It was probably the biggest honour possible.
But hes not just some mysterious design icon.
He lives in LA, and hes very approachable for most of us.
So, most of us met him or went to his parties.
Ad content continues below
That was a pressure, to not upset him!
But his spirit is all over it and I hope he likes it.
So, you havent had any feedback from him yet?
Not on the finished movie piece.
So, its their job to be available to keep us crazy people somehow within boundaries.
On the other hand, everybody else brings their own vision, and all of us just agreed somehow.
The biggest input I had was in making things mechanically connected, rather than energy connected.
Each piece has a hinge and a purpose.
So, you really took the designs down to that detailed, nuts and bolts level?
Which is why they took us on, because were nuts and bolts freaks!
He did the environments, but those are reflected in the vehicles.
And there isnt much time on something like this.
Youre not making a car for a car company where you have a year or two years.
Its like, bam, bam, bam, you know?
We only have a few weeks.
These are very real design problems.
There were a lot of fun stories.
Its almost the other way around.
It was, up to the last day, more, more, more.
Whats the process of getting your ideas from a conceptual stage to the final 3D model?
It was all digital.
Everything physical youve seen here was manufactured after the design process for shows.
Those are the digital designs that we never touched before.
This is scary, because with computers, its a different field.
So, the process would be sketching, most of the time, and illustrations.
The director gets the first look, and ideas bounce back and forth.
Even if its not finished, its simple.
Oh, I can put the camera here.
Its like a ping pong system.
Pre-vis takes those models and puts them in their software.
Its a crazy kind of organised chaos.
The originalTronobviously influenced a lot of design that came after it .
The motorcycle out ofAkirais one example that springs to mind, for some reason.
Do you think its possible thatTron: Legacycould be as influential?
We hope so, definitely.
On the other hand, were living in a very fast moving world.
Im 34 now, and its shocking to me how… [Laughs]
And I cant believe it, because it takes so many years to make these things.
Its the same with cars.
Its like, Whens the new one coming out?
Do you still have the old iPhone?
Oh, my God.
And this scares me a little bit.
Because if youre always cutting edge on everything, you also get outdated very fast.
Its interesting to see that cyclical nature of design trends.
Its not specialists that go to the movies.
Its innocent, young kids who arent yet inspired by the originalTronmovie.
And thats what design actually is.
Theres always the 40s, 60s, 70s trends.
So, what element ofTron: Legacywould you say youre most pleased with?
Its like if you had ten kids, and you had to choose a favourite.
You wouldnt dare pick.
I love the family!
Thats a very cheesy answer.
Im proud of the amount of work we achieved, and that our designs are on the screen.
Its not like the classic thing where people say, They screwed it up.
Thats the scariest part.
Every movie you start is, like, Whatever I draw here, will this be really it?
Its really scary, because your name is on it, right from the beginning.
You think, Oh, my God.
Im not being cheesy, either!
Daniel Simon, thank you very much!