Polynoid

Polynoid is a German animation, design and directing collective working across commercial films, original animated shorts, entertainment visuals and immersive experiences. Established in 2007, it developed from collaborations at the Animationsinstitut of Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg and maintains a creative presence in Berlin and Ludwigsburg.

Its work combines photorealistic CGI, minimalist visual design and cinematic storytelling. Mechanical forms, creatures and natural processes feature prominently in its films, with detailed animation and simulation used to build atmosphere, physical tension and unusual visual worlds. The collective works across both abstract motion design and character-driven narratives.

Direction and production

Polynoid’s capabilities span concept development, visual storytelling and technical execution. Its services include storyboarding, modeling, texturing, rigging, lighting, shading, look development, Houdini simulation and compositing supervision. Projects range from product films and advertising campaigns to broadcast identities, main titles, music videos and large-format visuals.

The collective established Woodblock in 2013 as its dedicated production home. This arrangement supports larger commercial productions alongside independently developed creative work, connecting Polynoid’s directors with a broader production team and technical infrastructure.

Films and commissioned work

The collective’s origins are closely associated with 458nm, a 2006 student film about two mechanical snails. Its later short Loom follows a moth caught in a spider’s web, extending its interest in detailed natural imagery and tightly focused visual storytelling. More recent original work includes Bye Bear, a tech-noir animated short written and directed by Jan Bitzer and produced at Woodblock.

Commercial and entertainment projects include the main titles for Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn, broadcast design for the MTV Europe Music Awards, and animation for Apple’s iPhone 8 (PRODUCT)RED and Adidas’s Predator Freak. Its portfolio also includes the fully computer-generated music video Islands of Glass for Rob Clouth and the biological visualization short The Shark in the Park.