By TREVOR HOGGImages courtesy of Paramount Pictures.After returning to feature animation with Ultraman: Rising, ILM released its second offering that comes from a franchise that made the VFX company synonymous with the live-action version. Transformers One was directed by Josh Cooley, who set the story back when sworn enemies Optimus Prime and Megatron were inseparable, mischievous buddies called Orion Pax and D-16.One of the good things about ILM is that we have many different varieties of visual effects shows, so our pipeline and assets need to be versatile, notes Animation Supervisor Stephen King, who divided and conquered the animation with fellow supervisors Rob Coleman and Kim Ooi. The pipeline itself didnt change too much from how we handle our visual effects shows. Where there is a difference is, rather than working on a shot for this or that sequence, on an animated feature everything moves forward together within a sequence. There is a lot more time and structure built into these animated features, which is nice.Lead Character Designer Amy Beth Christenson explores color options for Airachnid.Being that it was going to be such a clean style for this film, it immediately became clear that they were going to have to transform onscreen without cheating. We had to solve the transformations on the concept art side to make it easier for everybody down the line. Once we had that narrowed down, I immediately started building everything in 3D as a concept art model and kept it in the same file.Amy Beth Christenson, Lead Character DesignerKing had previously worked on Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Transformers: Dark of the Moon, Transformers: Age of Extinction and Transformers: The Last Knight as well as Transformers: The Ride 3D. Not only did we use and tweak some of our specific tools to help them transform what were developed for the live-action films, we also learned that because these are big bulky characters sometimes its hard to get clean silhouettes for action and fighting, King states. It meant that we had to stress strong dynamic poses so the audience can read [the action], and theres not that confusion because the action happens quickly. It was good because the director, Josh Cooley, was into us suggesting things like, You would get a stronger pose if we do this kick instead of a punch here. It was a great collaborative effort.Rather than follow the norm of transforming into a vehicle, Alpha Tron takes the shape of a lion.Storyboards were created and the initial layout was provided by Christopher Batty at Paramount Animation, who served as the cinematographer on the project. We always had something that helped to ground us, but it is freeing, King remarks. Michael Bay is a fantastic cinematographer and does cool camera moves, but youre always trying to put them into the plate, so youre cheating the camera. Whereas with this one, youre doing the action as it would be done on set. You adjust the camera to the action. Unlike Michael Bay, who is known for two-second shots, Cooley had an opposite approach. Josh was keen to do long shots. There is a shot on the rooftop that is over a minute long. He said, Why do things with multiple cameras, takes and cuts when I can let the audience get in and breathe whats going on? Sometimes, we had multiple animators working on the same shot. One animator can focus on one specific action and another can work on other bits that are happening around it. We tried to bring it up to a certain level, show it to the director, and if were heading in the right direction then wed add some polish and refinement and keep going, King explains.As D-16 becomes Megatron, he gets bigger and heavier, and you can feel the weight. Orion Pax is a dreamer, has a carefree bounce to his step and doesnt have the weight of responsibility. But as Orion Pax transforms, he is forced into that leadership role, and we changed his pose. Orion Pax stands more upright and his shoulders are back more. Not only does he physically change but also his persona.Stephen King, Animation SupervisorCharacter Designer Evan Whitefield conceptualizes B-127 as a miner.The toys, comic books, live-action movies and the animated series were considered to be a point of reference. We started to visually unpack everything and discussed what we wanted our proportions to be and what is the style of the movie, states Lead Character Designer Amy Beth Christenson. Josh and Jason William Scheier [Production Designer] wanted to lean into Art Deco and J.C. Leyendecker. Josh wanted the faces to emote, so we did some studies of panel work going back to the 1980s cartoon, which had much more metal skin and worked much better to get the facial expressions out. It always defaulted back to the 1980s cartoon, which was nice because from the get-go this was going to be an animated movie with its own style. Being such an uber fan, I also wanted to make sure it was distinctly recognizable and pulling in the main parts while still doing something new.Characters had to fit into the overarching style but still have distinct elements in their own right. I made sure that the negative space inside the helmet was distinctive for every single character, and they had a shape language, Christenson remarks. It was nice going back and forth between the helmet and the face making sure that they felt of one piece. B-127 has a lot more round shapes than anybody else because hes friendlier and funnier. The character design reflects the arc of the cast members. Josh brought up the fact that a lot of the times when youre going up with your friends, youll dress and act the same. We started almost with the same silhouette for Orion Pax and D-16. But if you look at Megatron, the toy from the 1980s, he is square. We went from round shapes for D-16, and I began adding in more squares and repeating triangle angles because thats a much more aggressive shape. Thats the best example where we changed the shape language but tried to keep the silhouette so you could recognize D-16 as a miner with a cog as Megatron, Christenson explains.Amy Beth Christenson imagines Bumblebee with a cog and his alternate mode.Adding further complexity to the character designs was the fact that Transformers are given that name for a reason. Being that it was going to be such a clean style for this film, it immediately became clear that they were going to have to transform onscreen without cheating, Christenson states. Beyond that, there are three versions of Orion Pax and Megatron and two versions of most of the other characters. We had to solve the transformations on the concept art side to make it easier for everybody down the line. Once we had that narrowed down, I immediately started building everything in 3D as a concept art model and kept it in the same file. I would have the robot and the alt mode, and I would make sure that I was instancing the piece over so that the chest is going to be the same scale and piece as the front of the big rig. Concept art models were keyframed animated to demonstrate the transformations. We had to work out everybody