Once in a while when we need a good looking image for the front of a catalog, Power Point presentation, or to wow potential clients, Ken gives Yusuf a call to whip something up. Yusuf works out of our Northampton, headquarters, but is always willing to help if available. He also helps us with packaging designs, laying out brochures, and other general creative tasks. I met him back in 2007 at the Autosport show and he’s a nice guy.
When Yusuf would send us a really cool looking rendering, I sometimes wondered how he did it. The video below gives a brief overview of the tools, software, and some of his work. Just a couple of years ago, a “commercially affordable” PC wouldn’t be able to do the job. Not at a reasonable work pace at least. I wonder if ATI sponsors Cosworth with video cards? I know ATI hooks us up at our Torrance office with a whole bunch of nothing unfortunately.
I originally found this video on a Dell coporate blog. At Cosworth we use all Dell computers, servers, etc. at all of our offices world wide because they are ultra reliable with good technical support. They aren’t the fastest computers in the world and are not tweakable for overclocking speed demon types (like myself), but in the business environment they are great. I’m not sure whether it’s a good thing or a bad thing, but we still have some computers running that are almost ten years old and have been used daily.
Here’s a rendering of the 650bhp, 10,3000rpm, Cosworth 3.5L V8 that can be found in the recently unveiled Lotus T125.
Here’s a rendering of the CA2010 F1 engine. Lighting and texturing possibilities are endless with the massive processing power available to Yusuf. Check out the reflections on the dry sump tank.
Here’s a rendering of the front brakes on the Cosworth CS400 Impreza. Due to the overwhelming popularity of the CS400, it looks like we are going to be designing some big brake packages for limited applications. Stay tuned for more info in the near future. One thing’s for sure: I’m going to have a ton of fun testing the crap out of the big brake kits.
Here’s sort of an “x-ray” through a Cosworth VQ35DE short block. Of course it helps when Nissan is kind enough to let you have copies of their models. This one was on the front cover of the Cosworth Performance Parts catalog for the last couple of years.
Here’s an exploded view of a Duratec engine that Cosworth builds for Caterham. This engine has the Cosworth dry sump, barrell throttles, carbon air box, and some other goodies. I believe it is the 260bhp version.
Here’s a rendering of the Cosworth CA2006 F1 engine with Xtrac transmission.
All of these renderings were done by Yusuf on his Dell Precision T5500 with 24GB of RAM and AMD/ATI Firepro 1GB V8800 video card. Pretty cool looking stuff huh?
If you’re tired of being a CAD monkey, why not learn how to be an artist monkey instead? With some CAD models, a baller computer, 3 monitors, and some skill you can create some very cool looking 3D renderings!
