Digital Domain Talks Transformers DOTM with CGSociety

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.