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Have you ever watched a car advert and thought the perfect scenario being played out in front of you was too good to be true?
That soon could become the case thanks to a new piece of technology that has just wowed attendees in Cannes, picking up the Innovation Lions award at the festival.
Created by visual effects firm The Mill, Blackbird is an intelligent camera rig in the shape of a car, but not only that, it can reshape itself to mimic the specifications of almost any car around in length, width, wheel set-up and driving characteristics.
The aim is to make filming car advertising much easier. As the video above explains, doing this can be difficult as it requires the car in question – not always easy – as well as the definitive version of the vehicle, which is again not a given due to the number of modifications that take place.
The Blackbird removes those concerns by accurately simulating the car, with the on-board cameras and sensors gathering data around the environment around it which are then used to create the right reflections and lighting on the car in post-production.
The whole chassis can be programmed to mimic the performance of any car too, making it a mighty impressive tool when it comes to CGI filming.
Expect to see those car adverts becoming more outlandish in the future.
