High-Class Presentation for a High-Class Car: Mercedes Benz Viano X-CLUSIVE

X-Clusive is the new designation for Mercedes-Benz’ special edition of the Viano, first introduced at the Tokyo Motor Show. As the name says, the Viano X-Clusive is the essence of luxury. Scholz & Friends Interactive, together with Effekt-Etage studios, created a stylish and breathtaking online presentation befitting this unique vehicle.

Since the only reference material available at the start of production was a 3D model of the vehicle, all images had to be created digitally using this model. The photorealistic renderings, including all close-up shots, were set up with classic lighting and rendered using the CINEMA 4D Advanced Render module. Matthias Bach, digital artist at Effekt-Etage, said of this: "Since we do a lot of work for the automotive industry, this was the easy part of the project."

CINEMA 4D’s Sketch and Toon module was used to create the outline renderings of the vehicle as well as various environments. The outline renderings had to have a clean, high-end look. All strokes had to be equally wide and could not suddenly vanish or appear. To prevent this behavior from occurring, background objects were modeled in such a way that they contained no unnecessary splines. The vehicle’s linear outline was also modeled according to splines. Any remaining flaws were retouched in the compositing stage and the transition from photorealistic rendering to outline rendering was created.

A great deal of attention was also paid to the background details. Not only were flags and fountains animated but horses were rigged and brought to life as well. In the end, all 3D elements were combined in Flash to create an interactive presentation.

Client: Daimler AG

Agentur: Scholz & Friends Interactive GmbH

Production: Effekt-Etage