For display only: Ford road tests a line of digital vehicles for a multimedia ad campaign.

Although the computer-generated car has attained photorealism through advanced rendering techniques and the skill of digital artists, it is still rare for an automobile manufacturer to digitize more than two or three cars for its yearly lineup of advertisements. This is because most manufacturers still view the digital car as an expensive luxury for creating specific "beauty" shots and otherwise impossible imagery, not as a potentially cost-effective alternative to commercial photography, which remains the primary mode of generating marketing materials. So when artists at DKP Effects in Toronto were engaged by Ford Motor Company to digitize 14 of tide company's 2001 ...