Cloud-based VFX studio Atmos is proud to announce its collaboration on the latest Commonwealth Bank (CommBank) campaign, ‘Doubt Never Did’. Brought to life in partnership with creative agency M&C Saatchi and post house ARC Edit, Atmos was responsible for the full CG pipeline, crafting every frame – from thousands of digital cars to a Piaggio and even a house.
Helmed by director Yianni Warnock of MOFA, the campaign is a cinematic metaphor for life’s journey. A sprawling procession of vehicles represents the freedom to choose your path – whether that’s starting a new career, traveling the world, or selling ice cream. The ambitious spot required not only stunning visuals, but nimble on-set problem solving and highly detailed CG craftsmanship to bring the story to life.
Atmos Studios Founder Andreas Wanda led the VFX supervision on set, ensuring all elements would integrate seamlessly in post. “We were there from the ground up – literally,” said Wanda. “With a project this complex, onset supervision was essential to capture every element we’d later need in CG.”
The studio created a fully CG house and developed a custom-built system to simulate and render hundreds of vehicles. Delivering thousands of highly detailed CG cars with realistic suspension movement and natural interaction with the terrain, the team also overcame environmental challenges, seamlessly matching visuals across drastically shifting weather conditions during the seven-day shoot at Goulburn Aerodrome in NSW.
It wasn’t just about volume – it was about realism, and senior VFX producer Dave Kelly played a pivotal role in both the creative development and execution. Every shot had to feel like it was captured in-camera. Whether adding small details like the picture frames inside the house or the way a flag flutters in the wind, it needed to sell as real.
Despite challenges like torrential rain, shifting light, and horses reacting unpredictably to equipment, the team adapted constantly to deliver a flawless result. “We were filming while solving problems in real time – grabbing elements from wherever we could, even jumping into the camera car to collect background plates,” added Wanda.
Working closely with ARC Edit, Atmos collaborated on a streamlined compositing pipeline, with ARC’s stellar team of artists handling all final composite work. The campaign’s climax, featuring a massive split of thousands of cars choosing their own direction, relied on a procedural CG workflow to achieve both scale and believability.
“Rendering that many vehicles is no small feat,” said Wanda. “We built a procedural system to randomise colour, model, and animation, maximising visual variety with minimal performance cost.”
Commenting on the job, director Yianni Warnock added: “Andreas is a lovely guy with a good head of hair and great taste in vinyl. He and the team are great collaborators. They get the process and are adaptable and can translate ideas in a way that is fluid, organic and not rigid.
“More importantly, Andreas has a great demeanour and surrounds himself with some great vintage objects that he may present to you and the client if one needs to fill in a good five minutes. It’s small things like that can go a long way and that makes a longer job more bearable.”
The campaign is now airing nationally and is expected to become one of CommBank’s most iconic commercials in recent years.
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