The world champions a great come-from-behind-story: our history is filled with tales of heroic performances against seemingly unbeatable odds. For too long the luxury car category has been a five-horse race–at least in the eyes of consumers. An intense competition fueled by an annual show of one-upmanship where the fat cats show off and try to best themselves while we greedily watch. It’s a repetition that has grown old. So let’s have the courage to acknowledge that while we may have been a long shot in the eyes of the consumer, that doesn’t mean the race is over. After all, everyone loves the underdog. Especially when the underdog slays his Goliath and inspires us all. The stage is set to deliver a story that only we can tell. With the zeitgeist of a nation ready, a new contender dares to go beyond convention–a dark horse that’s come to take us all Beyond the Machine with vehicles that still have a soul.

"Let the Race Begin" touches on all facets of the creative visual effects. This started with detailed conceptual work that explored mechanical versions of the four competitor cars (BMW, Mercedes, Lexus and Audi). Modelers developed a mechanical skeleton and muscle framework while concept artists refined ideas for body design of the different cars. Simultaneously, riggers and animators tested range of motion to ensure robotic shapes translated into realistic horse movement ensuring that these bio-mechanical hybrids still looked and felt like real horses was crucial to the concept's execution.

The horse assets were meticulously detailed: each was comprised of roughly 6,000 CG parts. Entire skeletal and muscular systems were modeled and rigged in 3D, and subtly layered with brand-inspired car components that resembled elements in the cars’ distinctive designs, such as headlights as eyes and front grill styling incorporated as chest plates. Integrating these elements with subtlety took a high degree of artfulness — it was important that the details didn't overshadow the horse race.

In addition to the horses, there was a large degree of design and execution in other aspects of the commercial: the futuristic stadium, crowd duplication for tens of thousands of spectators, heavy atmospheric FX as well as secondary FX for horse breath, ground/dirt interaction, and volumetric lighting. The car sequence features two all-CG cars to match the hero car and situates them in an all-CG environment comprised of detailed matte paintings and CG-rendered roads.

Project features over 50 VFX shots, including 20 fully CG scenes.