It’s not often we get to see early renderings of a side-by-side or ATV but in the case of Can-Am’s flagship Maverick X3 Turbo R, we do.
The early concept rendering, done by Alexei Mikhailov, shown here reveals just how close the final product is to the rendering.
Years ago—more specifically September, 2008—we were invited to attend the grand opening of BRP’s $15 million state-of-the-art Centre Design & Innovation Laurent Beaudoin. We got an up-close look at how BRP projects start and how only a few ever make it to the final stages. We got to see the clay models, early concept vehicles and more, although we didn’t get to see everything in the Design Centre.
Here are some facts about BRP projects, which include the highly popular Maverick X3 Turbo R.
- It can take up to 36 months to design a new side-by-side vehicle, from the first sketch on a blank sheet of paper. This is also true for other powersports vehicles such as snowmobiles.
- In the early stages, the design team could go through hundreds of renderings of different concepts until they find the one they want.
- It's often multiple designers who comprise the design team and are responsible for pitching concepts.
- Reward? You bet. Usually, only one design theme is chosen from the masses and that designer can then earn the right to go on to lead the project through concept.
- Its multiple stages can vary per project/process, but usually start with a 2D sketch phase. From there, two to three concepts can be selected and put into a 3D clay model phase. These would be scale model in size and then head on to CAD. From there, the team then mills a full-size 3D clay model.
- Most often the team uses a combination of Photoshop, Corel Painter and Alias Sketch during rendering.
- The design team works side by side with the engineering team from the start. The Can-Am Maverick X3 is a great example of when engineering and design work together in perfect collaboration from start to finish to achieve the common goal of creating the most revolutionary side-by-side vehicle on the market.
- BRP has one of the largest and most advanced design centers in the powersports industry. A full international staff does all the work internally. Designers are recruited locally, of course, but talent is pulled from all over the world as it best represents BRP's vast market reach in all of its brands. The Centre Design & Innovation Laurent Beaudoin is proof.
When the Centre Design & Innovation Laurent Beaudoin was opened, it brought under one roof BRP's design team which had been spread out in several locations, including Sherbrooke, PQ, Valcourt and the United States. At that opening, the team represented a group of approximately 60 individuals ranging from transportation designers, product designers, graphic designers, engineers, human factors experts, mechanics, CAD technicians, modelers, moulders, painters and management. The designers come from various places across the world.
The building is one of the largest design centres in all of Canada. The second floor houses a state-of-the-art design studio which includes individual clay rooms, large conference rooms and huge presentation areas for simultaneous presentations. The two working design studios run north and south and are naturally lit yet without direct lighting to avoid glare in the designers' graphic design tablets.
The first floor houses a paint booth along with other rooms where workers can fabricate parts out of fiberglass, wood and other products.
We would love to have seen the clay model of the Maverick X3 Turbo R as we think that would have been so interesting but we are still excited we at least got to see the early rendering.
Hopefully, there will be more to come in future years.
