Imagineering Partnering with Adobe Firefly Foundry for AI-Powered Theme Park Design Tools
No word on whether this custom version of Firefly will be named "Evangeline."
Walt Disney Imagineering is partnering with Adobe, which will assist in the pre-production visualization process of theme park attraction development.
What's Happening:
- Today, Adobe — the company behind such products as Premiere and Photoshop — announced that it was collaborating with Walt Disney Imagineering Research & Development.
- As a result, Imagineers will be able to utilize Adobe's Firefly Foundry AI tools to create concept art, visualization, and more.
- Firefly Foundry allows companies to create generative AI tools that are proprietary to their brand.
- WDI's custom model was built using Imagineering’s own design catalog and assets, including Disney properties such as Mickey & Friends, Frozen, Moana, Lilo & Stitch, and Cars.
- For example, a demo video shows how the tech can be used to design themed teacup ride vehicles, which can then be rendered as 2D concept art or 3D models:
- According to Adobe, Firefly Foundry will allow Imagineering to iterate with greater speed, "accelerating the end-to-end creative process from hand-drawn sketches and polished concept art to detailed 3D renderings and construction-quality CAD models."
- In other words, expect to see more on these tools in the future.
What They're Saying:
- Kyle Laughlin, SVP of R&D, Technology and Engineering at Walt Disney Imagineering: "At Imagineering, we've always believed technology and human creativity can work together responsibly. Our work with Adobe lets us bring Disney stories and characters to life in our Parks faster, and with the emotional quality our guests expect.”
- Hannah Elsakr, vice president, GenAI New Business Ventures at Adobe: "Storytelling is in Disney’s DNA. Empowering creators with the latest AI innovations is in ours. As the teams at Imagineering build new experiences for fans around the world, our tools and workflows will provide a creative foundation to explore bolder ideas and make the best ones a reality."
In the Background:
- Of course, this partnership with Adobe comes after Disney's last AI-centric partnership fell apart.
- Previously, the company was set to invest $1 billion in OpenAI and allow Disney characters to be used in Sora video.
- Instead, Sora announced it was shutting down, causing Disney to pull out of the deal.
- It's unclear whether this Adobe partnership would have been allowed if that deal had gone through, but it's worth noting nonetheless.