Where AI meets High-End Craft: Q&A with Stereocolor
- Henrik Friberg
- May 4
- 4 min read
In the next installment of our Q&A series, we sit down with Robin and Saleh, the visionary duo behind Stereocolor. With heavy-hitting backgrounds at VFX giants like DNEG and ILP, and credits spanning from AAA game cinematics to high-end commercial campaigns, they have mastered the delicate balance between technical precision and cinematic art.
We discuss how they safely integrate AI to stretch budgets without sacrificing craft, why real-time rendering in Unreal Engine is fundamentally changing how directors work, and the obsessive detailing required to make the most surreal concepts feel completely photoreal.
Henrik: You successfully integrated AI into campaigns like Allente. Right now, a lot of agencies want to use AI to stretch budgets, but they are terrified of copyright issues or it looking like AI slop. How do you navigate that initial conversation with a nervous agency or producer to ensure AI actually elevates the film safely, and retains that high-end crafted polish?
Robin: In those initial conversations, we ground everything in the creative. Looking at the idea together and identifying where AI can be used to add value, and where traditional or hybrid approaches are stronger.
We also align early on what’s realistically achievable, and where the idea might need to adapt to the strengths of the tools. That’s key to maintaining a high-end result while significantly reducing both production time and cost.
Henrik: In high-end CG, there is usually a tug-of-war between what is mathematically efficient and "correct" and what looks emotionally beautiful. If Robin is the technical pipeline architect and Saleh is the cinematic eye, do you ever clash on this, and how do you decide when to break the technical rules to serve the art, or vice versa? Saleh: We’re visual artists first, so the tech is always in service of the art. That alignment actually removes most of the “clash”, it just becomes a question of what best supports the idea.
That’s usually where the balance lands: Pushing the tech when it serves the image, and breaking the rules when it doesn’t.
Henrik: Your commercial work spans from sleek, high-end automotive lighting for Volvo to the wonderfully absurd Felix Ketchup campaign, where you integrated giant ketchup bottles in a desert and created CG legs for a mom doing an "epic split". When an agency pitches a surreal concept like that, what is the key to making the VFX feel so photoreal and grounded that the audience buys the joke without questioning the pixels?
Saleh: Those ideas only work if your eyes believe what they see, but your mind doesn’t believe your eyes.
It comes down to obsessing over detail: lighting, imperfections, physical behavior, making sure everything follows the same rules as reality, even when the idea itself is surreal. When that foundation is solid, the audience stops questioning the pixels and just accepts the moment.
Henrik: You are also leaning into real-time 3D in Unreal Engine. For a traditional live-action director who is used to physical sets but is now stepping into a heavy CG project with you, how does real-time rendering actually change their ability to "direct" a scene compared to the traditional pipeline of waiting 48 hours for a render?
Robin: Real-time actually brings directors closer to the process. Instead of waiting days for renders, they can see changes instantly and make decisions on the spot. It’s often easier to grasp than traditional CG, because it behaves more like a physical shoot.
You still need to prepare properly, but that’s the shift, it moves you away from “fix it in post” and into making creative decisions in the moment.
Henrik: You both have extensive backgrounds from huge VFX houses like DNEG and ILP, and you have provided high-end technical art for major game cinematics like Star Wars and Redfall. Between fully embracing AI into your traditional VFX pipeline and leveraging these heavy-hitting experiences, how do you look at the year ahead? Are there any specific workflow predictions, or dream projects you would love to tackle next?
Robin: Looking ahead, we see AI, traditional VFX, and real-time coming together into a more flexible hybrid workflow.
Saleh: For us, that means using these tools to explore and shape ideas before they’re locked. I see a big part of our role as guiding clients through that process, helping them feel confident pushing toward braver ideas than they might have thought possible.
Robin: That’s also where our interest lies: Projects that take advantage of that shift and aim higher creatively.
Henrik: "Thank you, Robin and Saleh! Your ability to seamlessly blend emerging tech like AI and Unreal Engine with uncompromising cinematic craft is exactly why agencies trust you with their bravest ideas. We are incredibly proud to have Stereocolor on the SweetSpot roster!"
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