What if you cut rendering time to almost… nothing? Well, it looks like Manchester, UK-based TT Animation has found a way to slash what would have taken 14 minutes to a mere six seconds. It almost sounds too good to be true, but the end result – a preschool animated series – speaks for itself. And it was made possible by using video game technology.

It all started when creative director Chris Dicker left parentco TT Games to work on developing TV series. He teamed up with Jocelyn Stevenson, co-creator of Fraggle Rock and former chief creative officer of HIT Entertainment (Thomas & Friends, Barney), and the two began fleshing out the idea for a kid-targeted, mixed-media news show that eventually became What’s Your News?. The series is hosted by Grant the Ant and Antony the Anteater, featuring news and interviews for kids from kids about what matters most to them at their young age – breaking news about one child playing the piano with both hands for the first time, or another losing a sock.

Dicker returned to TT in 2007 and brought Stevenson with him. They began conversations with TT Games founder John Burton and created subsidiary TT Animation, eventually deciding to try rendering the series though the company’s proprietary game engine, testing it against a commercial rendering software.

‘We didn’t want to put on a show that didn’t look as good as anyone else’s, and we didn’t just want to render with a game engine just because it was cheap,’ states Dicker. ‘We wanted to make sure we could visually push the barrier.’

So TT’s game engine, which has been humming along and producing fun and quirky game hits over the years, was put to the ultimate test. It took some time for the programmers to get up to speed using it in a non-game fashion, but when the ball was rolling, the team couldn’t believe how much of a time (and cost) saver they had on their hands. A single frame that contained millions of strands of Antony’s fur that would have taken longer than 10 minutes to render quite literally took seconds using the game engine.

The partnership between a video game company and a production company is an interesting one, as Dicker notes that it’s about sharing resources as opposed to sharing IP.

‘It’s literally about sharing technology, which is more important to us,’ he says. ‘We’re more concerned about how we can hook up the technology, and that frees us up to let our imaginations run wild.’

What’s Your News? debuted on Nick Jr. UK in January 2009, and the series caught the attention of Kids’ CBC. The pubcaster now airs a local version with 60% to 75% new content, thanks to the co-venture with Toronto’s Lenz Entertainment, which retains the worldwide distribution rights. Lawrence Mirkin, who produced Fraggle Rock with Stevenson, was also brought on board to serve as the producer on the series and adds that there are discussions for a second season for CBC to be filmed in Toronto.

The series blends live action, CGI and motion-capture, but was formatted for cultural differences between the U.K. and Canada.

‘We’re used to a little faster pace, more effects and more music,’ notes Mirkin, who adds that the Canadian version is also two minutes longer. ‘Basically, the mo-cap and animation parts were done in the U.K., and we did all the live action, voicing, post-audio and editing here.’

Of course, the natural question remains whether TT Games will eventually create a game based on the series. Aside from forthcoming website plans, Mirkin says that’s a definite possibility down the road.

In the meantime, Dicker says that he and Stevenson have two other kid-targeted series in the works that will also be utilizing TTG’s game engine – which, thanks to technological advancements since What’s Your News? was conceived two years ago, means that the engine’s capabilities are now much more advanced.