Inside ILM: Creating the Razor Crest 

May you live forever, shiny and chrome. 2019-2020 my favorite character.

lets not forget that not only can john knoll do machining, but he also wrOTE PHOTOSHOP that man is incredible

I love the Mandalorian. It looks and feels like “proper” Star Wars.. I didn’t know why.. now I know. This is wonderful.

Someday, the razor crest and grogu puppet they used in this show will be put in a museum.

There's sort of this bias that physical effects are always better than digital, but they both have their place. The fact that you can't tell the difference between the miniature and digital shots is telling - and amazing. It shows how far tehcnology has come, and just how ahead of their time ILM has always been. It's cool that so many have been there for so long - it must be a great place to work!

Imagine working at this place? Literally a geeks haven.

The Razor Crest became my next Millennium Falcon. These designs are extremely emotional and get a grip in your mind like a classic sports car. I don’t know what it is that make these ships so exceptional, they become real. As is if they really exist. A big respect to all the people that made this possible.

Old motions control to the rescue. Amazing how it's now almost forgotten artform of effects work. That silver & chrome model was incredible.

Lucasfilm I STRONGLY suggest you consider using more practical ships in the future because the Crest looks stunning

Rest in peace Razor Crest, I loved you.

THIS is what Star Wars is all about.

Amazing. They're all senior-level but still getting their hands "dirty"

Finally, The Mandalorian feels like a well done Star Wars effort since the original trilogy. Where the universe feels lived in, and the characters are interesting.

Thank god for The Mandalorian and all the people behind it.

Imagine their pain when Jon Favreau said they were going to blow the thing up.

Doug Chiang. I lost count of how many times I watched him on behind the scenes.

Inside ILM: Destroying the Razor Crest

Damn they shot it on a 5D 😂 And some people complain about not having proper equipment to create a vlog

I knew the Razor Crest was a physical model. But I just couldn't find which shots they were. Amazing stuff happening behind the scenes. I second another commenter....I NEED a model kit!

I still can’t help but see the Serenity in that ship.

There are so many reasons to love star wars, small things like this is one of them, as an artist, you appreciate and love other forms of art, and this always brings a smile to my face

When are we gonna get a model kit?

So, the Mandalorian seems to be the best thing to have happened to Star Wars in many years. I like it. PS: Fucking awesome!

Great to see model making back at the heart of Star Wars

There's something special hearing The Mandalorian used miniatures for some shots, ILM back using old school techniques. The power of CG is more vast of course, but seeing a physical model feels so satisfying!

I have watched The Mandalorian Season 1 front to back at least a dozen times, and I still can't tell you which shots are CG and which are the practical model. Kudos ILM, for not only rediscovering your roots, but blending it all in such a way that it looks like absolute pure cinema magic. I can't wait to see season 2.

This is why the show is so good and has that old school Star Wars feel 🙌🙌🙌

So incredible!!!

What I love about this is how they were able to revisit some of the old techniques and knowledge they had. But execute them with modern technology and methods.

we will miss you razor crest!!!

I thought the Razor Crest was CGI as most things tend to be nowadays. Never thought it was a real model and was used and then touched up with a bit of CGI. Now this is how Star Wars should be done. Nerds making cool things, ILM really is Magic. This is the Way.

Videos like this reminds me that there are people out there doing incredible things that many of us will never understand, but they translate the result into something we do understand. That process is fascinating to me.

Naturally - as digital tools become more and more prevalent, the unique look & feel of the real-world models will become even more valuable!

So awesome!

That is why ILM is so cool. Having the co-creator of PHOTOSHOP as your VFX supervisor build you a motion control rig from scratch !!!

Wow this show. This is the first time I've seen behind the scenes effects that seem special. For the last 20 years every movie would just so people sitting behind a keyboard or actors jumping around in front of a green screen.

Heaven! Please give us a highly detailed model kit 😇

RIP Razor Crest

What makes Star Wars such a great franchise is the practical effects they use. The mesh CGI and practical effects so good that you can’t tell what is real and what is CG.

Honestly....all of this stuff is WAAAAAY over my head... Kudos to the chaps!

