Probably some of you read this:
Age of Extinction: ILM turns up its Transformers toolset | fxguide
^ILM dubbed it as "Hypno-Transformation". I want to called it, Transmorphing.
Whatever it is. I feel like as a viewer, kinda cheated. I like that film overall but this CGI aspect of transformation bothers me a bit.

Transforming with moving parts is what the essence of being a Transformer.
The hypno-transformation or transformium as it called in the movie is somewhat over-powered. More powerful than the Creators' intended design though.

Well it looks cool but the very essence of transforming per parts and panels is kinda lost in this movie. I want to add, i never saw most of new autobots transformed per parts and panels like Hound & Crosshairs. Drift transformed into a helicopter but i never saw him transforming into a car (Or did i missed it?).

I kinda felt ILM got burned out from rendering Devastator in ROTF and Driller in DOTM that they put this Hypno-Transformation to save time and resources in place in making true rendering transformations for Hound and Crosshairs.

I hope Galvatron in TF5 re-configure this transformation on himself and use the iconic transformation that people and fans know so well.

 

I don't really see why he would considering the cube transformation give him an advantage. Makes moving easier, you can fly, dodge attacks...

Besides, if reduced screentime for the transformations mean more character interaction with the Autobot, and even Decepticons, its a worthy sacrifice, in my opinion.

 

On other hand, I'll forgive ILM for doing this if in TF5 they can make 2 combiners per faction a possibility.

 

"These robots that aren't really Transformers don't really transform, and that makes me angry for some reason."

 

If there was one thing that bugged the most in the entire movie, it is this and the lack of actual Transformations.

The fact that all the prototypes, Stinger and Galvatron "transmorphed" means that ILM doesn't have to animate actual Transformations, which I find is super lazy and it also sucks because Transformers Transforming is what makes them cool.

I also don't like Transformations through object passes. You know how in the Bayverse, an ALOT mode will pass by an object and then it will go through the bulk of it's transformation behind that object and then once the camera sweeps pass the object, it is fully transformed. That is another way of cheating a transformation and it is annoying.

But the most annoying and biggest crime of them all is the lack of actual "on-screen" transformations. All you see hear is a sound (if at all) and then suddenly, the next shot is that they are already transformed. Or you see something about to Transform because some of the parts are moving, and then BOOM, the following shot has them already transformed.

Its the biggest crime in this franchise. I'm fine with everything else, plotholes and all, just fix this one thing

 

Oh, for Pete's sake.

The whole point is that the cube-transformation robot drones are not Cybertronian. They are man-made imitations which work on programming algorithms and small segments, not protoforms and Sparks and established bodily frames on truly sentient beings with a rich and glorious history. The change in transformation gives the viewer a method of instantly understanding this difference.

Also, if you want to see more complete transformation sequences, fork over the money for them to add even more FX shots to the film, prepare to stay even longer because the time really adds up, and possibly also accept that standing still with nothing happening around them so you can see every detail of their transforming in the middle of a battle scene is bad planning as far as keeping a balance between what the audience wants to see and what would keep someone's suspension of disbelief from failing goes.

 

I vote more transforming and less people chasing Each other through elevators in china

 

Agreed. The way that the human-made transformers changed worked very well to establish that they were most certainly NOT proper Cybertronians. It also fits with KSI's emphasis on things being clean and futuristic. It also helps to demonstrate the truth to the claim that the Autobots are "no longer needed", since these drones can change more quickly and even use their pixellation transformations to evade attacks and get around obstacles.

And yeah, if the transformations were all done on screen it would either massively increase the running time and budget or lead to the use of stock transformation sequences, which were one of my biggest issues with some of the TF tv shows.

 

The human-made robots are not cybertronians.The cube transformation shows that they are just knock-offs of the real Transformers.

 

These two excuses are BS.

1. There are plenty of other ways they could have differentiated them from the real Transformers. Different designs, a different way of moving, long antennas or some sort of indicator of external control, etcetera.

2. Since when have the Transformers in this movie ever only stood still transforming? They've consistently been portrayed as able to Transform very quickly and while moving, so "standing still in the middle of battle" is not necessary as you imply.
Furthermore, the fact that the humans- who are apparently reverse-engineering these things with a very rudimentary process- are able to come up with a method of transformation that is more advanced and high-tech looking than the originals, and has the potential to let them turn into whatever they want breaks my willful suspension of disbelief.

 

None of those are as interesting, visual appealing, or as unique as the cube transformations. The movies wanted something unique, and, yes, cost saving. So they can focus more on the Autobots as characters, interacting with other people.

I don't see how.

They transform better than real Transformers, but they fail in pretty much every other regard. They're not as smart, not as strong, not as powerful. Galvatron is the sole survivor of his little uprising, and that's because he actually has a brain. The rest of the drones are as dumb as animals.

 

Visually appealing? I thought the whole point of this thread, and several others like it, was that people didn't like it.

So the movie establishes them as inferior in every way except for the one that will save them money to make?

Listen, I'm all for saving money where possible... but we could have done it some other way. Just off the top of my head, did we need an army of 50 prototypes? What if we had just ten or so?

