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Six conferences available for replay: Acting on our AI skills (2025)

(Updated August 12, 2025) | SYNTHÈSE invites you to watch the six conferences from the two mornings of exchanges and discussions on the theme of Acting on our AI skills at the Palais des congrès de Montréal, as part of E-AI 2025, which took place on February 26 and 27, 2025.

These two mornings, organized by SYNTHÈSE, were an opportunity for professionals and students in the digital creation sector—animation, visual effects, video games, and immersive experiences—to explore the impacts and opportunities that artificial intelligence (AI) offers to the cultural, creative, and entertainment industries.

The program brought together experts from the field who highlighted emerging technologies, concrete case studies, and in-depth reflections on how to better integrate AI into professional and artistic practices.

Watch the six conferences

Find out more about the six conferences

1. Selection of open source AI software and mapping the future

How can you choose the right artificial intelligence (AI) software from the wide range of options available on the market? How can you use the software, integrate it into your business, and differentiate between open source creations and commercial AI software?

Our experts will examine these questions to validate the ethical practices of the various options available. This conference will highlight the range of software available on the market, including the specific features of each program and their advantages in the digital creation sector. A map of AI uses in creative technology will be presented and explained.

Watch the conference

Marek Blottière

R&D Project Manager, Society for Arts and Technology [SAT] - Animator

LinkedIn

Nicolas Bouillot

Co-founder, Lab148 Cooperative

LinkedIn

Luc Lavergne

Creative Director, Dangers Inc.

LinkedIn

Éloi Champagne

Chief Technical Officer and Production Technologies, National Film Board of Canada (NFB)

LinkedIn

2. Universality of digital formats with USD (Universal Scene Description) and AI

The aim of this presentation is to understand pollination and interdisciplinarity in digital media through new forms of tool standardization in order to facilitate the work of digital artists. The idea is to understand what artificial intelligence (AI) can bring to this new way of working as a team on complex projects.

To efficiently create extensive 3D worlds, Pixar invented this open-source ecosystem, which has now become a staple in the digital creation industry. Most 3D software companies now integrate these features to make collaboration between artists more fluid and efficient.

Experts will present the uses of USD principles for companies in the video game, visual effects, animation, and immersive experiences industries, as well as real-life examples of implementing new working methods to promote collaboration between the various creators of a digital product.

Philippe Voyer

Founder of Subséquent - Animator

LinkedIn

Philippe Sawicki

Project Manager, OpenUSD Developer Workflows, NVIDIA

LinkedIn

François Lord

Professor, École NAD- UQAC

LinkedIn

Charles Flèche

Tech Lead, Ubisoft

LinkedIn

3. NeRFs (Neural Radiance Fields): A revolution in image creation and rendering, a new path for CGI?

How can artists and designers work with NeRF and Gaussian Splatting technologies? How can these tools improve synthetic imaging productions, and what are their limitations?

This presentation will discuss the evolution of NeRF techniques, which involve creating high-quality, instant 3D environments from photographs. This powerful and rapidly evolving technology is significantly changing the way realistic images and videos are produced, opening up new possibilities for creating immersive virtual reality experiences.

NeRFS technologies could have a major impact on CGI techniques and leave photogrammetry a step behind. The evolution of this technology is worth following.

Julien Coll

Co-Executive Director of CDRIN - Animator

LinkedIn

Frank Nadeau

Engineer, Media Development and Technology, National Film Board of Canada (NFB)

LinkedIn

Humbert Hardy

R&D Software Engineer, National Film Board of Canada (NFB)

LinkedIn

Jean-François Lalonde, Ph.D.

Full Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Engineering, Laval University, and Deputy Scientific Director, Institute for Intelligence and Data (IID)

LinkedIn

Emmanuel Durand

Co-founder, Lab148

LinkedIn

4. Evolution of historical documentary creation with AI tools

Film and documentary research lend themselves to new experiences in directing and production through the use of generative design tools powered by artificial intelligence (AI). However, how can we find the right means of production to produce with AI without distorting our history?

Today, more and more documentaries and films are being made with AI-generated content. Sometimes, none of the content in the films consists of real footage or authentic archives. So, how can we develop ethical working methods that give rise to new ways of filmmaking with AI tools, without falling into misinformation?

This presentation offers some working ideas to help us understand the pitfalls and address the issues associated with archival-type generative practices.

Anne Le Bouyonnec

Project Manager | Expertise and Professions, SYNTHÈSE - Animator

LinkedIn

Maxime Harvey, Ph.D

Postdoctoral researcher, Research Chair in Francophone Artificial Intelligence and Digital Technology (INRS)

Rémy Besson, Ph.D

Research Associate, CinéMédias Laboratory, University of Montreal

LinkedIn

5. Is it easy to structure and train an AI tool with cultural data?

How can you design an AI tool based on private or protected data? How much time and expertise do you need to invest to embark on such a venture? And above all, where do you start?

Structured data is the basic building block for creating a proprietary AI tool. This data is collected and formatted in a specific way. It is then compiled into a digital database system that can be called upon to provide references to the AI tool.

The idea is to understand how to set up such a project. Who are the players involved in this project, and how can museums, libraries, or even artist collectives undertake an initiative of this kind?

Louis Richard Tremblay

Director of the Innovation Lab, National Film Board of Canada (NFB)

LinkedIn

Viriya Thach, MBA

Data Governance Manager, Experience and Transformation Division, Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec (BAnQ)

LinkedIn

Marie-Hélène Raymond

Visitor Experience Strategy Coordinator, Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec (MNBAQ)

LinkedIn

Etienne Grenier

PhD candidate – Culture, Datafication, and Digital Technologies, National Institute for Scientific Research (INRS) – UCS Center

LinkedIn

6. Immersive and participatory shows: Optimizing the creator and viewer experience with AI.

The aim of this conference is to present techniques for designing large-scale in situ shows and projections incorporating AI and individualized experiences via connected tools. The focus will be on how to reconcile these two requirements and what AI can contribute to this type of production.

In the field of digital creativity, spectacular automated oversized projections, large-scale entertainment productions, and musical performances by international celebrities provide Quebec talent with significant opportunities to shine.

This presentation will explore the technical and technological aspects of these large-scale projects and their ability to establish faster and more efficient production sequences than five years ago, thanks to the contribution of machine learning technologies, concepts, and ideation. The idea is to understand the possibilities that AI already offers and those that could be beneficial for immersive show production pipelines.

Manuelle Freire, Ph.D

Professor and researcher, Concordia University - Animator

LinkedIn

Luc Lavergne

Creative Director, Dangers Inc.

LinkedIn

Olivier Goulet

President and CEO, Studio Supply + Demand Inc.

LinkedIn

Samuel Tétreault

Co-founder and artistic director, Les 7 Doigts

LinkedIn

Thanks to our partners

This project is made possible thanks to financial support from the Government of Quebec.

This project is made possible thanks to our partners: E-AI, Palais des congrès de Montréal, Université du Québec, and collaborators: Bureau du cinéma et de la télévision du Québec (BCTQ), Centre de développement et de recherche en intelligence numérique (CDRIN), Compétence Culture, La Guilde du jeu vidéo du Québec, National Film Board of Canada (NFB), and Xn Québec.

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