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CIIE 2021 with Apollo Automobil

We are delighted to have produced a bespoke marketing film to showcase at CIIE, in Shanghai, to introduce Apollo‘s EVision S Sportscar to the world.

With a new generation of drivers and passengers in mind, the Apollo experience represents a bridge between digital and analogue lifestyles. Our promotional film sets the car against a hyper modern environment to showcase the innovative, unique design and ethos of the sportscar.

“To support our presence at CIIE 2021, in Shanghai, we needed to partner with a studio to help us to deliver our statement of intent to our audience; to produce for us a movie to showcase the spectacular Project EVO Hypercar in action and to introduce the EVision S Sportscar concept to the world and all that this means to us as Apollo Future Mobility Group.

The team at REALTIME has met and exceeded all our requirements and in a hugely compressed timescale. It was a great pleasure to work with this hugely enthusiastic, flexible and talented team.” Matthew Knott, Chief Marketing Officer, Apollo Future Mobility Group.

At REALTIME, we are dedicated to being the sort of CGI partner that collaborates with you to deliver the best work, using our knowledge of the automotive industry – and that of the TV and video game industries – to create cutting-edge solutions. If you would like to find out more, get in touch with me at [email protected].

We support Safe in our world for our 2021 Christmas charity

We are proud to support Safe in Our World for our Christmas charity this year.The charity works to foster positive mental health wellbeing and deliver support not only for players but also developers, publishers, retailers and the other incredible folk and teams who make up the video games industry. As well as donating, we’ll be working with them further as an industry partner in the new year.

We wish all our clients, friends and partners a wonderful festive season and look forward to working with you in the new year!

Our 25th Birthday Party!

Last night our team enjoyed an evening out at Manchester’s Flight Club, with drinks and darts to celebrate our 25th anniversary. It was a brilliant night, and so good to (finally) see everyone in person again. Here’s to the next 25 years!

 

 

REALTIME celebrates 25 years in the business

We are celebrating 25 years of REALTIME – a major milestone for an independent studio in the VFX and animation space. 

Launched in 1996, we started out in Archvis and CG imagery and animation for the automotive sector for clients including McLaren, Audi, and Ford. We soon found a new niche in creating award-winning video game trailers and in-game cinematics for clients across the globe, including Rare, Codemasters, Disney Interactive and Microsoft Game Studios. Our speciality in story-telling and character animation can be seen in viral trailers including SMITE: To Hell & Back, Game of Thrones: Winter is Coming and, more recently, Subnautica: Below Zero. 

In the last few years, we’ve made the move into the broadcast sector, crafting photorealistic VFX and animated characters for shows including BBC’s The War of the Worlds and Sky TV’s A Discovery of Witches. We established a TV VFX department to further support this effort, expanding the size of the studio by 60% in 2021. 

Says Tony Prosser, CEO: “It is an extremely exciting time to be in the CG space, as we are seeing a huge growth in the demand for high-quality content across the automotive, games and broadcast sectors. Being a local home-grown company from the North-West, we are hugely proud of our history and legacy. 

The focus for the next few years will be nurturing fresh talent that can benefit from the well-seasoned experts that we already have at REALTIME. Remote working is key to growing our team and during the pandemic we’ve proven, to ourselves and to our clients, that we can produce world class productions when we’re not all in the same room.” 

In our 25th year, we are also celebrating several award wins and nominations: our work on the second season of A Discovery of Witches is a finalist for Best VFX at the Broadcast Tech Innovation Awards and the viral trailer for Unknown Entertainment’s Subnautica: Below Zero won the Vega Digital Award for Best Animation. Both projects were awarded a ‘special merit’ at the AEAF awards earlier this year. 

Watch the below reel to find out more about how the studio started and our plans for the coming years:

 

 

 

What innovations will drive the electric car trend in the future?

Although September saw car sales fall to their lowest levels in 23 years, EVs had their highest market share for a month on record – 15.2% of all cars sold. With the UK government planning to stop sales of purely petrol and diesel cars by 2030, this number will no doubt rocket up soon. 

But are we ready for it? As of now, there are some 1.1 million electric, plug-in hybrid, and conventional hybrid cars on UK roads – but can growth happen without the infrastructure to support it? 

Charging 

The main logistical problem is going to be charging. In the UK, the British government confirmed legislation will be introduced to require any newly built home to have a charging point installed as standard. The rule is expected to come into force in 2022.  

Until then, you’ll need to set-up your own charging point (just make sure you don’t do what James May did with his Tesla.) A standard three-pin plug likely won’t do it – not in good time at least – so you’ll need a specific charging point that will set you back at least £450. Though, according to Whichthe amount you save over time is worth it. 

Outside of the home, wireless charging has been trialed in Nottingham on taxis in a £3.4 million scheme. Lamp-post charging has also been part of the conversation, brought about by companies like char.gy.

While outside of the UK, there is an exciting development happening in Scandinavia. Leading global technology company, ABB, plans to roll out 48 high-power charging stations across the freeways of Denmark, Norway and Sweden to offer premium e-mobility experiences on-the-go. Undoubtedly great news for European EV drivers. 

As of earlier this year, the US is also looking to support EV drivers charge up across the country in a bid to help tackle global climate change. President Joe Biden pledged to prioritise a national EV charging network under his $2 trillion infrastructure bill, promising to have at least 500,000 of the devices installed across the U.S. by 2030.

Going beyond 

In the grand scheme, this is a very short-term look at the future of EVs – where do they go next? At the top of the agenda surely must be longer ranges and quicker charging times? According to Ovo Energy, the Tesla Model S can go 405 miles on a single charge – that’s enough for Leeds to Cornwall. That sounds great, but in an EV, it means pulling over, waiting 7 hours to charge, and then carrying on.

Beyond consumer vehicles, they could become a part of commercial vehicle fleets very soon. In fact, there are often stories about council vehicles and buses welcoming EVs into their ranks. Last-mile deliveries – a delivery’s final trip between the depot and your door – could make use of EVs. It wouldn’t be the entire journey, but a significant part of it. According to Auto Express, this part of the delivery usually accounts for half of the shipping cost. It’s a way for courier companies to offset some of their costs without rising prices for the consumer. 

This is just a drop in the ocean of the world of EVs. We haven’t even begun to talk about R&D into hydrogen fuel cells by the likes of Toyota, Honda, and Hyundai, and how it could work in tandem with electric cars. The future of EVs is exciting, but there are challenges ahead. The question is, how will we tackle them?

Get in Touch

We’re all about cars here at REALTIME. The future is bright and we’re ready to be a part of it. To talk about your needs, get in touch with us: