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ILMVisualFX has updated their youtube page with a new Dark Of The Moon featurette. ILM Animation Supervisor Scott Benza give us an insight to the transformations of both Autobots and Decepticons. The video has been embedded below.

ILM Animation Supervisor Scott Benza gives us a behind the scenes look at the animation performances behind the transformations in "Transformers: Dark of the Moon".

Very nice.
Does OPtimus transformation scheme is same when he transforms in front of Mearing?

Most interesting.

doesnt matter how you try and justify it the transformations still look like a car turning into a pile of scrap metal and magically being put back together as a humanoid. Just look at Megatrons transformation in the video and try and say other wise.

i've seen this movie twice and i totally dont remember that shot where Bumblebee transforms behind Sam. it was like new to me. lol

gotta say though, i always love watching Prime transform...something cool and special about his change. maybe its because his was the first one we got in a big ass closeup with a lot of time to watch all the movement and changes in detail. i still get goosebumps whenever i watch the first movie and his introduction/transformation happens.

Megatron Wolf wrote:doesnt matter how you try and justify it the transformations still look like a car turning into a pile of scrap metal and magically being put back together as a humanoid. Just look at Megatrons transformation in the video and try and say other wise.

While i liked Megatron's transformation your right its not the best example. (but then again, you don't like anything movie verse related so i don't know whay you even bother ) The rest of the transformations have relativley good sequences and all the parts for the most part can be seen on the bots with fluid transformations. Hate all you want. I liked them and thought they did a good job.

Merry Early Christmas!!!!!

Now that thats out of the way...been a while, but anything having to do with VFX and art and such and I'm all over it...or Megan Fox muahahaha

That said, I understand actually where Megatron Wolf is coming from. Alot of the transformations in the earlier 2 films..."Fallen" being the best worst example, Bay stuck with his trademark XCU (Extreme Close Up, yes it's a real storyboard term) shots for mostly all the action and transformation sequences. That being done, with the camera so close to every moving bit and servo and bolt...you can't tell whats what and who is who and what is going where and into who...so yes, it looks like a pile of scrap. Pretty CGI scrap, but still scrap.

"Moon" on the other hand kept a good majority of the transformations sequences in wide shots...so you could actually see what on earth your looking at, and therefore it translates better. Not of course counting the characters which didn't transform at all like Shockwave or the Worm thing which spun and spun and spun, even then someone was wise enough to pull the camera back so you could make out exactly what it was your looking at. As for the vid, i like that they pointed out how the animators used the tranformations sequences to convey mood or emotion, which also appears in the first film. It was a very smart thing for the animators, however this 4th film goes, they would be very wise to hire the same animation team.
~Josh

Joshua Vallse wrote:Merry Early Christmas!!!!!

Now that thats out of the way...been a while, but anything having to do with VFX and art and such and I'm all over it...or Megan Fox muahahaha

That said, I understand actually where Megatron Wolf is coming from. Alot of the transformations in the earlier 2 films..."Fallen" being the best worst example, Bay stuck with his trademark XCU (Extreme Close Up, yes it's a real storyboard term) shots for mostly all the action and transformation sequences. That being done, with the camera so close to every moving bit and servo and bolt...you can't tell whats what and who is who and what is going where and into who...so yes, it looks like a pile of scrap. Pretty CGI scrap, but still scrap.

"Moon" on the other hand kept a good majority of the transformations sequences in wide shots...so you could actually see what on earth your looking at, and therefore it translates better. Not of course counting the characters which didn't transform at all like Shockwave or the Worm thing which spun and spun and spun, even then someone was wise enough to pull the camera back so you could make out exactly what it was your looking at. As for the vid, i like that they pointed out how the animators used the tranformations sequences to convey mood or emotion, which also appears in the first film. It was a very smart thing for the animators, however this 4th film goes, they would be very wise to hire the same animation team.
~Josh

HA! No it doesn't.

Absolutely the transformations in the first movie were emotional as well. When Bumblebee first transformed in front of Sam and Mikela (sp?) it was very proud and and in there face... showed the whole transformer the whole time. when Optimus transformed the first time it was slow dilebarate and showed him more up close... too convey the level of detail and complexity of the Transformers as a race. When Barricade transformed in pursuit of Bumblebee it was done so in a quick frantic way to show a level of desperation... so to the idiot that posted the first movie didnt do this... you my friend are clueless. Every transfoming sequence from the first movie was emotionally done.

Megatron Wolf wrote:...the transformations still look like a car turning into a pile of scrap metal and magically being put back together as a humanoid. Just look at Megatron's transformation in the video...

I am of the opinion that not all transformations are so afflicted; Bumblebee for instance has a very elegant transformation, as does Sideswipe. However, the transformations for both Optimus Prime and especially Megatron strike me as... unrefined? (Perhaps this was the animator's intent?)

Furthermore, while I can appreciate the skill necessary on the part of Industrial Light and Magic to create such highly detailed and complex designs, I believe it results in an end product that is less authentic. Simply put, Transformer toys of all eras have been limited in terms the size and number of moving pieces, and the available movement mechanisms; this in turn has informed both the design of characters and their transformations in accompanying media. Live-action cinema allows such limitations to be cast aside; in doing so however, the characters seem to lose much of the visual recognition of their forebears.