This is an early computer generated (CG) graboid created by CG effects house Himani productions. It was created in this spinning form so that we could study it from all angles to make sure that we had the proportions right before going to the next steps of “painting” putting on the skin texture. This was the first time a graboid was ever built in computer form. In Tremors 1 and Tremors 2, graboids were created solely with full-sized puppets and ¼ scale miniatures.

A “cycle” in animation terms is an action that is the same at the beginning and the end. In other words, it’s an action you can repeat over and over with no jump or glitch. The animators created this run cycle so that we could see what shriekers would look like when charging at Burt in the opening El Chaco sequence of Tremors 3. Notice how the shrieker appears to have weight, how its feet blur when they move, and how its head moves naturally with each step. It’s a very nice, realistic piece of animation. Variations of the basic cycle could be used over and over on different shriekers, no matter which way they were running or what size they were. Of course the animators had to create many other actions as well, such as the animals falling when shot.

This is a test of Burt’s truck crashing through a fence. The truck is live action but the gate was an animation element.

Like the graboid, the shrieker was created in this simple form to allow us to study it before committing to the more complex and expensive steps of building it in the computer. The Himani staff had to create the Shrieker using laser scans of existing models at the Amalgamated Dynamics shop. Software compatibility problems prevented us from using the CG shriekers previously created for Tremors 2.

This spin sequence shows the next step in CG creature design – the shrieker with computer “paint” and skin texture added. The Himani staff created this more detailed shrieker so we and the studio executives could all “sign off” on the final look for the Tremors 3 shriekers.

Like the graboid, the shrieker was created in this simple form to allow us to study it before committing to the more complex and expensive steps of building it in the computer. The Himani staff had to create the shriker using laser scans of existing models at the Amalgamated Dynamics shop. Software compatibility problems prevented us from using the CG shriekers previously created for Tremors 2.