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Computer Cafe recently provided stunning near-photo-real 3D animation simulating a NASCAR race for a product demonstration video for Electronic Arts.

Produced by Western Images the video showcases a new game EA is developing for the Sony Playstation II platform.

As the game is still in the early stages of development, Electronic Arts needed to create a video demonstrating the amazingly true to life race action it will feature. The 3-minute video features a dynamic race sequence with more than a dozen cars speeding around an oval track inside a stadium packed with screaming fans. The cars-which are rendered in exquisite detail-jockey with one another for the lead.

At one point, two cars spin out of control and crash. The camera even dips inside a car to reveal the driver-who also looks very real-hugging the steering wheel and shifting gears. Computer Cafe artists based the sequence on footage of actual NASCAR events and modeled the cars after real race vehicles. In fact, the cars are rendered with such a high degree of detail and move with such realism, it can be difficult to tell it is computer animation.

"The new platform will support a lot of detail, including shadows and reflections," noted Computer Cafe's David Ebner. "We wanted to reflect that level of quality in our animation."

The key to the illusion is in the care Computer Cafe's team of artists took in modeling, lighting and rendering the 3D animation. "Accuracy and level of detail is extremely important to us," noted Ebner. "We are able to optimize the models and adjust the level the detail as required for each shot. That allows us to work quickly and keep render times to a minimum."

The artists also achieved a high level of detail and realism in creating the crowd that fills the stadium bleachers. They created five basic human forms, textured each model in a variety of ways and scattered the variants randomly in the stadium to create a diverse, realistic looking crowd. "The software is set up to eliminate the crowd wherever the camera is not looking, rendering them only as they come into view," explained Ebner. "That kept the polygon crowd down to a reasonable level."

Computer Cafe is located at 3130 Skyway Drive, Suite 603, Santa Maria, California 93455.

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