Toronto-based animation and effects company Topix has recently completed the 3D animation for "Pump You Up" a new commercial for Scott Paper by way of agency Enterprise Creative Selling. In the spot, a procession of animated pillows enter a bathroom to get "pumped up" and transformed into softer and thicker versions of themselves to introduce a new line of Purex Ultra toilet tissue. Once they are soft and fluffy, the pillows enter the Purex packaging, only to be surprised by Mom as she enters the bathroom. The Purex mascots were transformed from 2D into 3D animated characters by the Topix crew, who utilized Softimage XSI, Adobe After Effects, REALVIZ MatchMover, Mental Ray Final Gathering and Inferno. "With XSI's latest release (2.0), Final Gathering, a true radiosity renderer, has been optimized and renders almost twice as fast. This afforded us the time to concentrate more on the animation than on the rendering," explained Topix animation director, Chris Johnson. In addition to Johnson, the Topix creative team included senior animator, Livio Passera; animators Matt Crookshank and Matt Kowaliszyn; Inferno artist, Kara Blake; technical director, Matt Daw; assistant producer, Laurie Kerr; and senior producer, Diana D'Amelio.
