Welsh animation company Dinamo Productions has moved from its Mount Stuart Square base in Cardiff to a new 30,000 sq ft facility in Treforest, near Pontypridd.

The company’s new studio includes 2D, CG, visual effects and stop-motion capabilities and is part of its ambition to increase the amount of animation being produced in Wales.

Dinamo Productions managing director Owen Stickler said: “We hope that as we enhance our portfolio, producing bigger productions for broadcast and commercials, we will attract more revenue, not just for Dinamo Productions but for the region as a whole. We pride ourselves on nurturing local talent from the surrounding universities and we look forward to this new phase in our development.”

The new studio has been funded in part by the Welsh Assembly’s Single Investment Fund.

Further financial support has come from the local council, Rhondda Cynon Taf, and Lloyds TSB bank.

Arwel Ellis Owen, the chief Executive of S4C, described the Treforest production studio as a “significant development for the broadcasting industry in Wales” while Paul Cannon, the cabinet member with responsibility for Economic Development, predicted the new studio would bring jobs to the area.

He said: “We hope the new studios will generate an increased focus in Rhondda Cynon Taf as a destination for excellence in this industry, bringing additional regeneration, investment and employment opportunities. The creative industries are identified as key for us when it comes to growth employment sectors, especially for our future workforces.”

The new studio in numbers:

  • 1 fibre based data backbone
  • 10 gig Ethernet interface between switches and CAT6 to workstations.
  • 20 MB synchronous internet link for fast, web based project delivery.
  • 18 3D and vfx workstations running Maya, Adobe CS5 suite
  • 16 2D workstations running CelAction 2D, Abode CS5 suite
  • 10 Stop-motion systems running Fishcat, using Canon 5D mkII cameras
  • 24 render nodes, controlled with Deadline 4.1 render manager 
  • 22 terabytes of Isilon shared storage
  • 22 terabytes of MatrixStore archive
  • 40 terabytes of storage for footage, delivery and archive.
  • 10 stop-motion shooting stages onsite, set and pop workshop, fabrication and puppet maintenance facilities.

Dinamo runs all its services on newly formed virtualised servers, uses both Avid and Final Cut Pro for editing and is developing in-house software to streamline the production-to-edit process.

Formed in 2004, Dinamo Productions employs 75 people. Its credits include Rastamouse for CBeebies and Grandpa in my Pocket (pictured) for Cbeebies and S4C/RTE.

The Welsh deputy first minister and minister for the economy and transport, Ieuan Wyn Jones AM and the minister for heritage, Alun Ffred Jones AM officially opened the studios on 29 September.

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