AUVOT, which stands for Automotive Vehicles of Trends, is a new tool developed by BASF's Coatings division to support OEMs to visualize the effect of colours on automotive surfaces with different geometries.
To provide automotive manufacturers with a realistic impression of colours, effects and surfaces on a complete car and helping them understand the impact of colour in industrial design, BASF's Coatings division has developed AUVOT (Automotive Vehicles of Trends), a virtual tool able to display the interaction between colour, geometry and light.
AUVOT features four different shapes, which stand for the various car segments, from compact to SUV, and represent different automotive features specifically designed to highlight individual colour properties. Each shape reveals effect highlights on the edges, showcasing flop behaviour.
The virtual 3D AUVOT shapes allow designers to see how colours behave on various elements that can be found on cars, while also allowing to experiment with unreal formations that showcase the potential of automotive coatings and provide insights on colour behaviour.
"To visualize and display all elements relevant to coatings - such as the colour itself, the effect and the surface - is already challenging in the real world and requires deep knowledge. Translating this knowledge into the virtual world and bridging those two worlds opens a new field of work. Our mission was the technically correct and primary realistic appearance of paint as well as a persuasive portrayal of a colour concept on the right shape," said Florina Trost, Senior Designer Automotive Coatings Solutions EMEA at BASF.
Representing stylistic elements of BASF's iconic Dome Shapes and panels, the AUVOTs are a valuable tool for OEM designers and BASF's coatings experts to speed up and perfect the overall colour design process as they are no longer solely dependent on physical samples that need to be painted and shipped.
AUVOT shapes can also be used as a starting point for further discussions with BASF's designers, who can help to develop shades that perfectly fit to the OEM's models and also underline the value of the brand. Therefore, the digital geometries of the AUVOTs have a minimum amount of trim parts to interrelate with transportation design.
As virtual tools, the AUVOTs are part of BASF's digital paint competence. They complement BASF's AUROOM®, a unique digital platform which enables OEM designers access to the database of photo-realistic virtual car colours and tools.