This sequence, worthy of 10 minutes in a Bruckheimer feature, is force-fed into 30 seconds for Dodge's "Sky's the Limit" by director Lance Kelleher, Pentamark Worldwide, Ritts/Hayden, and special effects powerhouse Digital Domain.

Kelleher developed a tight relationship with DD visual effects supervisor Fred Raimondi and his team last summer working on the "Truckville" campaign for Dodge. Kelleher elaborates: "It was a very extensive, very tricky live-action and visual effects concept. That was just a wonderful experience. I was ecstatic with the result."

As with many pieces on the DD reel, "Sky's the Limit" makes it tough to tell what is CGI and what is camera and film. Yes, the CGI integration is seamless, but we've seen that before. According to Raimondi, a DD veteran who contributed effects to True Lies, Apollo 13 and Interview with a Vampire, "This spot was about solving production problems and getting the most bang for the buck."

World events gave the team very real production problems. "We scouted the hangar at George Airforce base on Sept. 10. That all changed the next day," says Raimondi who suggested that DD create a 3D hangar in addition to the jet planes originally called for.

Raimondi saw another opportunity to save the day when the stunt drivers announced, "Sure we can jump a Viper and do that barrel roll, but you're probably going to destroy a car." Raimondi suggested they shoot the 10-cylinder uber car taking off and landing but let the DD team do the actual dangerous work in the middle.

One of Raimondi's favorite shots, the view over the driver's shoulder during the barrel roll, was accomplished by first shooting a plate from inside the Viper with green screen outside the windows. The crew then mounted the camera on a jib arm and ran it through the path the flying Viper would take.

The roll was added with a Frazier lens that allows the scene to be rotated 360 degrees without actually shifting the camera. This spiraling shot was then composited into the windshield. The effect was topped off by inserting a 3D set of dog tags that dangle from the Viper's rearview mirror as the car shoots through the air.

The four-week post schedule saw Raimondi, his digital effects supervisor Scott Rader and a team of 20 DD animators and compositors working on flame, Maya, Lightwave and an in-house proprietary compositing tool called Nuke.

Of all the tools, Raimondi is most excited about Lightwave running on Boxx machines, "It's just really speedy. You can manipulate particle system effects like the jet trails in real time as the animation is running," he says. "It's cool, you move a slider and it changes from fire to smoke. We've used Lightwave for like, five years at DD because the renderer is so good. I mean it kicks every other renderer's ass."

Raimondi is just as effusive about working with Kelleher, a New Zealander and former editor who shares Raimondi's addiction to pre-production planning. "We sit down together and design the sequences so that we use the right tool for the job. Sometimes camera and film is the right thing. Sometimes 3D is the right thing."