For some, Maya is that doctrine of Hindu religion that talks about the unbearable illusion of being. Maya is the illusion that what appears to be hard, solid, and real is in fact a fleeting image, a smoky rendition of a more essential reality. Maya is for many of us, in the 3D business, a simple piece of software used to create computer animations and realistic special effects for commercials and movies.
Two students took Maya very seriously, both as religious theory and as a great piece of software, and came up with one of the most daring and endearing viral hoaxes. They have posted this incredibly realistic clip online, claiming to represent a super-secret, skunk works project concocted by Porsche.
Everybody fell for it. New York Time commented on the event:
Porsche Shooting Brake Is a Fake – Wheels Blog – NYTimes.com
Last month, a mysterious Porsche shooting brake appeared on the Web. It arrived courtesy of a camera phone video, which showed what looked to be a test mule, clad in black primer, parked on the sidewalk of what looked to be an industrial area — of Germany? …
The fake Porsche was designed by Matt DuVall, a digital arts student at Savannah College of Art and Design, using Maya, a 3D animation program. He pulled a 3D rendering of a Porsche Cayman off the Internet and modified it into a small two-door wagon, called a shooting brake. [This] was rendered in HD and then downgraded in size and quality to appear as if it were shot with a camera phone and output in FinalCut Pro. The video clip was shot in an alley in Brooklyn. An Italian soundtrack was added to give things a European twist.
Thanks to my good friend Alex Ulmanu for this tip.