Digimation’s digitized vehicles have had starring and supporting roles in numerous feature films, game titles, and commercials. Digitized vehicles provide a high level of detail and unmatched model accuracy, critical when a CG model must stand in for a real world vehicle, or anytime absolute accuracy is important.
What is Digitizing Anyway?
Digitizing is the process of acquiring precise dimensions from a real world object, such as a car, using a CMM (Computer-Aided Manufacturing Measurement) device. These devices are typically mechanical arms.
The Digitizing Process
Once the vehicle has been located and acquired (which can be a task in itself depending upon the make, model, and year), a grid of 1/16" masking tape is precisely positioned over one half of the car. Higher resolution vehicles, such as those used in film and print applications, are given a denser grid than vehicles being digitized for broadcast, game, and web use.
After the vehicle has been taped, the CMM arm is used to collect precise vertex position data. This data is fed into a computer where it forms a point cloud. After the point cloud data has been collected, processed and cleaned, polygons are created. The same process can be applied to vehicle interiors, undercarriages, engines - virtually anything that is needed.
The Finishing Touch
Once polygons have been created, the model is smoothed and logical parts are named and grouped. At this point, small details are checked and compared to reference photos taken before the vehicle was digitized. If textures or materials are required, they are created and applied. The entire process can take several weeks or more depending upon the resolution and content required, but the results are well worth it.
The Largest Source for Digitized Vehicles
The Archive is the world’s largest source for digitized content. More than 90% of the cars and trucks included with The Archive are digitized. For about the same price you would pay for a single digitized vehicle, The Archive delivers more than one thousand.