Virtual tuning
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Virtual tuning, colloquially known as 'chopping' or 'VTuning', is the 2D graphical modification of automobiles, with the use of raster graphics editing software. Modifications such as aerodynamic and aftermarket body-kits, wheels, front mount inter-coolers and carbon fibre body panels, as well as interior or race car modifications, are super-imposed on a stock image in order to increase its aesthetic appeal. Whilst some designs are realistic in nature, one of the reasons why virtual tuners chop is to try modifications that may not be technically feasible if translated to real life . Virtually tuned cars are the complete and comprehensive makeovers of ordinary cars.


Artists

Artists who undertake virtual tuning, usually refer to themselves as 'choppers' though this term is fast disappearing as many try to improve their professional appearance. For the most part, they do it for their own pleasure – as a hobby – however, there is a small percentage of artists who earn an income from their talent. A large number of choppers come from highly developed economies such as the
United States of America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...
, the UK and
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
. However, a majority of choppers stem from European nations such as the
Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...
,
Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...
,
Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
,
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...
,
Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...
,
Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...
,
Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...
,
Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
,
Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...
,
Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...
,
Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
,
Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...
,
Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...
,
Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...
,
Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...
,
Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...
,
Bosnia Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and He ...
,
North Macedonia North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Socialist Feder ...
and
Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...
as shown by the existence of a number of virtual tuning forums dedicated only speakers of these languages. In addition to this, large numbers of choppers originate from
South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...
, particularly from
Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
and
Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
. The gender distribution is heavily weighted toward males.


Popular tools

Adobe Photoshop Adobe Photoshop is a raster graphics editor developed and published by Adobe Inc. for Microsoft Windows, Windows and macOS. It was originally created in 1988 by Thomas Knoll, Thomas and John Knoll. Since then, the software has become the indu ...
is the tool of choice amongst most choppers. Other raster graphics editing software such as
GIMP GIMP ( ; GNU Image Manipulation Program) is a free and open-source raster graphics editor used for image manipulation (retouching) and image editing, free-form drawing, transcoding between different image file formats, and more specialized task ...
and Corel Paint Shop are also used by choppers as an alternative to the highly priced
Photoshop Adobe Photoshop is a raster graphics editor developed and published by Adobe Inc. for Windows and macOS. It was originally created in 1988 by Thomas and John Knoll. Since then, the software has become the industry standard not only in raster ...
.


History

Virtual tuning is a relatively new art, gaining popularity since the start of the 21st century. Largely fuelled by progress in computing in the
digital era The Information Age (also known as the Computer Age, Digital Age, Silicon Age, or New Media Age) is a historical period that began in the mid-20th century. It is characterized by a rapid shift from traditional industries, as established during t ...
, virtual tuning has become far easier with online tutorials widely accessible. Throughout this time, a large amount of artwork has been produced in this style, with many artists producing technical renders for respected car and automotive tuning companies. When a manufacturer releases speculative artwork of their next model, there is a high probability that the person who produced this artwork was once a member of the ever-growing chopping community. Currently, active choppers are known to have completed promotional imagery for Lexus,
Audi Audi AG () is a German automotive manufacturer of luxury vehicles headquartered in Ingolstadt, Bavaria, Germany. As a subsidiary of its parent company, the Volkswagen Group, Audi produces vehicles in nine production facilities worldwide. Th ...
,
Chevrolet Chevrolet ( ), colloquially referred to as Chevy and formally the Chevrolet Motor Division of General Motors Company, is an American automobile division of the American manufacturer General Motors (GM). Louis Chevrolet (1878–1941) and ous ...
,
Volvo The Volvo Group ( sv, Volvokoncernen; legally Aktiebolaget Volvo, shortened to AB Volvo, stylized as VOLVO) is a Swedish multinational manufacturing corporation headquartered in Gothenburg. While its core activity is the production, distributio ...
,
Ferrari Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988) in 1939 from the Alfa Romeo racing division as ''Auto Avio Costruzioni'', the company built its first car in ...
, and Ford.


Internet Success

Chopping has been prevalent amongst a large variety of automotive based online communities for a number of years. One of the first online forums to feature virtual tuning in some form was GTPlanet, for which a thread was opened in May 2002 and is still currently active. However, the first mainstream and popular website to feature this type of art as a hobby, was Digimods, which closed down in early 2009. This is known to be the first established international virtual tuning community. Since the opening of Digimods there was a significant gain in interest in the art, with many new websites established such as PS-Garage, which opened its gates in 2004 and was considered home of enthusiasts and designers across the world, in time developing into a more professional approach, having features and appearances in both global newspapers and automotive magazines. Photoshopedup, as well a host of other websites dedicated to speakers of one language, such as Photochoperos (
Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...
), Sanal Modifiye (
Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...
) and VirtualTuning.pl (
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...
). Autemo has gained notoriety as a place to find up and coming talent as well as some of the most respected artists in the style, and often has random user-generated projects and collaboration artwork, often by artists who have established friendships with other artists. Due to its international users, it is seen as the modern day 'home' of Virtual Tuning.


Competitions


World Team Battle

The concept of the World Team Battle (often referred to as WTB) has virtual tuners competing in teams for their country.Official Blog of the WTB
/ref> The idea originated on the website ''PhotoshopedUp'' in 2008, where the competition was moved to ''PhotochopWorld'' in 2009 but only the first round was completed. Since 2009 and the subsequent closing of ''PhotoChopWorld'', the World Team Battle has been hosted o
autemo
Results for 2008/2009 are unavailable due to the loss of data in the closing of ''PhotoshopedUp'', but the results of WTB 2010 and 2011 are as follows:Official WTB 2010 Press Release
/ref> World Team Battle 2010 Top Four World Team Battle 2011 Top Four


Other competitions

Many Virtual tuning websites will host their own competitions on a regular basis. These typically consist of a base image chosen by either staff on the website or the previous competition's winner. The competitors are then given a period of time to complete a "chop" of this base image and submit it for judging. The contest entries are usually judged by members themselves in a very democratic system, or sometimes by judges given authority due to their expertise in the art. An example of a competition which follows this basic principle is the Autemo Championship Competitions.http://www.autemo.com/competitions/?g=2


Careers

Choppers do a lot of their artwork simply because they enjoy virtual tuning. However, with the skills built from virtually tuning cars, there are a number of ways artists can make money with their skills. Most advanced choppers have at least once done freelance work for car owners or a design project on Autemo. Some also work for tuning companies, and car magazines.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Virtual Tuning Vehicle modifications Automotive industry Automotive styling features DIY culture