TRON: Legacy

Quantum utilized several different technologies and methods to build the costumes: 3D foam sculpting, 3D scanning, traditional sculpting, screen printed phosphorescent lamps, intricate wiring harnesses, in-house designed and constructed power inverters, nano-lithium power supplies, computer programming specific to each character, specialized molding and casting techniques.

State-of-the-art lighted costumes unlike any other costumes developed before in costume history. This costume build set a new record for the largest number of foam costumes ever developed for one film. Building these suits was a major endeavor requiring the efforts of 150 artists and technicians. The most unique aspect of the build was the intricate lighting element designs. Integrating this type of lighting technology into costumes had never been accomplished before. We knew early on the lighting was going to be the biggest challenge of the build. Our attitude on this build was that we were building lights with suits constructed around them. The TRON suits were similar to the Watchmen suits we constructed in 2007. Both costume builds consisted of sculpted foam costume elements that were molded to provide hard part masters that were then body shopped and remolded. This process was essential in providing the ultimate precision auto body finish for all the costumes. Three of the nine TRON characters were digitally sculpted, and the remaining characters were sculpted by hand. Although 3D rendering has been used to create hard shell costumes – the TRON build would probably be the first time in costume making history where 3D rendering technology was used to help create tight form fitted foam costumes.