at the same time to make sure that Bumblebee didnt suddenly transform bigger than a big rig. like Megatrons tank. For Elita and Bumblebee, we had to keep hollower in the inside so when transforming into a bike or car they took up less space, because there were these cavities where things could go in tighter. Whereas, Orion Pax and D-16 were solid in the inside and have parts that can expand, which allowed them to get bigger than they should, Christenson explains.We started almost with the same silhouette for Orion Pax and D-16. But if you look at Megatron, the toy from the 1980s, he is square. We went from round shapes for D-16, and I began adding in more squares and repeating triangle angles because thats a much more aggressive shape. Thats the best example where we changed the shape language but tried to keep the silhouette so you could recognize D-16 as a miner with a cog as Megatron.Amy Beth Christenson, Lead Character DesignerA facial study of Megatron.Being given the ability to transform alters the mindset of the characters, which was incorporated into the animation. As D-16 becomes Megatron, he gets bigger and heavier, and you can feel the weight, King remarks. Orion Pax is a dreamer, has a carefree bounce to his step and doesnt have the weight of responsibility. But as Orion Pax transforms, he is forced into that leadership role, and we changed his pose. Orion Pax stands more upright and his shoulders are back more. Not only does he physically change but also his persona. Developing an emotional connection with the audience meant having the characters emote in a realistic manner. Josh still wanted them to feel like robots, so we dont have a cheekbone that our skin rises over. The eyes move more like camera lenses and apertures. We didnt make them blink because those were saved for more emotional beats.For each shot, an animator would capture reference footage of themselves performing the required action. Its my favorite style because it helps the animators get into the characters and is definitely where the industry has moved to get that realism and detail that audiences want to see now, King reveals. Because we didnt want go down the wrong path for the long shots, we would often show Josh our reference before presenting him with the animation blocking. Directing the eye of the viewer was accomplished through lighting and color. Its a colorful, saturated movie, but for each shot lighting, [Production Designer] Jason William Scheier directed the eye [of the viewer] while subtly darkening or desaturating the background because we didnt want the audience to look as if our characters would pop out.A variety of facial expressions are examined for Orion Pax.Among the most distinct characters is the Sentinel Primes enforcer Airachnid. She was a lot of fun to animate because we had her walking on her legs and doing big acrobatic flips into her transformation, King explains. On top of that, she has all of these sets of eyes on the side, which is a big story point, giving them the spider quality of always looking around independently. You feel the importance of it exactly when she locks all of them onto something. Whereas, most of the Transformers become a vehicle. Alpha Trion takes on the form of a lion with a unicorn horn and electric tail. Because hes older and from this previous generation of Transformers, the same amount of energy wasnt needed. We played Alpha Trion smaller and subtler to make him feel wise. An ancient alien race is the archenemy of the Transformers. The Quintesson boss has these floaty tentacles, so weve got this nice organic movement underneath her, which is a nice juxtaposition to the robotic movements, King notes.Considerable effort went into making sure the negative space inside the helmet was distinctive for every single character and that the helmet and face felt of one piece.A sketch of Orion Pax in his alternate mode.[Airachnid] was a lot of fun to animate because we had her walking on her legs and doing big acrobatic flips into her transformation. On top of that, she has all of these sets of eyes on the side, which is a big story point, giving them the spider quality of always looking around independently. You feel the importance of it exactly when she locks all of them onto something.Stephen King, Animation SupervisorTransformations happen with background characters as they go about their daily lives. There was a lot of world-building in a movie like this, King states. We did anything to make it feel like a real organic world. We did a couple of iterations with the fan and getting the timing right. Its supposed to be this big fan that turns on and pushes a lot of air, so it cant move too quickly, otherwise it wont have that weight, but at the same time, it had to be fast enough to be dangerous. We had it go fast on the initial startup, then it slowly decreases over time. Fun was had with the vehicles. Describes King, D-16s tank has some nice details such as independent treads and legs so he can maneuver around uneven surfaces. Elita is a tri-bike with independent suspension, so when shes banking around corners, we tested and pushed how far she could lean over and get cool, dynamic poses, especially when beating up all of the Trackers in the middle of the movie.Serving as the main antagonist is Sentinel Prime voiced by Jon Hamm.Taking part in the Iacon Race is a female racer and her alternate mode.Leading the ancient alien race known as the Quintessons is Quintus Prime.Mapping out the evolution of Orion Pax into Optimus Prime.Exploring the how scale changes going from D-16 to Megatron.Malleable metal skin was given to their face to enable the characters to emote better.Wreaking havoc as the enforcer for Sentinel Prime is Airchnid, who has the ability to transform into a helicopter.B-127/Bumblebee gets exited about being able to generate knife hands once a cog gets inserted into his body.Orion Pax was given a carefree demeanor.The eyes were treated as camera lenses to allow the characters like D-16/Megatron to emote while remaining robotic.The primary visual reference for the movie was the 1980s animated series.Reaching the surface of Cybertron, B-127, Elita, Orion Pax and D-16 encounter Soundwave, Starscream and Shockwave.Harkening back to the wild craziness of the pod race in Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace and the car race in Ready Player One is the Iacon race that Orion Pax and D-16 hijack despite their inability to transform. From the first script read, that was the sequence ILM keyed on because we knew it was going to take all of our skills and departments, King reveals. We have characters racing and interacting, then we add the complexity of this road that has to come out, transform in front of them, move and have its own life. It would have been very difficult to do in live-action, so that is one of the great things about doing an animated feature.Watch the transformation videos featuring key character designs and models in Transformers: A Design Case Study from ILM. Click here: https://www.ilm.com/art-department/transformers-one-case-study/