Newhaven residents will soon have a better idea than ever of just how the redeveloped West Quay will look thanks to cutting edge computer animation.

A two-and-a-half minute computer-generated film showing the development, complete with passing joggers, fishermen and a voiceover, will soon be available on the Newhaven Economic Partnership website.

evolution was given exclusive screen shots from the animation, which was created by a team at Brighton-based NVisage.

Julian Rea, programme manager at the Newhaven Economic Partnership, said: "It's a very dramatic demonstration of what it will look like.

"I think it will play a big part in the project."

He expected a ground-breaking ceremony to take place at the West Quay site in October.

Marketing director of NVisage Paul Madgin said: "Physical models give a peregrine's eye view of developments but no one visualises from 3,000 feet.

"We're giving people a vision of the future which they have never had before."

Animated models have become increasingly important for developers. From persuading councillors to give planning permission to selling the final houses, they have been used to give a glimpse of how the final project will really look.

The Newhaven images started off as wire frame models, created in 3D Studio Max.

Flat polygons then created surfaces before textures were added.

Mr Madgin said this modelling was likely to become more popular.

Slow net connections and old computers meant the Newhaven animation had to be kept small and simple.

Everything was designed to work on a 120MHZ Windows 95 PC.

Mr Madgin said: "We're constrained by the development of technology from a client view point."

But new broadband connections and faster PCs will let new media companies get ever more complex animations on to the computer screens of consumers.

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