A Martinican motion capture studio contributes to the French Navy's 400th anniversary documentary

The documentary « La grande Histoire de la Marine », broadcast on Tuesday, October 13 on France 2, celebrates the 400th anniversary of the French Navy. Behind its 3D reconstructions there is also a Martinican studio: SOLIBO Studio, based in Le Vauclin, which supervised the 3D animation. The film can be watched on france.tv.

Four centuries of naval history

Presented by Julian Bugier, the film traces the Navy’s history from the creation of a permanent state navy, in 1626 under Cardinal Richelieu, to today’s challenges. It starts in the present, with the Orion 2026 exercise aboard the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle, and travels back in time. It combines archive footage, historians’ insights and 3D animated reconstructions.

The reconstructions

The historical scenes are reconstructed in 3D with the help of artificial intelligence; the caption « Images générées par IA et 3D » (images generated by AI and 3D) appears on screen. The 3D animation is by Armada Studios, and its supervision was entrusted to Georges-Emmanuel Arnaud of SOLIBO Studio.

A motion capture studio in Le Vauclin

SOLIBO Studio describes itself as a young studio that “prefers a short, honest list to a wall of logos”. It captures body and hand motion, in the studio or on location, and delivers files ready for 3D engines (Unreal, Unity, Blender). The studio also hosts residencies and motion capture events. On its references page, it presents this documentary as its largest production to date.

Credits

• Presenter: Julian Bugier
• Director: Herlé Jouon
• Writers: Hugues Demeude and Herlé Jouon
• Production: Antipode, Guillaume Pérès (producer); development: Stanislas Kraland
• Historical advisors: François Guichard and Caroline Le Mao
• Interviewees: Caroline Le Mao, Denis Roland and Benjamin Massieu (historians), Iris de Rode (PhD in American civilisation), Thierry Gausseron (director of the French National Maritime Museum), Rear Admiral François Guichard (writer)
• 3D animation: Armada Studios
• 3D animation supervision: Georges-Emmanuel Arnaud (SOLIBO Studio)

Watch it

The documentary is available on france.tv: La grande Histoire de la Marine.

Why it’s good news

Seeing a Martinican studio in the credits of a France 2 prime-time programme shows that motion capture and 3D animation can be done from the Caribbean for national productions. The roles involved (motion capture operator, 3D animator, supervisor) are part of the CFCDb role list: if that’s your job, update your profile.

References

• France Télévisions, press release: La grande Histoire de la Marine
• France Télévisions: Un documentaire exceptionnel incarné par Julian Bugier
• SOLIBO Studio: studio references

Documentary images: « La grande Histoire de la Marine », Antipode / France Télévisions; reconstructions: Armada Studios, supervised by SOLIBO Studio. Gloves photo: SOLIBO Studio.