The Art of the Minute Repeater

1. Business Context & Objective

Among grand watchmaking complications, the Minute Repeater holds a place of its own: a miniature acoustic mechanism housed inside the watch case that chimes the hours, quarters, and minutes on demand using tiny steel hammers striking resonant gongs. To showcase its caliber GG-002, the House of Gérald Genta wanted an immersive film and a series of visuals capable of unveiling the heart of the movement and making viewers feel the mechanical tension preceding the chime.

For this project, we entrusted direction to Ladislas Lepoutre, a director specializing in high watchmaking and precision mechanics within our roster, supported by Alt-Studio's creative production. The business objective was to deliver a benchmark film for the House's private collector presentations, international watch fairs, and digital channels.

2. Art Direction & Technical Challenge

In high watchmaking, most CGI films rely on pitch-black backgrounds because darkness easily hides modeling approximations and simplifies metallic reflections. With Ladislas Lepoutre, we chose the exact opposite approach: placing the watch and its bare caliber inside a warm, luminous mineral environment with crisp contrast yet consistently soft, detailed, and readable shadows.

This art direction choice completely changes the technical equation for the 3D team:

1. No dark shadows to hide geometry or shaders: under bright lighting with soft shadows, the slightest overly sharp edge or poorly oriented brushing pattern stands out immediately. Every bridge, every inward-angled bevel, and every jewel of caliber GG-002 must be prepared and textured to withstand full macro exposure.
2. Physically conveying the winding tension before the strike: a minute repeater is not just a set of continuously spinning gears. The entire dramatic arc of the film rests on the mechanical resistance as the winding slide is actuated, the governing latency, and the crisp release of the hammers striking the gongs — ruling out any approximate “eyeballed” animation and requiring a mathematically exact mechanical rig.

3. Deployed Pipeline (3D CGI / Motion / Hybrid AI)

For this watchmaking film, the technical pipeline was deployed entirely in 3ds Max, V-Ray, and Nuke under the direct leadership of Ladislas Lepoutre:

1. CAD Preparation & Watchmaking Finishes (3ds Max): import of the STEP files for caliber GG-002 and the yellow gold case with its black lacquered dial. Mesh rework and creation of micro-bevels across bridges, gear teeth, screw heads, and hammers so every edge catches light naturally.
2. Complete Mechanical Rigging by Ladislas Lepoutre (3ds Max): Ladislas Lepoutre personally designed and programmed the entire mechanical rig of the caliber in 3ds Max. This rig respects the true kinematics of the movement during slide winding, gear train rotation, and hammer strikes against the gongs.
3. Shaders, Anisotropy Maps & Rendering (V-Ray & Nuke): rendering was computed entirely in V-Ray. We authored precise metallic shaders driven by anisotropy maps and brushing maps to reproduce Côtes de Genève, circular satin brushing on the wheels, mirror polishing on the gold and hammers, and the refraction of rubies and sapphire crystal, followed by compositing and grading in Nuke.

4. Production Cadence & Methodology

Executed in Signature Mode over 6 to 8 weeks, the production allowed every mechanical and photographic detail to be refined:

• Weeks 1 to 2 (CAD Audit, 3ds Max Rigging & Shot Blocking): geometric preparation of caliber GG-002 components, mechanical rig construction by Ladislas Lepoutre, and macroscopic camera layout blocking.
• Weeks 3 to 4 (V-Ray Lookdev & Mineral Set): development of watchmaking shaders (Côtes de Genève, gold, polished steel, black lacquer) and soft-shadow lighting over textured stone plinths.
• Weeks 5 to 6 (Mechanical Animation & Sequence Lighting): staging the tension of the winding slide and the ballet of the hammers, with shot-by-shot lighting validation alongside the client.
• Weeks 7 to 8 (V-Ray Rendering, Polish & Nuke Compositing): final multipass rendering, macro depth-of-field tuning, and integration of final client notes through delivery.

5. Delivered Formats & Adaptations

This production equipped Gérald Genta with a lasting suite of watchmaking assets:

• Master High Watchmaking Film (16:9 — 4K) showcasing both the timepiece and the beating heart of the GG-002 Minute Repeater caliber.
• Looped .webm / MP4 sequences and high-definition macroscopic stills highlighting the fineness of the bevels, Côtes de Genève, and acoustic mechanism across the House's digital and editorial touchpoints.