R.I.P 2019-2020

After watching this video earlier on, seeing episode 6 today, it added to the pain. Had to come back and see some of the new comments here as well. I knew deep down the ship was going to go at some point, given it's already rough time.

the ILM spirit is strong in this promotional video!

R. I. P. Razor Crest. We'll miss you!

These guys must have been devastated when they saw Chapter 14

Practical models are always the best , that’s why I build them

Projects like this gives the senior crew a chance to show the greenhorns the spirit of old school film making. they need that experience, to carry into the next generation.

Amazing advancement in special effects in movies in such a short timeline. 50 years.

Practical VFX is definitely the way to go!

As someone who grew up watching the original Star Wars films, this show does have that feel of the originals. It's gritty, it seems more real, I don't want to use the word simple, but that's almost a word you want to use as it feels like the Mandalorian feels like someone went back to the simple basics to make it. They went back to what made Stars Wars work, the special effects, the writing, etc. I like show more than Episode 8 & 9 combined. Here's hoping this show is on for a long time.

As a PhD engineer who has a movie to shoot. I feel like a child in a toy store ... thank you for having what we all need to make affordable movies, like mine, a dark comedy trying in vain to hold off, then scale down, ww3!

I love practical. It feels real because something real is actually being shot! I believe in 80/20 - 80 practical and 20 digital!

This is the way!

The Mandalorian is the best series show of the Star Wars!! ❤️🎉👍😎 Great creative to make The Mandalorian to come alive!!

And here is Mr. John Knoll, one of the masterminds behind Photoshop and other Software, just casually enginering this motion control rig. Great Stuff from ILM as always. Always nice to see John, Doug and the rest of the Team creating movie magic!

Jon Favreau just keeps bringing the game changers. Can't wait to see what he does next. Favreau paired with the best FX house are going to continue to produce epic results.

Looks like a Republic gunship fuselage with Firefly engines

I’m so glad ILM went with using the miniature and not just CGI which them being ILM they could have easily taken the easier cheaper way but because they are ILM they gave us this amazing ship in real life

THIS IS WHAT GREAT SPECIAL FX IS MADE OF!! Practical is KING and folks like Favreau and Del Toro out there making films in this manner and ONLY having CGI used where the practical needs just a little help IS THE WAY!!

Is it okay when i teared up?! This is beautiful. The Mandalorian is just so beautifully crafted!

Razor Crest is such a beautiful ship. Perfection in every detail! I'm glad I made a digital midi scale LEGO replica of it when we were remaking an entire trailer in 2019. This design was worth every second of work!

Thank god for the Mandalorian man. Before Favreau and Filoni gave us this amazing show that effectively revived the Star Wars franchise from the brink of death via Rian Johnson and Rise of Skywalker which even though Abrams made the horrible decisions, it’s really the Last Jedi that left him in a place that really has no option or way to make a finale film that fills the giant shoes of the entire saga. Thank you Jon and Dave for giving Star Wars fans REAL Star Wars stories and content.

Really goes to show how much sound design builds it too!

The Mandalorian: #RIPRazorCrest The ILM model: A life well spent. All hail the Razor Crest. Me: Now I think I'll want a Razor Crest and a Mandalorian-era Slave One models for my collection of iconic spacecraft. 😋

Sorry Razor Crest 😭😭 will we rebuild another one after chapter 14?

Why is Mandalorian so good? This is why. All little things have love to them.

I love Doug Chiang!

The nerd guy in me is just geeking out on this. I've rewatched the original trilogy behind the scenes documentary countless times. Everytime they explain a vfx shot, it's just mindblowing. And now this at this time and age. Really inspiring stuff.

As a fan of behind the scenes and making of I can't wait!

You don't know how happy it made me to click through and see that this video is 17 MINUTES

a really cool design! it looks quite vintage, the cockpit reminds me to the old dome train cars from the 50s. a few sharp angles to make it more dynamic. yes, i really like it!👌

This was great! So cool to see the ideas coming together and crafted into something real!

