Mountain View, Calif. - Design+Industry, an Australian industrial design firm, has given shape to what will likely be the next big thing in automotives: a three-wheeled, high-performance vehicle designed through technical ingenuity and the expert use of Luxology's 3D modeling, painting, and rendering software, modo 501.
Design+Industry, an industrial design and product engineering consultancy in Australia, was asked by Strike Motors to turn a radical concept for a three-wheeled "trike" into a commercially manufacturable vehicle. The Trike is a high-performance half-car, half-motorcycle that seats two people and combines acceleration with excellent ride stability, cornering capability, and stopping power. Design+Industry took the specs for the car and used the creative tools and advanced modeling and rendering capabilities in modo 501 to create an innovative design that would appeal to car enthusiasts and style-minded drivers, while simultaneously catching the attention of bystanders with its sleek, futuristic design.
"We began using modo when clients started requesting features we were not able to provide with the visualisation software we were using at the time," recalls Ben Carroll, industrial designer at Design+Industry. "Once clients saw what could be done compared to the other software we were using, they began requesting renderings be done solely in modo."
Since Design+Industry began using modo in 2009, the software has become an integral part of the company's pipeline. Used in conjunction with SolidWorks and Luxology's PAD and SES 1 Kits, modo 501 enabled the designers to visualize the Trike in studio and real-world environments, letting them quickly review materials and surfaces and make design changes on the fly.
"The 3D modeling and rendering features of modo 501 have enhanced our design process in incalculable ways," says Carroll. "We particularly love using modo to quickly visualize an array of ideas, so clients can interactively review our designs and make decisions on the direction of the final product early on in the process, saving us both time and money.
"The images that modo produces are shockingly realistic," continues Carroll. "We have had clients ask to see the physical prototype after our presentation based solely on a picture done in modo and that 'wow' factor has always served us well."
The Trike will be ready for production in 2012.