realtime:uk

AKQA

Leading digital communications agency AKQA commissioned RealtimeUK to produce a groundbreaking virtual showroom and car configurator for Fiat’s new main UK website that uses the power of CGI to maximise the impact of the next generation of automotive websites.

The site’s centrepiece is a virtual showroom that sees Fiat’s entire UK range showcased, within a futuristic and stylised setting, all against the stunning alpine backdrop viewed from Fiat’s Turin home.

Our challenge was to take AKQA’s initial showroom creation and ensure that the eight models - each with up to 13 colour variations and 6 wheel choices - were animated effectively while capturing the essence of the brand’s Italian style and flair.
AKQA commissioned a leading London architect firm, Jump Studios, to design the virtual showroom and it was our responsibility to polish the digital assets and apply textures and lighting to create a detailed photorealistic render of a truly original and striking concept.

Fiat supplied us with most of the engineering CAD data which we assembled and optimised to create the complete CG car models, ready for insertion into the showroom. It was not possible to access all the car components in CAD form so our modelling team created the missing components by using photographic reference.

Once each of the car models had been positioned within the showroom, we created a fly round animation of the showroom to showcase the entire range as well as creating the frames for the user controlled interactive Car Selector which examined each car in turn. We also created exploratory camera flyrounds of each model using varying camera angles to highlight key features of the cars.

To provide us with a higher level of flexibility to make tweaks and changes, each cars lighting, shadow and reflection was rendered separately and then composited together for approval by the client. This approach enabled us to perfect the look that AKQA wanted for the site with much greater precision and flexibility, tweaking the look right up until the deadline.
This site is a content rich immersive experience with CGI and full screen full motion video, both AKQA and Fiat are extremely happy with the CGI elements of the site. The site went live at the end of June 2007 and has already received rave reviews in the industry press.

John Mintoft, Senior Art Director at AKQA commented "The reaction to the new Fiat website has been phenomenal, with massive increases in visits already being reported. The work produced by RealtimeUK for the site exceeded our expectations and the quality is second to none. We look forward to working with RealtimeUK in the near future."

Visit the virtual showroom yourself at www.fiat.co.uk

Realtime - Realising Reality

AKQA