Mississauga, Ontario — Since automotive paint is one of the most complex colour themes to deal with, the designers at BASF’s Coatings divisions have developed virtual ‘AUVOTs’—Automotive Vehicles of Trends shapes—to gain a realistic impression of colours, effects and surfaces on a complete car during the early design phase.
BASF says the AUVOTs will display the interaction between color and geometry, and will factor in the importance of light in the digital world of automotive coatings.
“They help automotive manufacturers understand the impact of color in industrial design in one shape with two distinct sides,” says the company.
BASF introduced four different AUVOTs that stand for various car segments on the automotive market. Each of the shapes represents distinct automotive features that reveal effect highlights on the edges, showcasing dramatic flop behavior at the same time. While one side of the automotive geometry simulates various elements that can be found on every car, the other side features formations that reveal the potential of automotive coating and give insights on the behavior of a color.
“To visualize and display all elements relevant to coatings—such as the color itself, the effect and the surface—is already challenging in the real world and requires deep knowledge,” said Florina Trost, Senior Designer Automotive Coatings Solutions EMEA at BASF. “Our mission was the technically correct and primary realistic appearance of paint as well as a persuasive portrayal of a color concept on the right shape.”
Representing the elements of BASF’s Dome Shapes and panels, which will still be used to present the future trends, the virtual 3D shapes support designers to evaluate automotive colours for the upcoming model year.
