Computer-generated imagery

Computer-generated imagery (CGI) in Transformers media has gone through six phases thus far.

Generation 2 (1993–1994)

Cube 4: Superdupercube

The Generation 2 "cartoon" was simply the Generation 1 cartoon with a new CGI opening, and new scene-transitions featuring the nefarious Cybernet Space Cube. These segments added nothing but glitz (and annoyance) to the cartoon, and are mostly forgotten.

CGI was used more extensively in Generation 2's commercials. Entire segments were computer animated for early commercials advertising the toys and the comic. Initially the CGI was quite primitive. Later, more advanced techniques were used to allow computer-animated characters to interact with live-action actors.

The Beast Era (1996–2000)

"Tarantulas! Find us some mood lighting, too!"

Both Beast Wars and Beast Machines were fully CGI, created by Mainframe Entertainment of Canada. Beast Wars was a bit primitive, even in its day. (It is notorious for lacking shadows except when vital.) Its animation quality improved steadily over time, most obviously in comparisons of the landscape between first and third seasons. Beast Machines was a further step forward, and holds up reasonably well even by modern standards. Both are praised for their good use of facial expressions and body language.

Robots in Disguise (2000–2002)

The Global Space Bridge was generally animated in CGI, except when it wasn't.

The Car Robots opening was done partially in CGI; Optimus Prime and Megatron battling and the transformations of X-Brawn, Side Burn, and Prowl were all computer generated. In addition, a brief shot of the Autobots driving through the Global Space Bridge, and Team Bullet Train driving around on some tracks, were done the same way. In keeping with the show's slightly obsessive toy accuracy, these CGI models look almost identical to the toys, which unfortunately makes the battle itself look a bit dodgy.

The English version of the opening was almost entirely cel-animated, using a mixture of the traditionally animated parts of the Japanese opening and clips from various episodes. However, it did retain a short computer generated shot of the Global Space Bridge.

In addition, the American version used CGI for its scene transitions. Shiny 3D models of the Autobot, Predacon, and Decepticon insignia retreated a short distance and flipped to reveal which faction the next scene would focus on.

Energon and Cybertron (2004–2006)

"Well, a firetruck is bigger. Much, much bigger."

The last two-thirds of the Unicron Trilogy, Energon and Cybertron, both used shaded CGI for the Transformer characters, and hand-drawn animation for almost everything else (humans, backgrounds, etc.). Some episodes (e.g., "City") used CGI for doing complex environments, particularly when the camera needed to be able to move through the environment quickly.

In comparison to the Beast Era, the character animation in Energon and Cybertron was generally unimpressive. For an extensive discussion of its flaws, see Energon, Production flaws.

On the positive side, the character models were toy-accurate to a fault, reproducing the design and transformations of the toys in detail.

The live-action films (2007–2011)

"Oh, crap! He's got 5,000 pieces of geometry, and over 1,000,000 polygons! Run!"

The live-action film series, obviously, used CGI extensively, most spectacularly for almost all appearances of the Transformer characters in robot mode. The lion's share of CG work on the films was rendered by Industrial Light & Magic, with Digital Domain and other companies doing the rest.

Transformers: Prime (2010–2013)

"Miko, ain't you stubbies s'posed to be hand-drawn? Or was that a bad dream I had?"

The Transformers: Prime TV series was a return to fully-CG animation for the brand. Utilizing over a decade of technical evolution and a more than 100-fold increase in computer processing power, a mix of 2D and 3D animation was used to create more realistic landscapes and characters with realistic textures and movement. The show was animated by Polygon Pictures.

Transformers: Robots in Disguise (2015)

The 2015 Robots in Disguise cartoon, a sequel to Prime, has opted for cel-shaded CG characters on painted backgrounds.

Fiction

Marvel Comics Generation 1 continuity

The video-game Multi-World uses advanced computer-generated imagery to project life like simulations for players. Robotic lifeforms that have their minds uploaded into the game can participate in the action like it was real. Afterdeath!

Computer interfaces actually looked like this in 1988.

The simulated world of Hyper-Fax is entirely the creation of computer-generated imagery. Pretender to the Throne!

Notes

• If one includes the Generation 2 cartoon, then of the eleven Transformers TV shows that have aired in the U.S., more than half have used CGI, and almost half have used it extensively.
• A Toys"R"Us Big Book ad airing in late 2009 briefly featured CGI versions of the movie Optimus Prime and Bumblebee not animated by ILM [1]. The CGI models appear to be based on the 2009 Leader Class Optimus Prime and Deluxe Class Bumblebee toys and utilize the same transformations as the toys without any apparent morphing (essentially computer rendered versions of the toys and their transformations).