The Origin of Chatarra Team: From Sketch to Digital Life with AI
Every great project has a “moment zero,” and ours took place a few years ago through Jordi Cano. What began as a technical solution for Honda during the lockdown—training mechanics from Spain and Portugal via a screen—ended up creating something much stronger: the Chatarra Team.
Beyond the names (Santi Ayala and Paulo Ribeiro in front of the camera; Felix Romero and Ignasi Vidal handling the technical side; Jordi in production, and myself directing), what united us was camaraderie and the biker spirit. Back then, my passion led me to create our visual identity: it all started with an original sketch I drew for the logo, which I later physically sculpted into a clay figure. I always dreamed of seeing that design in motion, but the technology at the time was simply out of reach.
Visual DNA: The Logo as the Seed
Today, that dream of seeing the Chatarra Team come to life is a reality thanks to a workflow that blends craftsmanship with cutting-edge technology:
- From the Original Stroke to the AI Universe: We didn’t start from abstract concepts. The foundation for the entire visual training was the original sketch I created for the logo. That drawing served as the master reference for the AI to understand the lines, the character, and the team’s aesthetic.
- Massive Training: Using that logo and its variations, we generated a database of over 1,500 assets (drawings, sketches, and styles). It was a learning process where we taught the machine to interpret my initial style and expand it into an entire world.
- Taming the Technology: I utilized image-to-video techniques to breathe life into that logo and the clay figure, battling the randomness of algorithms to maintain fidelity to our identity.
- The Final Human Touch: Technology provided the movement, but the soul was added in post-production. Hours of Premiere and After Effects were spent ensuring the final result had the epic scale the team deserves.
This project is the closing of a circle and, above all, a tribute to this team.
Especially to you, Felix Romero. We send you all the strength in the world for your recovery; the team isn’t complete until we are all riding together again. Gas!
