How Škoda accelerates car renders with Chaos Cosmos and V-Ray for Maya

Škoda’s design process in brief

Škoda has established its own process for creating exciting, new car design renderings. The first step involves the writing of a proposal and a selection of design topics and environments to review. Once the topic is chosen, digital modelers and designers get to work. After the scene’s composition is ready, lighting is set up to highlight the shape of the car’s design and evoke the right atmosphere. 

The renders produced in V-Ray for Maya are used in teaser images, beauty shots, and internal company presentations.

V-Ray’s most useful features

Škoda Design relies on the flexibility of V-Ray’s Light Mix to create and fine-tune lighting intensity and scene color settings, and to get the overall atmosphere just right.

Their scenes are enriched by importing HDRI maps, various 3D objects, and human figures from the Cosmos library. One of the most common functions used in Škoda’s CG environments and scenes is the combination of V-Ray and Maya MASH trails.  

A contemporary redesign of Škoda’s legendary cars

In Icons Get a Makeover, Skoda Design teamed up with KODA Storyboard to present a series of modern product design renderings of Škoda’s classic models. The Voiturette A, designed by Yuhan Zhang, revamped the original 1905 two-seater which was Škoda’s first best-selling car.  

Škoda’s first electric car: ENYAQ iV 

To announce the release of Škoda’s first electric car, the ENYAQ iV, Škoda Design Team was tasked with creating a high-quality product rendering of the new model. The team used V-Ray to highlight the beauty behind its engineering and design, setting up garage, mountain, and night city scenes. Special attention was paid to showcasing the striking Crystal Face grille in the front-view render.

Producing an animation for Škoda Fabia 

With support from Mackevision, the Škoda Design Team produced an animation showcasing Škoda Fabia’s elegant and sleek exterior in motion. The transformation from a skeletal view to 3D model and render illustrates the journey from an initial sketch to the final design.

The scenes in the animation were modified to reflect a natural and ephemeral beauty as the car is driving by. After the car was modified, digital models of objects, such as rocks, trees, road barriers, and the tunnel were made and then textured to mimic the real look of the video background by using similar looking textures as the objects in the scenes. 

The next step involved adding and adjusting several lights. Although some objects were hidden in the scene, they served the purpose of acting as reflection and shadow elements on the car and road.   

Finally, color correction was applied in After Effects and music was added to add a level of energy to the atmosphere. The animation was featured in an article outlining the stages of new car development and the role of the design modeling and digitalization (EDM) department in the process.