The 'Transformers' Movies Broke Industrial Light & Magic's Computers

Even though the Transformers franchise brings in some big-name talent to star in each and every movie, it's the Transformers themselves and the insane action involving them that people are coming to see. Seeing the Transformers come to life on the big screen wouldn't be possible without the impressive visual effects work done by countless people behind the scenes. And when you're talking about a movie from a large-scale director like Michael Bay, we're getting a movie where almost every single shot has visual effects in it.

In fact, director Michael Bay revealed on a visit to the set of Transformers: The Last Knight that the visual effects of the Transformers franchise are so complex that they have broken the computers of Industrial Light & Magic (ILM). Find out how Transformers visual effects break ILM computers after the jump.

While talking about using new technology on Transformers: The Last Knight, Bay talked about the groundbreaking visual effects each and every Transformers movie uses. And that's when he said:

We always break the ILM computer. We have the heaviest model ILM has ever had. They gotta shutdown ILM for a weekend and it breaks the computers.

Why do the Transformers movie break ILM computers? Bay explains:

It's because of the heaviness of the models. They're so dense, so many pixels they can't...like, a heavy model is a building that fell down. Built a real building. All that reflective, every window had its own little piece of software. If it moves...that shuts the computers down. And we're gonna have models way heavier than that but their computers get faster and faster each year. ILM can explain it a lot better than me. They literally have to get everything offline so they can handle the model because they're so dense. They can't do multi-shows or anything. They have to clear the decks. It's supposed to take months doing it the normal way but by using all the computer power you can get it done in a weekend.

Specifically, I believe Bay is talking about the sequence in Transformers: Dark of the Moon when a skyscraper that has an extremely reflective exterior is tilted and knocked over in downtown Chicago. Here's Industrial Light & Magic breaking down how they brought that sequence to life:

So can we expect anything from Transformers: The Last Knight that will give Industrial Light & Magic to have computer troubles again? Bay teases, "We are definitely breaking computers on this one."

Transformers: The Last Knight arrives June 23, 2017.