Creating the Knightship for "Transformers: Age of Extinction" was an immense challenge for the visual effects team due to it's massive scale. In fact, the Knightship is over five times larger than the worm-like drilling robot that appeared in "Dark of the Moon" which had previously held the record at ILM for most complex model.
Behind the Magic: Creating the Knightship for Transformers Age of Extinction
Posted by LOST Cybertronian
Feb 9, 2015 at 6:23pm CST
34,564 views
View Discussion
Sign in
or
Join
to reply
More Bots. More News. More Awesome.
Re: Behind the Magic: Creating the Knightship for Transformers Age of Extinction
(view post)
Comment by Ultra Markus
Feb 9, 2015
that 3d rendering of the ship spinning around looks like a giant hand
maybe its unicrons hand.............
maybe its unicrons hand.............
Re: Behind the Magic: Creating the Knightship for Transformers Age of Extinction
(view post)
Comment by Rodimus Prime
Feb 10, 2015
I really hope we get a lot more of this stuff in the upcoming film instead of humans.
Re: Behind the Magic: Creating the Knightship for Transformers Age of Extinction
(view post)
Comment by Autobot032
Mar 15, 2015
According to Deadline, an industry trade website, Transformers: Age Of Extinction was the clear winner of 2014, having the largest box office take of the year, it even beat out other big greats such as American Sniper and The Lego Movie!
2014 wasn't the strongest box office year, movies didn't sell as well as they had in past years and the economy has been rough on a lot of people, so frivolous spending such as going to the movies (which can be incredibly expensive) is out of the question for some, if not many.
With this in mind, seeing Age Of Extinction take the number one spot is awesome for us Transformer fans because the brand is still alive and fresh, even with new and casual fans as well old school who've been here since the beginning. With more Transformers success, the more Transformers toys and series we'll get and that's always a good thing.
You can read the full article and see the rest of the staggering numbers over at Deadline, here, and when you're done come on back to the forums and share your thoughts on this big news!

Keep your optics tuned to Seibertron.com for the latest in news and updates, plus the best galleries around!
2014 wasn't the strongest box office year, movies didn't sell as well as they had in past years and the economy has been rough on a lot of people, so frivolous spending such as going to the movies (which can be incredibly expensive) is out of the question for some, if not many.
With this in mind, seeing Age Of Extinction take the number one spot is awesome for us Transformer fans because the brand is still alive and fresh, even with new and casual fans as well old school who've been here since the beginning. With more Transformers success, the more Transformers toys and series we'll get and that's always a good thing.
THE BOTTOM LINE: Transformers: Age Of Extinction turned in a $245M domestic gross, did $545M foreign and another $301M China (Paramount kept $75 million of that), for a total of $1.09 billion. That is just short of the last installment, Transformers: Dark Of The Moon, which grossed $1.12B to become the first Transformers to crack the billion dollar gross mark.
You can read the full article and see the rest of the staggering numbers over at Deadline, here, and when you're done come on back to the forums and share your thoughts on this big news!

Keep your optics tuned to Seibertron.com for the latest in news and updates, plus the best galleries around!
Re: Behind the Magic: Creating the Knightship for Transformers Age of Extinction
(view post)
Comment by SlyTF1
Mar 15, 2015
A well deserved victory.
Re: Behind the Magic: Creating the Knightship for Transformers Age of Extinction
(view post)
Comment by griftimus prime
Mar 15, 2015
very hard movie to finish in one sitting. worst of the 4
Re: Behind the Magic: Creating the Knightship for Transformers Age of Extinction
(view post)
Comment by Autobot_Benz
Mar 15, 2015
Best movie since the first one. Love Age Of Extinction
Re: Behind the Magic: Creating the Knightship for Transformers Age of Extinction
(view post)
Comment by Bouncy X
Mar 15, 2015
i thought it was the "just right" movie of the bunch.....
okay i just said that because those above me claimed it the worst and then another the best. i wanted to three little bears-it-up!!!
okay i just said that because those above me claimed it the worst and then another the best. i wanted to three little bears-it-up!!!
