BMW World
OVERVIEW
Since 2022 the main focus and backbone pipeline of my work at monks is BMW World and Atomic Assets.
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In short, we created digital worlds which function as virtual photo sets in Unreal Engine. This virtual set and all its image production is wrapped up by the Atomic Assets pipeline, which lets you reproduce any shot in any configuration of a given car, in a fully automated way.
My Contribution
TECHNICAL SUPERVISION
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developed global asset creation guidelines
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defined a cooperational workflow for a worldwide team to ensure seamless integration of everyone's contritution
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scene performance optimization
- designed the overall scene structure
- onboarding and support for team members and freelancers
​WORLD CREATION
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modelling of individual building assets
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texturing and materials
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set dressing
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foliage
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asset integration
CAMPAIGN PRODUCTION
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shot creation, camera and lighting
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additional set enhancements
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shot integration into the automated rendering pipeline
DISCLAIMER​
The following visuals shown here are not my individual artwork. They are showcased solely to give a complete impression of the project's scope and illustrate a collaborative result, highlighting the combined efforts of a talented team of artists.
THE MISSION
Virtual Photo Shooting in an automated production pipeline
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World Creation
The task was to build a fully controllable, photoreal 3D world to cater as a digital shooting set for BMW campaigns. Each environment was purpose-built for visual storytelling across different product segments, with believable landscape, architecture and details enhancing the photorealism. The result is a flexible, modular environment which delivers consistent realism, enables fast creative iteration and supports an efficient production pace.
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Virtual Shooting
Around fifteen campaign productions in two years, including key launches like M5 and iX, each with 30-50 Unreal-native individual shots.
Working inside the virtual environment felt like being on location: scouting location & angles, adjusting light, finetuning the scene - everything fast and super intuitive. The real-time engine let us adapt instantly to creative changes without breaking the flow. No post, no retouch - everything happened live in-engine, setting the stage for full pipeline automation.
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Atomic Assets: full scalability
Post-campaign, we turned the sets into a scalable render machine. Every campaign shot became a flexible rig that can output the given car in all paint colors, interior trims, wheels, and market configurations. Lighting was made fully configuration-independent, ensuring visual consistency across thousands of variations. The system can now generate 30,000 to 40,000 individual images per project fully automated and on demand, within just a few hours each.
01
WORLD CREATION
Over the course of two years and three major production phases, a versatile digital environment was created in Unreal Engine, specifically tailored for high-end automotive visualizations in BMW advertising campaigns. The virtual world consists of four thematic urban modules, an extensive country road landscape, and a compact tunnel environment - all carefully crafted to visualize new BMW vehicles in most versatile and convincing situations.
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The design process was deeply rooted in conceptual planning and research, guided by extensive reference material and a tightly curated visual art direction. Each environment was broken down into narrative-driven thematic zones that align with BMW’s product segments - sleek downtown settings designed for the mid-range product segment, a creative, urban "hipster" district aimed at the entry-level lineup and lofty, factory-chic industrial areas for BMW's M performance division.
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Architecture was treated with the precision of real-world planning to ensure and boost realism. DIN standards and building codes defined the design down to the finest detail - including street widths, sidewalk dimensions, floor heights, door sizes, and functional plausibility.
The city layout, street network, and building proportions were optimized to support a broad range of automotive photography angles, from legal-correct parking and charging shots on clean but sophisticated backgrounds to dynamic driving, turn- and overtaking situations.
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Asset detail density was applied strategically. Landmark “hero” buildings near key camera positions received high-fidelity modeling and bespoke hero materials, while the surrounding world gradually shifts to lighter geometry and Megascans-based assets - achieving a balance between performance and realism. The result is a world that feels immersive and authentic at any focal length.
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Technically, the environment was structured in a highly modular and standardized way. All elements could be reconfigured quickly for specific shot requirements, and the setup was engineered for large-scale collaboration. Multiple artists were able to work simultaneously on the same assets and sets without overlap or Git version conflicts, making it ideal for the iterative, fast-paced nature of commercial production.
ARTISTS
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Irina Bennoit
Till Mahler
Valentina Bereswil
Gabriel Wiesler
Enrico Schulz
Hristo Kunchev
Tobias Kuberka
Alejandro Schulz
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Pablo Cárdenas
Bastian Hantsch
Hannes Dreyer
Aileena Hazarika
Brandon Dunwell
Santiago Martucci
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PRODUCING
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Ina Bostelmann
Jannik Seeburg
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ART DIRECTION
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Francois Ballon
Christoph Stender
Paulina Elsner
Sebastian Binz
Michael Longerich
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DISCLAIMER​
The following visuals shown here are not my individual artwork. They are showcased solely to give a complete impression of the project's scope and illustrate a collaborative result, highlighting the combined efforts of a talented team of artists.
Blocking Stage & Layout Phase:
Asset Reference aligned to rough modelling results:
Achieved Level of Detail crafting in Unreal:
Final Results World Creation:
02
VIRTUAL SHOOTING
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Within two years we've accoplished around 15 individual campaign productions, including large-scale launch campaigns for the updated M5, iX and 1 Series facelifts. These scopes usually included around 30 to 50 shots featuring full visual product coverage from hero exterior shots to group shots, driving scenarios, detail- and interior shots.
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The extensive set with countless possibilities allowed us to explore the world like a photographer on location: scouting, car framing, layouting lighting and adjusting the environment - super fast and playfully intuitive. Across all productions we were able to leverage Unreal's striking advantages: Fast iteration, non-destructive scene adjustments, and immediate lighting feedback allowed us to respond quickly to creative direction without pipeline friction.
All productions were done completely inside Unreal Engine, without any additional post production and retouching on top. That constraint and the demand for a precise, final-result lighting already laid the basis for the following integration into the atomic assets pipeline.
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The below images show example shots of my contribution as Lighting Artist on various campaign productions.
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ATOMIC ASSETS
Following the campaign productions, the respective environments and lighting setups were extended into a fully automated rendering system. Each shooting angle was developed into a modular setup capable of outputting the entire range of model configurations: all available carpaints, wheel options, interior trims, and region-specific variants - across multiple aspect ratios (from 1:1 to 3.5:1) in both portrait and landscape formats. Specific angles were adjusted to visualize charging scenarios in BEV and PHEV model variants.
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Lighting had to be entirely configuration-independent. Instead of lighting a specific car, each setup was designed to work for all paints, trims, and materials - meaning we lit the angle, not the vehicle. This required a fundamentally neutral, product-focused lighting logic that remained stable across dozens of possible combinations. Compared to the campaign work, the focus here was less about mood and storytelling and more on product correct visualisation and visual consistency troughout the large-scale output.
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Rendering all typical atomic assets options of a project quickly results in 30.000 to 40.000 possible individual images, which the system is able to produce and deliver automatically with a few hours each.
ALL Carpaints of
one shot:
cARPAINT CONSISTENCY OVER ALL SHOTS:
