Transformers Blu-ray To Arrive September 2
TRANSFORMERS, the $700 million smash hit from DreamWorks Pictures and Paramount Pictures, in association with Hasbro, rolls out in a fully-loaded, two-disc Blu-ray presentation on September 2, giving fans the chance to discover that there's definitely "More Than Meets The Eye" to the legendary Autobots and Decepticons. The highly-anticipated release is Paramount Home Entertainment's first to incorporate BD Live capabilities.
The massive production exploded onto screens last year from the creative minds of director Michael Bay and executive producer Steven Spielberg, taking audiences by storm and becoming the top-selling DVD of 2007. The first live-action film based on the enduringly popular "robots in disguise," TRANSFORMERS features the ultimate battle between good and evil, as the peace-loving Autobots seek to protect humanity from the evil forces of the Decepticons.
The action-packed film stars Shia LaBeouf (INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL), Josh Duhamel (LAS VEGAS), Tyrese Gibson (FOUR BROTHERS) and Megan Fox (HOPE & FAITH), as well as seasoned performers such as Jon Voight (NATIONAL TREASURE) and John Turturro (THE GOOD SHEPHERD).
Still, the biggest stars are the TRANSFORMERS robots themselves -- including fan favorites Optimus Prime, Megatron, Bumblebee, Ratchet and Jazz -- brought to life by revolutionary vfx techniques developed by ILM.
ILM was certainly up to the challenge of creating 30-foot-tall CG Autobots and Decepticons that had to look photoreal. No easy feat considering how complex and chained together they are. Joining VFX Supervisor Scott Farrar were Animation Supervisor Scott Benza, CG Supervisor Hilmar Koch and the rest of the crew. They not only had to create 14 fully CG characters with all of their individually controllable vehicular pieces (from oil filters to axles to pistons to body panels), but also a new system that could tackle the immense rendering demands. Fortunately, ILM's new artist-friendly Zeno platform, which transparently handles file conversion, came in handy.
For Farrar, TRANSFORMERS represents a new watermark in ultra-realistic hard body surfaces. "This had to be rendered and it's terribly complicated," Farrar told VFXWORLD. For instance, in addition to Optimus Prime's 10,108 parts, there are also 1.8 million polygons and 2,000 texture maps. Which is also why ILM developed dynamic rigging so the animators could deal with the large number of parts, interacting on the fly while paying attention to certain sections that they were animating. "Let's say you had a close-up," Farrar added, "and the animator only had to deal with one arm, shoulders and a head. They basically identify the area and grab that to simplify it."
Meanwhile, there were several advancements with regard to more realistic-looking lighting. "We were very specific as far as key lights and fill lights, not including the overall reflections: that was a given for each and every robot," Farrar continued. "So we had to plus that out. But then we added key lights, and shadows and cutters and flags, so our robots would actually go in and out of narrowed lights with barn doors just like you'd do on sets. I wanted you to see that these are really big guys, so that if a robot knelt down toward camera, he actually moved out of a key on his left side and it got darker there, and he moved into a right key, and you really felt the volume lighting in ways you haven't seen before."
The TRANSFORMERS Blu-ray presentation offers consumers an incredible movie experience, packed full of bonus material that delivers excitement and fun for long-time fans, as well as for viewers who are new to the TRANSFORMERS universe. Among the extensive special features, viewers can access commentary from director Michael Bay along with two documentaries that provide an in-depth look at the human elements of the film as well as the phenomenal robot stars.
The massive production exploded onto screens last year from the creative minds of director Michael Bay and executive producer Steven Spielberg, taking audiences by storm and becoming the top-selling DVD of 2007. The first live-action film based on the enduringly popular "robots in disguise," TRANSFORMERS features the ultimate battle between good and evil, as the peace-loving Autobots seek to protect humanity from the evil forces of the Decepticons.
The action-packed film stars Shia LaBeouf (INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL), Josh Duhamel (LAS VEGAS), Tyrese Gibson (FOUR BROTHERS) and Megan Fox (HOPE & FAITH), as well as seasoned performers such as Jon Voight (NATIONAL TREASURE) and John Turturro (THE GOOD SHEPHERD).
Still, the biggest stars are the TRANSFORMERS robots themselves -- including fan favorites Optimus Prime, Megatron, Bumblebee, Ratchet and Jazz -- brought to life by revolutionary vfx techniques developed by ILM.
ILM was certainly up to the challenge of creating 30-foot-tall CG Autobots and Decepticons that had to look photoreal. No easy feat considering how complex and chained together they are. Joining VFX Supervisor Scott Farrar were Animation Supervisor Scott Benza, CG Supervisor Hilmar Koch and the rest of the crew. They not only had to create 14 fully CG characters with all of their individually controllable vehicular pieces (from oil filters to axles to pistons to body panels), but also a new system that could tackle the immense rendering demands. Fortunately, ILM's new artist-friendly Zeno platform, which transparently handles file conversion, came in handy.
For Farrar, TRANSFORMERS represents a new watermark in ultra-realistic hard body surfaces. "This had to be rendered and it's terribly complicated," Farrar told VFXWORLD. For instance, in addition to Optimus Prime's 10,108 parts, there are also 1.8 million polygons and 2,000 texture maps. Which is also why ILM developed dynamic rigging so the animators could deal with the large number of parts, interacting on the fly while paying attention to certain sections that they were animating. "Let's say you had a close-up," Farrar added, "and the animator only had to deal with one arm, shoulders and a head. They basically identify the area and grab that to simplify it."
Meanwhile, there were several advancements with regard to more realistic-looking lighting. "We were very specific as far as key lights and fill lights, not including the overall reflections: that was a given for each and every robot," Farrar continued. "So we had to plus that out. But then we added key lights, and shadows and cutters and flags, so our robots would actually go in and out of narrowed lights with barn doors just like you'd do on sets. I wanted you to see that these are really big guys, so that if a robot knelt down toward camera, he actually moved out of a key on his left side and it got darker there, and he moved into a right key, and you really felt the volume lighting in ways you haven't seen before."
The TRANSFORMERS Blu-ray presentation offers consumers an incredible movie experience, packed full of bonus material that delivers excitement and fun for long-time fans, as well as for viewers who are new to the TRANSFORMERS universe. Among the extensive special features, viewers can access commentary from director Michael Bay along with two documentaries that provide an in-depth look at the human elements of the film as well as the phenomenal robot stars.
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