Color Shading Technology for Design CAD Systems

ONE ISSUE IN NEW VEHICLE DEVELOPMENT that has become increasingly more important is the need to put attractive vehicles on the market at the right time. In recent years vehicle design has become a very crucial factor in this effort. Automakers are required to create vehicles having a higher quality design in a shorter period of time and supply them to the market in a timely fashion.

As part of the effort to meet these requirements the automakers have developed a variety of CAD/CAM systems, which counterparts in Industry in general. Although most CAD/CAM systems are currently being used primarily at the design and manufacturing stages, the full potential of CAD systems has yet to be realized at the design stage. At Nissan, we have developed a CAD styling system called the Digitized Image Modeling System (DIMS), which serves as a support tool for the creation of new vehicle designs. This system has greatly enhanced the efficiency of our creative activities in the design process and enables us to create vehicles with higher quality designs in a more timely manner.

This paper describes how DIMS is being utilized in the design process and focuses in detail on the theory of shading, which occupies a vital position in overall system.