The Story
Three years, three animals, three visual worlds. And a collaboration that keeps galloping forward!
After the Dragon in 2024 and the Snake in 2025, Golden Palace once again placed its trust in waaaw.studio to celebrate Chinese New Year 2026, the Year of the Fire Horse.
It’s now an annual tradition: creating a new visual experience each year that surprises visitors to Golden Palace RENO in Antwerp, while exploring fresh creative directions.
The setting? An immersive space at the casino entrance, with LED screens covering the walls and ceiling.
A true visual gateway between the street and the casino, where animations become an integral part of the architecture and visitor experience.
For this third edition, the objective was clear: push the boundaries of immersive 3D animation even further, without simply repeating what we’d done in previous years.
Because after a flying dragon and a giant snake, we needed to find a whole new way to bring something spectacular into this space!
The Challenge
How do you make a horse spectacular without giving it wings?
That was the big question.
Unlike the dragon or the snake, the horse called for a different approach. Turning it into a fantasy creature completely disconnected from its symbolism was out of the question.
Instead, we imagined a cinematic gallop through an evolving environment, blending traditional Chinese architecture with a contemporary metropolis.
But this year, the challenge went beyond the character itself.
While previous editions combined 3D animation with matte painting, this time every environment was designed and modelled entirely in 3D at real-world scale.
The horse races through streets inspired by Lijiang, with a modern city reminiscent of Shanghai rising in the background.
This contrast between architectural heritage and contemporary urban landscapes allowed us to create a rich visual world while giving us greater freedom with camera movements and perspectives.
Another essential challenge was controlling movement within an enclosed immersive environment.
With LED screens covering both the walls and ceiling, every camera movement directly influences how visitors perceive the space.
We had to strike the right balance between dynamism, depth and visual comfort, without turning the casino entrance into a rollercoaster simulator!
The WAAAW Effect
For this new edition, we focused on an immersive 3D animation built entirely around movement and depth.
The camera follows the Fire Horse as it gallops, while the scenery gradually unfolds both ahead of and behind it.
Traditional streets, detailed architecture, urban perspectives and lighting effects come together in a fully modelled 3D environment, designed to make the most of Golden Palace RENO’s LED screen configuration.
Visitors experience a cinematic sequence in which the movements of the horse and camera create a sense of travelling through the city.
The highlight? A spectacular slow-motion leap over a bridge, where the horse appears suspended in mid-air before an explosion of fireworks celebrates the arrival of the new year.
A nod to the world of cinema, with a deliberate reference to the famous Metropolitan Films logo.
But the project doesn’t stop at the immersive installation in Antwerp.
As with previous editions, waaaw.studio also adapted the animation for the different display systems across the Golden Palace network.
From conventional 16:9 screens to more unusual installations, including cubic and circular displays, each version was tailored to the technical requirements of its format.
A way to extend the visual experience beyond Golden Palace RENO and create a consistent festive identity across multiple spaces.
After the dragon, the snake and the horse, one thing is certain: the bar is getting pretty high!
What if your screens became an immersive experience?
Let’s bring your spaces to life through 3D animation and visual creativity.
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