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We've moved! Find us at the Foundry!

After eight and a half great years at the Pill Box, we decided it was time for a change of scenery.

The way we work and live has evolved since the pandemic, and we wanted a space that reflected that. The Foundry offers exactly that - bright, flexible, and full of creative energy (and no, it’s not just about the free beer, or the outdoor pool!).

We’ve settled in well, and have been made to feel incredibly welcome, thanks to The Foundry team. It’s a vibrant community where ideas flow as freely as the coffee - and if you’re a dog lover, you’ll fit right in!

We’re also just a short walk from the Victoria Line, making it easy for clients and collaborators to drop by. So if you are in the area, feel free to come by and say hello 👋.

Authenticity - Are we bored of perfection? 

This is the eighth edition of our newsletter, and up until now we’ve managed to steer clear of the AI conversation. But it’s impossible to ignore how profoundly AI has reshaped industries across the board this year.

What’s been encouraging to see, though, is that in the creative world the appreciation for craft remains as strong as ever. Many parts of what we do at Sliced Bread Animation simply can’t be replaced by AI, and nor should they be. Yes, we use AI tools to speed up certain processes, creating efficiencies we can pass on to clients, but the essence of creativity still lies in human storytelling.

The real question now isn’t “can AI make it?” but “does it feel real?” In a world where technology can create anything, value lies in making work that feels authentic, emotional, and human.

Authenticity has become the new measure of quality. When everything can be generated in seconds, audiences instinctively gravitate towards what feels genuine, shaped by real experiences, imperfections, and intent. That’s where trust and emotional connection are built.

Perhaps that’s why it’s so inspiring to see a resurgence in stop-motion animation, one of the most hands-on, human forms of storytelling. Both founders of Sliced Bread began their careers in stop-frame, so we were thrilled to see Guillermo del Toro partner with Netflix to launch a new stop-motion studio. Likewise, Laika, the studio behind ParaNorman, Coraline, and The Boxtrolls, is returning after a six-year hiatus with Wildwood and launched its first preview on Sunday.

These projects remind us that creativity grounded in craftsmanship and imperfection still has the power to move audiences in ways machines can’t.

"So you are the mysterious Octopussy!"

The Invent Your Future STEM Event

At the end of August, we joined Amey Rail at Nene Valley Railway for the Invent Your Future STEM event, part of the Railway 200 celebrations. The day brought together schools, community groups, and rail professionals to spark interest in STEM careers and showcase the rail industry as an innovative, rewarding place to work.

Students had the chance to explore the Amey Rail Careers app and get hands-on with our XR experiences, discovering how immersive technology can make engineering concepts come alive. Seeing their enthusiasm and curiosity was a real highlight for our team.

We’d like to thank everyone at Amey Rail for inviting us to take part and for creating such an inspiring day. Congratulations also to the organisers and attendees for raising over £500 for Project Octopussy, supporting heritage and community initiatives.

It was a brilliant event that showed how collaboration, creativity, and technology can inspire the engineers and innovators of the future.

🚀 What have we been working on?

Here are some of the projects we’ve been working on recently. Earlier this year, we completed a complex 3D medical animation for a leading pharmaceutical company. The film visualises their new treatment through both a mechanism of disease and mechanism of action, helping audiences understand how it works at a cellular level.

The four-minute animation has been used extensively at industry events to communicate scientific concepts with clarity and impact, and we are now creating local market versions to support global rollout and regional engagement.

In July, we began the next phase of our Vancouver Community College VR Culinary Training, as well as the development of a new VR Butchery application. This latest update integrates hand-tracking, demo versions and a more refined step-by-step process, based on end-user feedback.

“Students found the experience great value and a rewarding way to learn, particularly with the ability to repeat the VR cooking sessions without using ingredients or creating waste.”

We have also been developing a series of interactive touchscreen medical experiences for use at industry events. These in-depth installations combine 3D visuals, data visualisation, and guided interactivity to help healthcare professionals explore disease pathways and treatment mechanisms in a more intuitive way.

Each experience is designed to spark conversation, enhance engagement, and make complex science more accessible to diverse audiences.