Television audiences were recently introduced to Eddie, an animated spokesperson for Nissin Chow Mein who was brought to digital life via a rich collaboration between advertising agency Dentsu America and digital production company Zoic Studios. The commercial features the voice of actor James Hong (Blade Runner, Mulan, Kung Fu Panda).

Nissin "Eddie" (:30)
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The spot is set in an office environment, where the pint-sized animated guru (who works in accounting) shares his wisdom for microwavable noodles with a co-worker. Bully Pictures director Craig Tanimoto’s comedic talent is displayed in the live-action actors’ deadpan performances and in Eddie’s diminutive size. The director suggested that making Eddie smaller than originally planned would make his interactions with the live actors appear all the more ludicrous. Animation, including the design of the Eddie Wise character, was handled by Zoic’s team under the direction of Loni Peristere.

Dentsu America approached Zoic Studios as a creative partner to develop the animated Eddie character and oversee the commercial's production as a whole. Working from the agency's written character biography and general photo references, Zoic Studios hired key designers who produced distinctly different pencil sketch approaches that were then honed in collaboration with Dentsu America's creative team.

Meanwhile, Zoic Studios vetted Craig Tanimoto of Bully Pictures for his comedy acumen to direct the live-action portion of the commercial while Zoic Studios' Loni Peristere assumed the responsibility of creating the endearing performance of "Eddie" as director of animation.

Once the general look and feel of Eddie was decided, digital production began. Zoic Studios VFX supervisor Les Ekker attended the voiceover performance by James Hong and video was taken of the session so that Image Metrics (Benjamin Button) could extract the facial animation, thereby providing an organic and realistic baseline from which to build authentic looking lip sync and delivery.

Hong's face, neck and hands were photographed using a custom camera with a polarized lighting rig built by Zoic's Ekker and CG supervisor Andy Wilkoff to capture the detail and texture needed to produce surface and subsurface texture for realistic, lifelike skin. Other key details, like hair and clothing movement and aesthetics, were created with simulations held up to rigorous scrutiny and exacting production standards.

With a custom, adaptive pipeline that can handle immense projects including episodic and feature film, Zoic was able to develop a realistic character of surreal proportions and oversee the live-action integration along with in-house VFX editing and final Flame finish. Zoic was also responsible for animating the Nissin signature logo at the end of the spot.

"This was an amazing opportunity on a number of fronts," says Zoic Studios executive producer/producer Erik Press. "We poured our passion and knowledge into developing an iconic animated spokesperson for the world's leading noodle-maker while overseeing the production and end logo design. It worked all sides of the Zoic brand, and we loved every minute of it!"