 

THey saved a lot of money for Transformations sequence in this movie thx to that Transformaniun and i bet they never make any transformation sequence for Hound, Drift and Crosshair (except for Drift's helicopter transformation)

 

And several others have said they did like it. What's your point?

Then the scene of Hound. Bee and the humans trying to fight off ten drones would be kind of silly and ridiculous. Hound has over seven powerful guns. BB has taken down plenty of tough Cons. Cade has a high powered alien gun. If all of them working together struggle to beat ten dumb drones, that feels a little...odd.

Not to mention, I can't quite see Optimus bringing out the Dinobots to have them kill ten guys.

There are 5 Autobots, 1 human with a weapon that can hurt/kill Cybertronians, and 4 Dinobots. That's a total of ten. Not exactly bad odds.

 

A lot of people actually like the Transforium transformation sequences, my self included, all my friends and a few on this site.

It's new, it's different, it's cool.

So people who hate, how about just stop complaining, it's a thing now, so deal with it.

 

This

 

I didn't mind the actual process of how the clones transformed. I also don't mind actual transformations being cut/avoided if it means more bot fighting, screen time, and interaction. My one gripe is that the effect of the clone transformation didn't look all that realistic; it looked like cheap CGI graphics.

 

My point is that if it is merely a way of differentiating the two sides, they could have done it in a manner that fewer people found unimaginative.

While the example I came up with was just the first thing I thought of, making it work would not be impossible.

The drones could be more competent, with each posing a serious challenge to the Autobots that would encounter them.

The drones could combine into a single large robot in order to pose a threat necessary for the Dinobots. Yes, a combination would be expensive, but if they do this early on, there's less time that needs to be spent animating each individual, at least partially evening out.

But like I said, that's just one idea.

They could have eschewed new bodies for Prime and Bee, they could have kept Drift only a car or helicopter, they could have left Brains out of the movie altogether.

Those are mostly just changes to CGI. All of them could have saved at least a little money. I'm not going to go on listing more, but there were other options.

 

I disagree. I feel it is very imaginative. Never in the franchise, to my knowledge, have we had people like the KSI bots who transform the way they do. I've never seen someone transform in a way that splits them apart and move like a stream of water through the air.

That's going into a lot of "What if" material.

Its like saying, if they made the army smaller in Avengers, we could have had Ant-Man and Wasp. Or if the movie were longer, we would have gotten Skrulls instead of the Chitauri. We don't know if those changes would have the change you have in mind.

Personally, we've already seen a combiner, and considering the last one they did melted a computer and got one shot killed...

If they hadn't changed Optimus' design, then he wouldn't have had the knight motif to match the Dinobots, or his new sword.

If Brains was left out of the movie entirely, how would the humans have been able to translate the Cybertronian data in Megatron? How would the group find out Gavlatron and Megatron were one in the same? True, Optimus felt they were, but that's not the same kind of confirmation.

 

Now, I'm not going to be the one to argue that just because something has never been done in the franchise before means it's wrong; far from it.

However, when the thing they're changing is the core of the series itself, that has been present in every incarnation of the series, and is woven into the fiction as major plot points, I can't get behind it.

What if they came out with a new Superman movie where the writers changed it so that Superman's Heat Vision was instead two thin, high-pressure streams of red, acidic liquid shot from the center of his eyeballs? Would people say, "That's so cool, I can't recall Superman doing that before!" or "It really makes it easy to distinguish this Superman from all the other ones!"? No. They'd say, "That is weird as heck, he's supposed to shoot lasers or something."

Of course it's what-if material. Since neither you or I were the writers, directors, or designers of the movie, we can't make an authoritative stance on exactly what would have done what. The movie is done, it's finished, it's out. All that leaves us with is "What if?"

All of the designs are simpler in this movie, right? Wouldn't the combiner be as well? Haven't the guys at ILM updated their rendering software and tools? Is not the final battle taking place in the middle of a dense city, where it would be impossible to get a clear shot from the single weapon that we know can one-shot kill a combiner?

Does Prime need a knight motif to match the Dinobots? They're not in their knight-looking robot modes much at all. Furthermore, the entire Knight concept is not only not explained, but runs into conflicts with the existing continuity, leaving it up to fans to come up with ridiculously complex chains tying tiny loose ends in throwaway scenes together... there's just a lot of problems there already. Having an Optimus Prime that doesn't look too much like a knight would not make things much worse.

There are a lot of ways Brains didn't have to be in the movie. The humans were capable of building their own Transformers, it only takes one line of dialogue to establish that humans can now read Cybertronian and decode it. The Autobots run through KSI's building. Surely they weren't too far from where Megatron's head was. All it would take is Optimus Prime spotting it, and BOOM, no more need for Brains' pointless two minutes in this movie. But you may say, "Wait, doesn't Brains also explain Galvatron's plan?"

Yes.

You know who else does? Galvatron. While he breaks free and seizes control of the drones. If the Autobots just know that Galvatron is Megatron, and that the human organization that thinks they can control him is acquiring a weapon of mass destruction, all they need to do is say "We cannot let Galvatron get the Seed" and then having two goddamn expositions is not necessary.

We're not even talking about the transformations anymore.