasize that Autodesk’s resources will accelerate development and that Wonder Studio is not and will not be a one-click solution: partnering with a 3D software developper makes sense, they explain.
What’s ahead for Wonder Dynamics?
The Wonder Dynamics team aims to reassure about the product’s future: co-founders Nikola Todorovic and Tye Sheridan explain that their priorities are to continue developpingtheir tool and to ensure that “customers have as little impact from the acquisition as possible”. For now, support, platform registration, and subscription remain unchanged. Support for Blender and Unreal workflows will continue to be the norm, the team insists, indicating that the acquisition does not mean they will only focus on Autodesk solutions.
The co-founders also explain that the roadmap remains the same but will be “boosted and accelerated” thanks to Autodesk’s resources.
However, these goodwill gestures are not promises: we remember that some Autodesk acquisitions ended up being disappointments. For example, Softimage (a generalist 3D solution similar to Maya or Blender) was acquired by Autodesk in 2008, only to be discontinued in 2014. Bitsquid, a game engine acquired back un 2014, met a similar fate: the middleware was tweaked and renamed Stingray, then discontinued in 2018.
Autodesk’s statement remains cautious, since Autodesk as a publicly traded company. As you can read below, the company explains that the future of this technology depends on various factors such as their ability to integrate the technology, competing products, and market acceptance.
This communication includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws regarding future events and development efforts for our products and services, including without limitation statements regarding the anticipated benefits of the acquisition. These statements reflect our current expectations based on what we know today. Our plans are not intended to be a promise or guarantee of future events or the delivery of products, services, or features, and purchasing decisions should not be made based upon these statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from such statements include the following: the failure to realize the anticipated benefits of the acquisition, including Autodesk’s inability to successfully integrate the business of Wonder Dynamics; costs related to the acquisition; the competitive environment in the media and entertainment industry and competitive responses to the acquisition; and Autodesk and Wonder Dynamics’ success developing new products or modifying existing products and the degree to which these gain market acceptance. We do not assume any responsibility to update this communication to reflect events that occur or circumstances that exist after the publish date of this communication.
The 3DVF team will keep an eye on upcoming developments at Wonder Dynamics in the months and years to come.
