Topix continues 'Doughboy' work

Post, Nov, 2006

TORONTO -- Topix, which has been animating the Pillsbury Doughboy for five years now, recently completed work on a new spot for General Mills out of agency Saatchi & Saatchi, NY.

Quest features the familiar, soft, white figure climbing a frosty mountain in search of "biscuits from the freezer that taste like homemade."

The spot marks a rare occurrence where the Doughboy isn't in a live-action setting or his cool blue environment. Instead, he is on a steep hilltop with blowing wind and snow.

Topix animation director Livio Passera has been creating the CGI Doughboy with the Topix team since 2001. Technical director Nguyen Tran created the spot's blowing snow.

The studio uses Softimage|XSI V.5 to create the character and the Final Gathering rendering algorithm to light and render him. The snow was created using basic particle animation. Initial composites were completed using Adobe After Effects and final renders were performed in Autodesk Flame. Live action was shot by Arf & Company.

Topix credits include animators Tim Penner and Chris Lam, art director Mark Cutler, senior Inferno artist Dominik Bochenski, and producer Laurie Kerr.