Simulating Reality:
Visual Effects Through Cutting-Edge Technology

'Morning skies present the perfect backdrop for a country drive--or race.

Night is quickly approaching.

Gran Turismo 5 sets out to create a variety of new technological standards challenges, and one of the most impressive advances are in the visual effects department.

For example, Gran Turismo 5 now realistically recreates the passage of time.

What starts as a clear afternoon with the sun high in the sky, turns to a red sky as dusk approaches and the sun gets closer to the horizon, and eventually turns to the enveloping darkness of night. This passage of time within a single location changes the mood and dynamics of the race.

Dust Kicked Up By The Car Is Illuminated By The Tail Lights

Click the image above to view the video.

Note the details seen in these night scenes. Not only does the scenery light up realistically with the light from the headlights, the dust clouds that follow the cars light up with head and taillights. These kinds of every day sights are what bring Gran Turismo 5 that much closer to reality.

Making "Real" Tire Smoke

Advances in the physics and graphic rendering engines extend to special effects like smoke.

Gran Turismo 5 also brings an evolution in tire smoke simulation. By re-evaluating tire structures at the simulation level, Gran Turismo 5’s advanced physics engine calculates and simulates the surface temperature of the tires. This is applied to the basic principle of how tires generate smoke, and allows for the production of accurate and realistic tire smoke in the game.

Sparks, Pebbles, And More: Careful Attention To Detail Helps Create a More Real Reality

The attention to detail at the macro level of track and car modeling extends to the small scale as well.

For example, sparks fly from hard collisions, small stones are kicked up when driving on gravel, and so on. With Gran Turismo 5, the developers aggressively challenged themselves to recreate these types of physical effects to produce a richer depth of expression.

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General information

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