Quiet Man has mailed home a new spot for the nonprofit World Wildlife Fund. The 60-second spot opens with a panda walking across the screen and a large contribution envelop falling to the ground. As "Shelter from the Storm" plays in the background, the panda takes cover inside the envelope. "The bear was not intended to be photo-realistic," Quiet Man 3D animator Dave Shirk explained. "It had to be artwork but the character still must generate empathy. No matter what the look, if the performance doesn't ring true, I have failed as an animator.

Creative design boutique EyeballNYC has produced two 30-second promotional spots for the Bravo Networks' Independent Spirit Awards 2001 coverage. Inspired by the Independent Film Channel's Spirit 2001 poster, Eyeball used a syncopated hot pink, orange and purple photo-box grid effect. In "Sweepstakes" and "Tune-In," hot-colored cubic boxes flip, slide and pop into view to reveal details of the Spirit Awards program, which will air March 25, 2001. In addition, EyeballNYC handled the on-air package for the Spirit Awards, including the design of the show's opening and graphic packaging.

Black Logic was worked into the mix for a new musical two-spot campaign for Twix. In "Remote Control," two skateboarders flip channels on the TV moving from teen pop band Dream to polka performers then finally to rapper Lil' Bow Wow. The backgrounds are elaborately animated scenes of caramel, chocolate and cookie. "Our task was to integrate live-action and tabletop footage with our CG elements into a seamless world," said lead visual effects artist Patrick Ferguson.

Ring of Fire teamed with entertainment branding company 3 Ring Circus to create the new ID package for the on-air and online network, TechTV. The visually striking package includes a series of four 30-second spots that display technology as a lifestyle benefit. "Connect," "Communicate," "Convenience" and "Community" are fast-paced spots, comprised of a primary red, white, blue and black color palette. "The TechTV project was particularly challenging because of the visual interpretation of 'Connectivity,'" states Elaine Cantwell, head of creative services for 3 Ring Circus.

Wild Brain has finished spots for Jolly Rancher’s new gel snack product, "Fruitensity." The 15 and 30-second ads were directed by Wild Brain’s Julia Tortolani and conceptualized by ad agency Euro RSCG Tatham. "Fruitensity" features bold colors and a combination of live-action and photo-collage. Tortolani’s collage art animation was created using a mix of still photography, full-motion film and a broad array of digital tools including Maya, Photoshop and After Effects.

iXL Digital Video has wrapped on a new spot for Tiger Electronic's robot dog, I-Cybie. In the 30-second commercial, i-Cybie appears before a futuristic backdrop of swirling colors, and as the camera rotates, the robot performs tricks. "The titles had to look flashy but not appear too frenetic, nor could they distract from i-Cybie," explains Doug Dimon, senior visual effects artist at iXL Digital Video Group. "I decided to use a short blast with a slow fade technique, throwing titles up very quickly with laser-like effect, then letting them drift away.

Black Logic scratched and won for its new 30-second spot for the New York Lottery. In the spot, scratching an old jalopy turns it into a new sports car, a dribbling sprinkler becomes an ornate fountain, a small abode turns into a giant palace and a loveable dog gets instantly groomed. "The spot presented a double challenge, since two environments had to register accurately and yet be noticeably different so we could see the changes through the scratching," said director Michel Suissa.

Bugshop, a New York motion graphics and effects shop, has completed four spots for the Animal Planet imaging campaign, "Life is Better with Animals." Ross Shain, creative director at Bugshop, served as visual effect supervisor, compositor and designer. He completed seven composite shots and designed the endtags, which involved compositing exotic animals such as a mountain ram, mandrill and alligator on green screen to hide then reveal the Animal Planet logo and tagline stamped into the background.

Motion Theory designed, animated and finished three 30-second TV spots for Suzuki motorcycles, ATVs and street bikes. Creative director Mathew Cullen described the style of the spots as reminiscent of "vintage boxing posters." In the commercials, the use of animated stills of the vehicles make posters seem like they come to life. Once the footage was color timed the final compositing and onlining was done by Motion Theory.

PDI/DreamWorks has completed production on three new commercials for Monster.com, MSN and Target. PDI/DreamWorks brought Monster.com's green mascot, Trump, to life, working with renowned advertising agency Arnold Communications and live-action director Kinka Usher, on the humor spots which debuted during the Super Bowl. The PDI/DreamWorks team, led by director Larry Bafia, created the monster spokesperson for all five spots' endtags.