Slam-dunk effects.(use of computer graphics software in video games)

Audiences can expect plenty of action when two of the NBA's best point guards go head-to-head on the court. But when their digital doubles play an intense game of one-on-one in a grungy industrial back-lot setting, the feats escalate from the superhuman to the totally outrageous.

That's what transpired when computer-generated versions of Steve Francis of the Houston Rockets and Baron David of the New Orleans Hornets faced off in an all-CG television commercial for Reebok. As the spot progresses, the twosome's above-the-rim duel becomes more extreme, with the stars trading stunning three-point shots and devastating slam dunks that eventually leave the basketball court in ruins.

Despite the unbelievable stunts, the spot, created entirely by Blur Studio, features photorealistic animation created with motion-captured data. In one scene, for instance, Davis ricochets the ball off an air duct and light stanchion before catching it and dropping it through the rim in a backward slam dunk. He then flips his body over the rim and lands gracefully atop the backboard. "It's pure fantasy," says Blur president Tim Miller, "but ...