The Energon Pub

News Credits: 5749 · by **El Duque** » Tue Aug 02, 2011 6:25 pm

CGSociety has posted an interview Digital Domain's visual effects supervisor Matthew Butler and crew detailing the extensive CGI work that was featured in Transformers Dark of the Moon. The full article can be viewed by clicking here.

CGSociety talked to key leads in the Digital Domain crew, creating 'Laserbeak' and the universally popular 'Bird Men' sequence. This scene features skydiving soldiers bailing out of V-22 Osprey helicopters to fly through Chicago with Decepticon ships in hot pursuit. The 'Space Bridge' sequence shows protoforms rising out of the moon's surface to mobilize a portal which sends them to assault Earth. During their mission, Digital Domain delivered 350 shots calling for astonishing hyper-reality in stereoscopic 3D.

Laserbeak was incredibly complex. He had to transform into several different objects, none of which he had the parts for," explains Dave Hodgins. "A lot of the transformers like Optimus Prime could morph into a truck cos he had truck parts on him, whereas Laserbeak would change with a quick motion blur." One of the consolations of working on the third film was that many of the characters and procedures and workflows had already been put in place within Digital Domain. The big challenge was stereo.

Like BIGGUY007 on Facebook · by **BIGGUY007** » Tue Aug 02, 2011 7:06 pm

Can't believe that I'm going to say this but: FIRSTIES!!!!!!

by **Bouncy X** » Tue Aug 02, 2011 8:14 pm

BIGGUY007 wrote:Can't believe that I'm going to say this but: FIRSTIES!!!!!!

oops...i'm on AICN, thought this was seibertron.

as for the actual article, gotta say i'm surprised at how little i've seen any complaints about Laserbeak's ability to literally turn into anything. when i first saw the movie, totally seemed like something all the fanboys and "haters" would be complaining over. lol

didn't realize they did so much work though, figured ILM did 90% of the work.

by **all_the_primes** » Tue Aug 02, 2011 8:46 pm

These things just make you realize how much effort they put in these movies.

by **solidus_prime** » Wed Aug 03, 2011 1:45 am

for me the really cool thing about this is that digital domain just built a studio in my home town of port st lucie florida in an area called traditions. and they are teaming with the local collage "indian river state collage" technologies dept. I am looking to start classes there for CGI and other aspects of it so I can get an internship with digital domain.