But what about D2’s future? Does Barba think that there will be more national auto campaigns coming their way? "Ultimately it’s up to the director. Most live-action directors would rather shoot (a photo-real car) because that’s what they’re familiar with. But, if they get something from an agency that’s real expensive to shoot or they won’t get the flexibility they need or they can’t quite figure out how to shoot it, then we offer them the flexibility of being able to get the quality they want and still get the creativity the agency wants."

In the battle between quality and creativity, when it comes to national advertising, quality wins out time and again. It has been this very lack of quality in some digital cars that has caused Madison Avenue to throw out a caution flag. But at Digital Domain, where they have stressed quality along with creativity, their photo-real digital cars are at present lapping the competition and look primed to get the checkered flag.

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J. Paul Peszko is a freelance writer and screenwriter living in Los Angeles. He writes feature articles, interviews and reviews for regional publications. He currently has two scripts under option and is working on a feature comedy, in addition to just completing his first novel. When he isn't writing, he teaches communications courses.