Re: Behind the Magic: Creating the Knightship for Transformers Age of Extinction
(view post)
Comment by ZeroWolf
Mar 15, 2015
...I love the three posts above me, shows some of the opposite attitudes with this film. I would like to see a breakdown showing the amount it got in each territory, is there a link and I've missed it?
Re: Behind the Magic: Creating the Knightship for Transformers Age of Extinction
(view post)
Comment by TimothyR
Mar 15, 2015
i know that the story for these movies is never going to be anything special.. so, my only real complaint is the way the human built transformers transformed. that morphing that they did where they floated around was awful, it really lost some of the magic of what transformers are. i really hope they get rid of that shit for the next one.. something tells me they won't though.
Re: Behind the Magic: Creating the Knightship for Transformers Age of Extinction
(view post)
They're supposed to be abominations. They're made by humans. They aren't meant to be natural "Transformers." They're drones.
Comment by SlyTF1
Mar 15, 2015
TimothyR wrote:i know that the story for these movies is never going to be anything special.. so, my only real complaint is the way the human built transformers transformed. that morphing that they did where they floated around was awful, it really lost some of the magic of what transformers are. i really hope they get rid of that **** for the next one.. something tells me they won't though.
They're supposed to be abominations. They're made by humans. They aren't meant to be natural "Transformers." They're drones.
Re: Behind the Magic: Creating the Knightship for Transformers Age of Extinction
(view post)
Comment by Sabrblade
Mar 15, 2015
On a different yet related note, can you instead explain how mere human beings were able to perfect such a sophisticated form of transformation that borders on being full on magic, when the highly advanced technological alien race had only perfected a much less advanced form of transformation that keeps to more realistic levels of feasibility and practicality, despite the art of transformation being part of the latter's very nature?SlyTF1 wrote:TimothyR wrote:i know that the story for these movies is never going to be anything special.. so, my only real complaint is the way the human built transformers transformed. that morphing that they did where they floated around was awful, it really lost some of the magic of what transformers are. i really hope they get rid of that **** for the next one.. something tells me they won't though.
They're supposed to be abominations. They're made by humans. They aren't meant to be natural "Transformers." They're drones.
Re: Behind the Magic: Creating the Knightship for Transformers Age of Extinction
(view post)
That really bugged me too. Are we really supposed to believe humans could build better Transformers than the Transformers themselves? (Also, "Transformium", really? That's even worse than "Unobtanium".)
Regarding the headline, I'm downright shocked that this movie managed to beat out Guardians of the Galaxy. GotG was by no means a perfect movie, but it was miles smarter and more original than AoE. Plus Gunn proved that you can have a movie where CGI characters get just as much focus and character development as the human actors.
Comment by JazZeke
Mar 15, 2015
Sabrblade wrote:On a different yet related note, can you instead explain how mere human beings were able to perfect such a sophisticated form of transformation that borders on being full on magic, when the highly advanced technological alien race had only perfected a much less advanced form of transformation that keeps to more realistic levels of feasibility and practicality, despite the art of transformation being part of the latter's very nature?SlyTF1 wrote:TimothyR wrote:i know that the story for these movies is never going to be anything special.. so, my only real complaint is the way the human built transformers transformed. that morphing that they did where they floated around was awful, it really lost some of the magic of what transformers are. i really hope they get rid of that **** for the next one.. something tells me they won't though.
They're supposed to be abominations. They're made by humans. They aren't meant to be natural "Transformers." They're drones.
That really bugged me too. Are we really supposed to believe humans could build better Transformers than the Transformers themselves? (Also, "Transformium", really? That's even worse than "Unobtanium".)
Regarding the headline, I'm downright shocked that this movie managed to beat out Guardians of the Galaxy. GotG was by no means a perfect movie, but it was miles smarter and more original than AoE. Plus Gunn proved that you can have a movie where CGI characters get just as much focus and character development as the human actors.