F for Razor Crest

Thank you guys For creating one hell of a show. The beauty of the old Star Wars movies is you could think about how the ships worked. You recreated that feeling of the old lived in Star Wars universe to a T! This is Star Wars! I’ve had multiple happy tears from the breathtaking moments in this show! Keep it up!

A new generation of filmmaking process. 💖

The Mandalorian is a Star Wars masterpiece, the efforts they put into this are incredible. ILM has always been an inspiration to me.

ILM you guys are inspirational, amazing work. Wow! This is one of the primary reasons why I love The Mandalorian and Star Wars for pushing that visual envelope to new heights for film. The Mandalorian is a "Passion project", & its evident visually from practical to VFX. ILM salute!

that’s my dad!!!! building the model of the razorcrest!!! thank you for making this!!

Jon Knoll is a fucking legend! Without him the entire film industry wouldn’t be able to make these giant blockbusters with good CGI and special effects. That man gave us and continues to give us these amazing special effects and CGI content!

Rest In Peace 😞

I love that we've almost come full circle. Kit bashing used to be the way these things were done, now we can digitally design the model so we can still kind of digitally kit bash. And print almost anything. CGI has it's place, but filming a physical model ALWAYS produces better results in the right hands. ILM is excellent and I hope there is more of this practical/digital hybridization in the future.

Nice to see this callback to old VFX! And now most of the ILM employees that worked on the prequels are here :)

Doug Chiang is a freaking rock star. I've been following his work for YEARS. And John Knoll has his name in the credits of PhotoShop. I'm geeking out over here, I'll be fine.

This is what Star Wars has always been about: creation.

Here's your daily reminder that John Knoll and his brother Thomas Knoll created Photoshop.

Madness😭😭 the game is forever changing and I’m loving it

It's really great seeing these guys go back to work on this sort of stuff. Behind the scenes vids like these are the stuff that guys like me have gone crazy about and have devoured the fewest bits that we could whenever we had the chance to watch on TV (like SPFX, narrated by Mark Hamill), and to read and see pictured in special effects magazines back in the 80s, and now here. So thank you. Thank you John Favreau for proposing, the ILM guys for building and shooting it, and of course Disney for making it all possible.

Every Star Wars fan knows all about Doug Chiang, of course, but the guy who's been there just as long and has been just as influential, on both the overall Star Wars aesthetic, going back to the prequels, and on myself, is Ryan Church. He's now the Lucasfilm Art Department/ILM Concept Supervisor, just under Doug Chiang in the credits following every Star Wars film or television property since Attack of the Clones, and is also responsible for a significant amount of the conceptual artwork inspiring films and television across the medium, from Avatar to Jurassic World, and almost everything even remotely imaginative in existence in-between. But, don't take MY word for it lol check out his online portfolio and website for yourself, he has everything uploaded there from his early sketches of Kamino and Utapau to Mustafar and the Various vehicles, cities, Starships, and creatures populating the Star Wars Universe that he has created, from his imagination straight to the screen. It's absolutely amazing. 👍

Rest in piece :(

I cry tears of joy when I see such videos.

Wow! What I’m most amazed by is the well rounded skills these guys have. They write software code, design and build actual physical models, photograph and film the models and create incredible imagery. I mean, what kind of training do you need to do all that? Each person is literally a software engineer, a mechanical engineer, an electrical engineer, a photographer, and a film maker!!

RIP Razor Crest :'(

I Love it. The ILM Studios, The Greatest University is still part Old School smoothly mixed in with New School. How cool is that?

Also the fact that even for fully CG shots they still grounded themselves to only what was capable with a model rig added to just how real it felt.

Total success recreating the old Star Wars 'feel'. This show just grabs you and takes you there instantly.

the old school will never die

I wanna know more about hyperspace shots with the miniature: "Yeah so for these shots you see of the Crest heading into hyperspace we strapped a Canon to the top of the miniature and yeeted it down a hallway."

Thank you for this behind the scenes! It was neat to see the hardware being machined and assembled.

That was freaking AWESOME! I love old school ILM, so in glad to see you guys channel it once again!

I got reminded of the clone transports when I saw the razor crest