Specially Designed Automobile Rig Is an Accurate Live-Action Stand-In for a Photoreal CG Vehicle to Be Added Later

The Mill said it's cracked the biggest problem in automotive advertising — the need to have a finished, physical car on location for your shoot.

Blackbird is a blank, black car rig that can be modified on the fly to mimic the most important qualities of real automobiles. Once those are correctly modeled, The Mill says, you can shoot your commercial with Blackbird as a physical stand-in for a CG car that will be layered over the live-action footage in post.

The Mill Blackbird car rig​

Blackbird has been in the works for two years as a collaboration between The Mill, special-effects firm J.E.M. F/X, camera car specialist Performance Filmworks, and rental house Keslow Camera. The Mill says it was built by J.E.M. in a hangar where its namesake, the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird jet, was originally assembled. 

The Blackbird's wheelbase is easily adjustable by up to four feet, and its width by up to 10 inches, The Mill said. Lugs from all car manufacturers can be used to swap out Blackbird's wheels, and the rig's suspension and programmable electric motor can be fine-tuned to match the specific chassis design (ride height, rigidity, damping) and driving characteristics (acceleration curves, gearing shifts) of a real car.

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A camera array that combines HDR imaging and 3D laser-scanning captures a 360-degree version of the Blackbird's surroundings, making it easier to render a photorealistic rendering of a car in the same environment. (Technician Lev Yevstratov at Performance Filmworks worked on the custom stabilizer.) Specially designed augmented-reality software allows the CG vehicle to be tracked over the rig in real time for review on location.

"It is no vanity project," said The Mill International Executive VP Alistair Thompson in a prepared statement. "It was the genuine needs of our advertising clients that made the Blackbird happen, and their constant support and input has shaped its design and made it the game-changing innovation that it has become." 

Underscoring the point, Blackbird won a Gold Innovation award at the Cannes Lions Festival last night. Watch the video, below, to see it in action.

The Mill Blackbird: www.themill.com