Re: Behind the Magic: Creating the Knightship for Transformers Age of Extinction
(view post)
Comment by Sabrblade
Mar 15, 2015
THAT I had no problem with because it's supposed to be a dumb name. Wembley and/or Joshua said it was a focus grouped name, which means it's meant to sound lame as a jab from the movie towards focus groups.JazZeke wrote:(Also, "Transformium", really? That's even worse than "Unobtanium".)
Re: Behind the Magic: Creating the Knightship for Transformers Age of Extinction
(view post)
I think the premise of the "transformation" was that it was built around a Transformer's Cellular structure, and their ability to reformat their exoskeleton based on a scanned vehicle mode, whereas a traditional Transformer does it via contortionism. *Cough*Nanites*/Cough*. They were growing Transformers out of Stem Cells basically, by harvesting mechaorganic tissue and poking it with the proverbial science stick. The THEORY, I have no problem with, because sure, a nanite cloud rebuilding itself would look like a blob. PROBABLY, the Transformers never designed this trait because they already had a method of Transforming that worked and worked well. Chalk it up to complacency or simple ignorance. The problem I have with it is the way it was handled graphically, and that when you introduce Nanites, it becomes very hard to take down the enemy realitically, which is what ultimately happened.
I don't recall when TF4 and GotG came out, but I think TF4 simply beat it out because it had more time to sit in Theaters, a better following who saw it multiple times (GotG was a newcomer even to casual comic fans compared to Thor or Ironman), and a stronger showing (and support, especially in China) overseas. Those overseas numbers help.
As for "Transformium", G1 introduced a lot of metals too. As a fan, I kinda wish they'd stuck with Cybertronum, but there's no reason for a human to use Cybrtron as a root name, since they've only ever seen Cybertron for 20 minutes.
Comment by Flashwave
Mar 15, 2015
JazZeke wrote:Sabrblade wrote:On a different yet related note, can you instead explain how mere human beings were able to perfect such a sophisticated form of transformation that borders on being full on magic, when the highly advanced technological alien race had only perfected a much less advanced form of transformation that keeps to more realistic levels of feasibility and practicality, despite the art of transformation being part of the latter's very nature?SlyTF1 wrote:TimothyR wrote:i know that the story for these movies is never going to be anything special.. so, my only real complaint is the way the human built transformers transformed. that morphing that they did where they floated around was awful, it really lost some of the magic of what transformers are. i really hope they get rid of that **** for the next one.. something tells me they won't though.
They're supposed to be abominations. They're made by humans. They aren't meant to be natural "Transformers." They're drones.
That really bugged me too. Are we really supposed to believe humans could build better Transformers than the Transformers themselves? (Also, "Transformium", really? That's even worse than "Unobtanium".)
Regarding the headline, I'm downright shocked that this movie managed to beat out Guardians of the Galaxy. GotG was by no means a perfect movie, but it was miles smarter and more original than AoE. Plus Gunn proved that you can have a movie where CGI characters get just as much focus and character development as the human actors.
I think the premise of the "transformation" was that it was built around a Transformer's Cellular structure, and their ability to reformat their exoskeleton based on a scanned vehicle mode, whereas a traditional Transformer does it via contortionism. *Cough*Nanites*/Cough*. They were growing Transformers out of Stem Cells basically, by harvesting mechaorganic tissue and poking it with the proverbial science stick. The THEORY, I have no problem with, because sure, a nanite cloud rebuilding itself would look like a blob. PROBABLY, the Transformers never designed this trait because they already had a method of Transforming that worked and worked well. Chalk it up to complacency or simple ignorance. The problem I have with it is the way it was handled graphically, and that when you introduce Nanites, it becomes very hard to take down the enemy realitically, which is what ultimately happened.
I don't recall when TF4 and GotG came out, but I think TF4 simply beat it out because it had more time to sit in Theaters, a better following who saw it multiple times (GotG was a newcomer even to casual comic fans compared to Thor or Ironman), and a stronger showing (and support, especially in China) overseas. Those overseas numbers help.
As for "Transformium", G1 introduced a lot of metals too. As a fan, I kinda wish they'd stuck with Cybertronum, but there's no reason for a human to use Cybrtron as a root name, since they've only ever seen Cybertron for 20 minutes.
