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As we anticipate the release of the latest installment in the Transformers franchise this September 2024, it’s impossible not to reflect on the monumental impact of the original Transformers movie, released in 2007. Directed by Michael Bay and grossing over $709 million worldwide, the film captured audiences' imaginations, ranking as the fifth highest-grossing movie of the year.
The story centered around the battle between two robot factions, the Autobots and Decepticons, with humanity caught in the crossfire. But the groundbreaking visual effects set the film apart, earning it a nomination for Best Visual Effects at the 80th Academy Awards. Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) was in charge of bringing these complex robots to life. ExoTools co-founder Tim Naylor was pivotal as the project's creature supervisor.
Tim recalls the immense pressure of working on Transformers, especially given director Michael Bay’s vision for intricate and highly detailed robot characters. Bay’s directive was clear: “I just didn’t want to make the boxy characters. It’s boring, and it would look fake.”
One of the most significant challenges arose during a dailies session where Tim and his team reviewed animation with Michael Bay. The scene in question featured Optimus Prime talking to Sam about finding the glasses in his house. Bay wanted to see individual parts of Optimus moving to convey the character's thought process. This request forced the team to rethink their rigging strategy entirely. Tim led the rigging team to collaboratively build a new technology stack that allowed animators to move any part of the model from an arbitrary pivot point or group parts together. This innovation became the basis for their transformation tool suite. With these new tools, animators could respond directly to Bay's requests, achieving the complex character motion he envisioned. It was a testament to the rigging team's ingenuity, enabling them to pivot quickly and meet the director's demands within the challenging transformation scenes.
To add to the complexity, ILM reported that rendering just one frame of movement for the robots took a staggering 38 hours. The attention to detail and realism required for the robots’ transformations set a new benchmark in visual effects.
Reflecting on the experience, Tim shares, “It was one of the most challenging projects I’ve worked on. The scale of detail that went into making each transformation look believable was unlike anything I had done before.”
