Silicon Graphics

Renault

A Realistic Simulation
Of Vehicle Behavior

The Industrial Design Department at the auto maker Renault has been using computer graphics for over five years to realistically visualize recent and future vehicle models. The department produces over four hours of computer graphics each year, with an increasing emphasis on realism. The "Racoon" technique, developed in 1993 by the French National Institute for Audio Visual Design (INA), accurately depicted a virtual vehicle moving through natural settings by compositing a computer graphics car with live footage of the roadway and water it traveled over and through.

With Tasse de The--Cup of Tea, Renault heightens the level of realistic vehicle behavior in its computer graphics films once again. In this production, the virtual "Laguna" car, animated by the simulator program from Renault, acts exactly as if it were on the hydraulic jacks at Renault's test center. The detailed rendering of the Laguna completes the illusion of a real automobile moving along real roads. The vehicle's designers and project manager can thus judge how well-proportioned and aesthetically appealing the vehicle is. The decision can then be made about whether to invest additional money and time in the design by making mock-ups or building a prototype.

Bruno Simon, director of computer graphics at Renault, resolved a particularly difficult production problem in this film with the help of Wavefront(TM) software. He says, "We selected a track in the desert to make this film, and the automobile was to move on the sand, creating a cloud of dust--something which is not easy to achieve in computer graphics. By using Wavefront's Dynamation(TM) program, we were able to simulate the dust by generating a large number of particles at the automobile's wheels. The desired realism was achieved by adding turbulence effects and by blurring the particles using the Composer(TM) program."

All the images in this three-minute film were rendered with Explore(TM) using ray tracing, which made it possible to get the full reflection of the environment on the body of the automobile as well as the reflection of the automobile on the wet road. Rendering times varied from 15 to 30 minutes per image.

Tasse de The took four weeks to produce. It was awarded first prize in the Visualization and Simulation category at the Imagina '94 Show in Monte Carlo.