"If you look for a foreign company, the production cost will definitely rise. Wu Binghui frowned and said, the reason why their budget did not exceed one billion for the "Covering the Sky" series of movies was because they counted the most expensive special effects on their own company.

You know, for example, the world's top special effects company like Industrial Light & Magic, super special effects scenes, you have to charge hundreds of thousands of dollars per second!

"Let's ask first. Meng Xiaobai said that it is very common for scheduled projects to require additional investment.

Soon, the film crew contacted foreign companies, and there were a few powerful companies, but after comprehensive consideration, they found Weta Digital Studio in Wellington, the capital of New Zealand.

It is the world's leading integrated visual effects company, known as the epic saga of the cinematic visual effects empire.

The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Avatar, Avengers 3 and Avengers 4 are all their representative works.

Hearing about the needs of the crew of "Covering the Sky", Weta Digital sent a business team to Huaxia to negotiate related matters.

"I need a little time to estimate the price of this order. Weta Digital's business representative, Joel Joyce, was talking to Zhu Feiyang, the prop master of the crew.

After a detailed exchange, Joel gave an estimated custom plan.

"According to your needs, it is estimated that there will be more than 100,000 props in the entire film series, and there should be about 30,000 props in the first movie, and of course, many of them can be reused. Joel said.

Meng Xiaobai and the others nodded, this amount seemed exaggerated, but there was no problem. Because in statistics, a finger-sized decoration is also a prop, and the number of props needed to shoot the entire movie series must be a lot.

"Entrusted to us to design and manufacture, I think the amount of this order should be in the 20 million US dollar. ”

"What, 20 million US dollars? According to the current exchange rate, it will cost 140 million yuan! So expensive?" Wu Binghui immediately exclaimed when he heard the figure he said.

"Mr. Wu, this is 100,000 props!" Joel emphasized, "Every prop, we need to design and produce, especially some extremely complex props in the movie, such as the 'Imperial Soldier', the 'Bronze Temple', or the legendary city, it takes a lot of effort just to make a 3D model, not to mention making a comparison or miniature!"

"You know, our 3D designers don't understand what you call 'fantasy' worlds, and it's very difficult to get them to do these things. ”

Wu Binghui was speechless, from this point of view, the production of these 100,000 movie props is indeed difficult.

But the cost suddenly increased by $20 million, which greatly exceeded expectations.

Zhu Feiyang, the prop master, said: "If we only hand over the difficult props to you, such as this part on the list 3, what is the quotation?"

Joel looked at it and said, "That's also a thirteen million dollars." ”

"Still so tall?" Mo Ziyi frowned.

Joel explains: "Simple props don't cost anything, while complex props are particularly expensive to make. For example, the Iron Man costume we made for Marvel is as high as $325,000, and in List 3, there are many similar armors and divine soldiers. ”

Everyone was silent, and the cost of props was so high after removing the special effects. Of course, props don't have to cost so much money, if you want to be perfunctory, go directly to a domestic company, and you can get it for millions, but the props made like that are too perfunctory, too fake, and do not meet their expectations.

"Mr. Joel, you take a break, we still need to discuss it in detail. Wu Binghui said.

After arranging Joel, Wu Binghui and others discussed it in detail and reported it to Meng Xiaobai.

"Mr. Meng, we now have two plans, one is to use their props at all and find a company to do it yourself, the advantage of this is that it will not exceed the budget, but the quality of props will definitely decline. Wu Binghui said.

"The second is that the important items in the list are handed over to them, about 8 million dollars, and the rest of the items are outsourced to domestic companies. ”

"So be it. Meng Xiaobai instructed, "You delay it for a few days first, and then I'll think about it." ”

"Alright then, let's talk to them again. Wu Binghui nodded.

It's not that Meng Xiaobai can't get this money, but he doesn't think it's necessary. A dignified black technology manufacturer, even a small model requires people, it's too cheap!

So Meng Xiaobai immediately went back to discuss with his "assistants" to see if he could come up with a solution.

"Master, I can do model design. Maruko raised her hand and said, "Design a smart software for 3D modeling, and it is easy to make these 3D models." ”

"It's just that we don't have a manufacturing workshop, we can't make it. ”

"It's not easy to make molds?" said Tie Pan, "These are movie props, and they don't need any practical functions, just use 3D printing!"

"We also have 3D printing, but we can only make some simple props, and it is difficult to make detailed 3D models. Meng Xiaobai said.

"Then make a 3D printer first!" said Teppanyaki, "Sir, please follow me." ”

He took Meng Xiaobai to his laboratory, which had been transformed by him for nearly a year, and there were already many things in it that Meng Xiaobai had not seen before, such as robotic arms, modification workshops, and so on.

"This is a mold printer that I designed myself. In the refitting workshop, Iron Pan pointed to a machine half the size of a room.

The machine is fully sealed, inside is a robotic arm, printhead, ink cartridge and other structures, in the screen connected to the computer to design a three-dimensional model, can be directly printed.

"Print an Uncle Optimus Prime. In less than three seconds, a mini Optimus Prime was printed, not only the structure was completely consistent, but the paint on the outside was exactly the same.

In his boring time, Iron Plate also tried to modify itself. But the parts he needed were not available on the market, so he had to design and make them himself.

"Master, as long as you have this thing, plus my three-dimensional design, those molds you need, not to mention 100,000, can be easily made even a million!"

"Iron plate, is it okay?" Meng Xiaobai looked at him.

"Maruko is right, as long as I improve it a little, it can print all kinds of movie props. I've got the blueprints here, and you can do mass production, sir. Tie Pan turned on the computer in the laboratory and called up the design drawings.

"Perfect!" Meng Xiaobai is very satisfied, this 3D printer can not only save him 20 million US dollars, but also create more wealth for him.