Zentera goes inside the merino fibre in new AI-produced film ‘Merino Deep Dive’ via Odd Global

CB Exclusive – Odd Global’s latest AI production for Zentera uses structure, accuracy and full control to visualise the invisible performance of merino wool.

Beyond the slot machine

There is a version of AI production that is still described as rolling the dice. Type something, push a button and hope for the best. For a commercial project that needs accuracy, client trust and a premium finish, that approach is not enough.

Zentera Merino Company’s Merino Deep Dive was built as a disciplined AI production pipeline. The film had a clear brief that required structure, early stakeholder alignment and a high level of control before anything moved.

Created in collaboration between Zentera, formerly the New Zealand Merino Company, Odd Global and Ian Sweeney, the film was designed to sit at the centre of Zentera’s merino education platform and resources for its partner brands. Its role was to help explain the performance benefits of ZQ certified merino wool in a way that felt cinematic, tactile and clear.

“That meant treating AI not as a creative loose cannon but as a production department with its own process, controls and approvals,” says Arthur Machado, founder of Odd Global, who led the AI production process across visual development, key visuals, motion workflow and final film production.

“Full control in an AI production comes from having everyone at the table early and making the process visible. Zentera brought a clear brief, Ian shaped the film through the script and we built the visual language step by step. There were no open ends where the work was left to the models to decide. Every scene had a purpose, every image had feedback and every step was reviewed before moving forward.”

Showing the invisible

The challenge was that much of the story of merino wool is invisible. It lives inside fibres, microscopic structures and the relationship between natural material and human performance. These are not simple product shots. They are ideas that need careful translation into the visual world.

That made the brief unusually specific. The film needed control, accuracy, sophistication and clarity. It had to be beautiful enough to hold attention and precise enough to respect the material.

According to Ian Sweeney, who led the script and creative supervision, “AI was the perfect visual tool and workflow for this project. Great to have so much flexibility in the way we brought the microscopic world of merino wool fibres to life. But we were also conscious to never pass the depictions of humans, animals and nature as ‘real’. Odd Global helped us create a visual style that was simple and expressive.”

A production pipeline with purpose

The process began with the script and the function of each shot. Ian Sweeney led the script and creative supervision, shaping the flow of the film through the voiceover, scene order and descriptions that guided the visual journey.

The visual language moved between merino sheep, wool staples, fibre interiors, macro textures and abstract performance imagery. Some images needed scientific accuracy. Others needed to feel more poetic. A tight scope turned the production from open ended exploration into a managed process. Odd Global developed different visual directions for key scenes so the team could make clear creative decisions early, then refined the chosen direction through focused feedback rounds before moving into animation. The goal was always to identify exactly what needed to change and refine that part with control, so the film could move from the natural source of the fibre into the microscopic and back out into human use with clarity and emotional rhythm.

Hard work upfront. Certainty at the end.

A major reason the process worked was the quality of the brief from Zentera. It was complete, thorough and specific, with clear objectives, mood boards and the information needed to root each scene in science and reality. That gave the visual development a strong foundation from the start.

If a detail in the scales or fibre structure was not right, the solution was targeted refinement rather than starting again from zero. That allowed the images to keep their approved composition and mood while improving the material accuracy.

The same discipline applied to motion. The workflow was deliberately front loaded: stills, animatic, stakeholder sign off and then motion.

That order changed the pressure of the production. The hard work happened early, when the team could still make thoughtful decisions. By the time the film moved into motion, the structure and visual language were already agreed. When everyone watched the first version of the film in motion, they saw the piece they had been building together. It was already close to the final version, with only final refinements, motion graphics polish and finishing details left to make.

A visual system beyond the film

The result was a film that uses AI to access difficult places with ease: inside fibre structures, through abstract wool environments and into a visual explanation of natural performance. The value of the work came from making those images feel controlled, elegant and aligned with the brand.

Voiceover by Antonia Prebble and sound design and mix by Factory Studio gave the final film its rhythm and polish, helping the images feel like a continuous journey through the material.

The assets from the production were extended into Zentera’s online merino education page, giving the visual system a life beyond the film itself. The work became part of a broader product storytelling platform for Zentera and its brand partners, helping communicate the benefits of this natural fibre with clarity and elegance.

Craft remains the point, enabled by structure

For Odd Global, Merino Deep Dive points to a more mature conversation about AI in production. The interesting question is whether AI can be directed, reviewed, refined and delivered with the same responsibility expected from any professional production process.

On this project, the answer came through structure. Comprehensive brief. Key people at the table early. No feedback saved for later. A clear process from visual development to animatic to final motion.

Full control in an AI production is possible. It comes not from the AI models but from running a transparent, structured production.

Zentera Chief Executive Officer Angus Street said the film will be used to educate brand partners, retail staff and consumers.

“We chose AI animation for this project because we had a clear educational challenge to solve. ZQ certified merino wool has an extraordinary natural fibre structure that underpins its performance benefits in apparel, but it’s not something consumers can easily see or grasp through traditional content.

“As our first AI-generated production, accuracy was critical, the Odd Global team invested significant time understanding the science, our brand, and the visual detail required to deliver this brief.

“Their guidance on how to work effectively with AI gave us confidence throughout the process and we’re pleased with the final result, which has had more than 175,000 views on YouTube to date.”

Client: Zentera Wool Company
Head of Marketing: Katrina Comeskey, Zentera Wool Company
Content and Creative Lead: Jasmine Shaughnessy
Script and Creative Supervision: Ian Sweeney
AI Director: Arthur Machado / Odd Global
AI Production: Odd Global
Voiceover: Antonia Prebble
Sound Design and Mix: Factory Studio

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