Re: Behind the Magic: Creating the Knightship for Transformers Age of Extinction
(view post)
They didn't "perfect," anything. Them breaking down into their base particles in order to transform isn't perfected. That's primitive, at best. It may be more useful for combat purposes, but far from perfected.
Comment by SlyTF1
Mar 16, 2015
Sabrblade wrote:On a different yet related note, can you instead explain how mere human beings were able to perfect such a sophisticated form of transformation that borders on being full on magic, when the highly advanced technological alien race had only perfected a much less advanced form of transformation that keeps to more realistic levels of feasibility and practicality, despite the art of transformation being part of the latter's very nature?SlyTF1 wrote:TimothyR wrote:i know that the story for these movies is never going to be anything special.. so, my only real complaint is the way the human built transformers transformed. that morphing that they did where they floated around was awful, it really lost some of the magic of what transformers are. i really hope they get rid of that **** for the next one.. something tells me they won't though.
They're supposed to be abominations. They're made by humans. They aren't meant to be natural "Transformers." They're drones.
They didn't "perfect," anything. Them breaking down into their base particles in order to transform isn't perfected. That's primitive, at best. It may be more useful for combat purposes, but far from perfected.
Re: Behind the Magic: Creating the Knightship for Transformers Age of Extinction
(view post)
Comment by ZeroWolf
Mar 16, 2015
I think the transformation was a visual style more then anything else as it's combat advantages were certainly not played upon in the final battle in Hong Kong.
I thought an arms race of weapons made from transformers tech would of been a better storyline to go with instead of its consumer angle. That way all drones the drones could of been military vehicles. Stinger could of still featured as a light reconnaissance car to keep up his mirroring of bumblebee.
I thought an arms race of weapons made from transformers tech would of been a better storyline to go with instead of its consumer angle. That way all drones the drones could of been military vehicles. Stinger could of still featured as a light reconnaissance car to keep up his mirroring of bumblebee.
Re: Behind the Magic: Creating the Knightship for Transformers Age of Extinction
(view post)
Comment by AutoBorst
Mar 16, 2015
No indicator that it was a good film in way shape or form however.
Re: Behind the Magic: Creating the Knightship for Transformers Age of Extinction
(view post)
Comment by Sabrblade
Mar 16, 2015
They created the process and made it work with zero negative consequences. Sounds perfected to me.SlyTF1 wrote:Sabrblade wrote:On a different yet related note, can you instead explain how mere human beings were able to perfect such a sophisticated form of transformation that borders on being full on magic, when the highly advanced technological alien race had only perfected a much less advanced form of transformation that keeps to more realistic levels of feasibility and practicality, despite the art of transformation being part of the latter's very nature?SlyTF1 wrote:TimothyR wrote:i know that the story for these movies is never going to be anything special.. so, my only real complaint is the way the human built transformers transformed. that morphing that they did where they floated around was awful, it really lost some of the magic of what transformers are. i really hope they get rid of that **** for the next one.. something tells me they won't though.
They're supposed to be abominations. They're made by humans. They aren't meant to be natural "Transformers." They're drones.
They didn't "perfect," anything. Them breaking down into their base particles in order to transform isn't perfected. That's primitive, at best. It may be more useful for combat purposes, but far from perfected.
Re: Behind the Magic: Creating the Knightship for Transformers Age of Extinction
(view post)
Comment by Lockdownhunter
Mar 16, 2015
TF4 was in my honest opinion,the best of the 4 movies(A lot of people will scream at me for this.) Let us hope that TF5 will be even better with almost no loopholes!
P.S.Cannot wait for Jurassic World too!

P.S.Cannot wait for Jurassic World too!
Re: Behind the Magic: Creating the Knightship for Transformers Age of Extinction
(view post)
Comment by Sabrblade
Mar 16, 2015
You kiddin'? Loopholes are what these filmmakers seem to love most (after excessive carnage and needless adult humor, that is).Lockdownhunter wrote:Let us hope that TF5 will be even better with almost no loopholes!![]()
