Previously, we’;ve written about Andrex’;s decision to replace its real life puppy with a CG version. Now, the brand is pushing ahead with a second commercial called Collections.

The agency is JWT. But particularly interesting is the fact that VFX house Framestore was handed the task of managing the entire creative side of the campaign. Not only did Framestore create all visual effects on the first two ads, it provided a full end-to-end production service by also directing & producing the two ads in the new campaign.

Framestore’;s director and VFX supervisor, Mike McGee, was responsible for bringing the script to life. Moving on from the CG puppy’;s debut, which was also directed by McGee, Collections sees Andrex puppies attend two parties; one representing Andrex’;s bright and bold toilet paper, the other standing in for the subtle and stylish line. The difference between the two products is played out when a puppy disco is contrasted by a sophisticated piano soiree.

“Having directed Andrex’;s first CG puppy commercial, this second script gave us an opportunity to evolve the puppies’; animation and characterization,” explains McGee. “Being commissioned to direct and post-produce the first four CG commercials means we can improve production values with each delivery: we can take every doggy detail to a whole new level of perfectionism. This boosts creativity and is a perfect example of the benefit of long-term partnerships.”

According to McGee, Framestore’;s animators get so absorbed in the productions they “become part dog when working on Andrex! Their animation and characterisation becomes even more intuitive, producing even stronger end results. We can react faster when working like this as we can get to a base more quickly where we know what does and doesn’;t work. This frees us up to work on killer details like face twitches… that last 3-5% that makes all the difference.”

Examples of how this long-term partnership works include: creating smoother and softer fur; incorporating secondary simulation (eg where a puppy’;s foot falls, the impact ripples throughout the rest of its body); further perfecting underlying textures and subtle areas, like around the nose and eyes where fur peters out and becomes almost transparent; and creating a system of bounce lighting which previously only accounted for the body, but now also accounts for fur.

According to Framestore, the most complex dog to create was the piano-playing weimaraner: “It was an entirely new dog that had to be built from scratch, it had to be animated to play the piano in time to the music and it has a very particular type of hair. This fur proved complex to recreate in CG due its high sheen and its specific way of reflecting light. The weimaraner’;s fur required a significant amount of look dev to craft its trademark blue shiny and silky hair.”

In total, Collections contains 22 CG dogs performing different actions in live action interior sets. Fortunately, most of the dogs’; basic skeleton rigs had already been designed for the first ad. Although these rigs required modification so the dogs could perform new tasks, a significant amount of time – and budget – was saved in R&D, meaning more development time could be invested in game-changing finishing touches. “When creating a film character like Harry Potter’;s Dobby we have months of R&D, adds McGee. “But in commercials we usually get just weeks. However, this long-term partnership with JWT and Andrex gives us more of a film-like R&D schedule with which to perfect characters.”