E.C.D. Automotive Design (E.C.D.) introduces its latest groundbreaking innovation in its bespoke luxury car design process. Positioning itself on the cutting edge of virtual trends within the automotive industry, E.C.D. now crafts a photorealistic design video of each client’s unique custom build, allowing them to visualize their dream car months ahead of completion. Created with 3D creation tool Unreal Engine by Epic Games, the lifelike animation with dynamic physics and lighting effects looks like something out of a film or video game. Click HERE to view a 3D design video of a custom Defender build.
E.C.D. is the world’s largest Land Rover restoration company specializing in customizing 25-year-old vintage Defenders and classic Range Rovers into modernized luxury vehicles that celebrate the creativity and style of each client while preserving the beloved rugged charm of traditional Land Rovers. Each E.C.D. vehicle is an individually crafted artwork, rebuilt in-house from the chassis and up and personalized down to the seat stitching so that no two on the road are ever the same.
They offer an infinite range of custom features for its clientele to choose from. After selecting from E.C.D.’s range of classic Land Rover models – be it a Defender 90, Defender 110, Defender 130, Series IIA or a Range Rover Classic – clients make further customizations from body style to paint to tire and wheel specifications and much more, along with a long list of accessory options such as grilles, roll cages and winches to name a few.
Most notably, clients can select from up to nine different drivetrain solutions – including a 450 HP Tesla electric motor. For the interior, clients also select the seat configuration and style, audio and infotainment systems, and have a wide selection of leather and stitching colors to create something truly individual.
Once clients finalize their personalized design, a 3D model of the car is digitally rendered with a variety of programs and powered by Unreal Engine. A design video is then created with the model, teasing the upcoming build. The cinematic video includes pans of the exterior, shots of the interior and graphical callouts that point out key features of the personalized build.
High fidelity textures, accurate lighting and dynamic shadows make it look both stunning and immersive. As one of the most popular software frameworks in the gaming industry, Unreal Engine was used for well-known titles like Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition and Fortnite. Unreal Engine is also widely used in film and television with Academy Award-winning Ford v Ferrari and Disney’s The Mandalorian all implementing it as a CGI tool.
“It’s crazy powerful software that places E.C.D. at the forefront of automotive design and ahead of the curve when compared to other boutique car builders,” said Tyler Godby, 3D artist and developer for E.C.D. “With Unreal Engine, the visual fidelity has increased exponentially. Everything from the way the light shines to the reflections in the glass contribute to making the videos look realistic and not something out of an old video game.”