A concept vehicle doesn’t need to exist to be sold. It needs to be built well enough that nobody can tell the difference.
We build, light and place the car before a single unit leaves the line. Our CGI in the automotive industry approach gives brands greater control over how their vehicles are first seen, allowing campaigns to start before manufacturing is complete.
What Automotive CGI Solves
The finished car is often the last thing ready. The launch date doesn’t move.
Marketing doesn’t wait for manufacturing
We start from CAD data or design references, so the visuals are made while the car is still being finished.
Confidential designs stay hidden
No physical prototype has to leave a secure facility. Only the people on the project see the design.
Concepts that will never be built
A concept can be shown convincingly, even if it never reaches production.
Material and finish decisions
See how leather, brushed aluminium or a paint finish behaves under real light, before committing to it.
One car, every format
Build the car once, and it carries teasers, hero films, explainers and social cutdowns.
Not sure CGI is right for your launch?
Ask us and we’ll tell you honestly →Pre-Launch CGI
Pre-launch is the one stage where there’s nothing to film. CGI can help brands develop campaign visuals before a vehicle is ready for production. Learn more about CGI before manufacturing.
Case Study: Renault re.think
- The brief: Renault’s re.think campaign had no car to reveal. The brief was an 8K film of a digital world forming from pixels. A large automotive sculpture emerges as the pixels flip, assemble and grow denser. Renault’s design leadership led the creative vision.
- The challenge: Everything had to hold up at 8K. Fine pixel detail and lighting couldn’t be made at a lower resolution and scaled up.
- What we did: We built the production around Renault’s vision: look development, motion design, animation, lighting, rendering and compositing. We worked natively in 8K in Cinema 4D and Redshift.
- The result: A native 8K film, with pixel detail and lighting holding up at full output resolution.
Campaign CGI, Built to Scale
A launch rarely needs one film.
It needs a teaser, a hero reveal, a technology explainer, social cutdowns, and formats for broadcast, web and large displays. Usually all from the same car.
Build the car once, and it carries all of them. On the MG Majestor launch, one CGI car carried six films and a technology explainer across four kinds of terrain.
On the Mahindra project, one festival film led to two more commissions from the same client. Each was made from existing content in about a week, for social, in-car displays and broadcast.
The same CGI car can also power a configurator that customers use themselves.
Explore our automotive brand films and campaign production.
Adding CGI to Someone Else’s Shoot
Not every project starts with us leading.
For XPENG’s P7 launch, Gwantsi led the production and we handled VFX supervision and production for all 32 shots, in four weeks.
How a Project Works
Brief
Outputs, formats and platforms are agreed before modelling starts. A car built for one hero image isn’t later asked to carry a whole campaign without being rebuilt.
Build the car
Modelled from CAD data or references, matched to its real proportions, surfaces and materials.
Look and lighting
Paint, glass and chrome are tested against the scene’s real lighting. Where reflections matter most, we use path tracing (realistic light calculation) instead of faster shortcuts.
Production
Animation, simulation and environments. Unreal Engine for large environments, Houdini for suspension, dust and water.
Review
Two revision rounds included as standard.
Deliver
Every format the campaign needs, from one car built once.
Tools We Use
- Cinema 4D & RedshiftModelling & rendering
- HoudiniSimulation
- Unreal EngineLarge environments
- Nuke or After EffectsCompositing
- DaVinci ResolveColour
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a full campaign be built before the production vehicle exists?
Yes. We start from CAD data or design references, so campaign production runs alongside manufacturing instead of waiting for a finished car.
How do you keep pre-launch designs and CAD data confidential?
We work under NDA as standard. Files move only through secure transfer, and only the artists on your project can access them. Pre-launch vehicles stay confidential from the first file to final delivery. Because the car is digital, no physical prototype has to leave a secure facility.
Can CGI help with material and finish decisions?
Yes. A design team can see how a material behaves under real lighting before committing to it, instead of finding a problem once a sample or shoot is already underway.
How long does an automotive CGI project take?
It depends on the scope. We confirm the timeline after a first conversation, once we know what exists already: CAD data, references or earlier campaign assets.
How do you price a project?
After a short call, we break the project down into shots and deliverables. You get a quote before any work starts.
How do you work with teams in the US, UK and Europe?
We work remotely with teams across time zones. Reviews are scheduled in your working hours. For US teams, work continues overnight, so feedback you send at the end of your day is usually addressed by the next morning.
How many revision rounds are included?
Two rounds are included as standard and agreed in the scope before work starts. Any changes outside the scope are quoted and approved first, so there are no surprises on the invoice.