“Sonic 3’s Insane Laser Dance: How VFX Wizards Cloned Jim Carrey and Bent Reality!”
When it comes to jaw-dropping visual effects, Sonic the Hedgehog 3 doesn’t hold back. One of the film’s most mind-blowing sequences involves a high-energy laser dance featuring not one, but two Jim Carreys—both portraying different characters. If that already sounds like a VFX artist’s nightmare, you’re absolutely right. Thankfully, Rising Sun Pictures (RSP) stepped up with some serious digital wizardry to make it all happen.
Double the Carrey, Double the Trouble
In this dazzling sequence, Jim Carrey plays both Dr. Ivo Robotnik and his grandfather, Professor Gerald Robotnik. The two must navigate a mesmerizing laser grid while busting out some seriously slick dance moves to The Chemical Brothers’ Galvanize. However, bringing this dynamic duo to life on screen was no easy feat.
Since both characters were played by the same actor, RSP had to use a blend of old-school twinning techniques, stunt doubles, and some cutting-edge machine learning magic. Carrey performed key dialogue scenes in full makeup for both roles, while stunt performers handled the more intense dance sequences. The challenge? Seamlessly swapping out the doubles’ faces with Carrey’s unmistakable mug.
REVIZETM: The Secret to Perfect Face Swaps
Enter RSP’s proprietary machine learning tool, REVIZETM. This high-tech system allowed VFX artists to capture Carrey’s expressions, train an AI model on his distinct facial features, and then seamlessly apply his face to the doubles. The trickiest part? Jim Carrey’s face is practically made of rubber—his exaggerated expressions are legendary.
“Jim Carrey is one of the hardest actors to face-swap because everyone knows exactly how he moves,” explained RSP’s machine learning 2D supervisor Robert Beveridge. To get it just right, the team captured 650,000 images of Carrey’s face across multiple takes. That’s right—hundreds of thousands of frames meticulously analyzed and blended to ensure his digital doppelgängers looked as lifelike as possible.
Facial hair presented another hurdle. Gerald Robotnik’s bushy mustache and wild eyebrows had to be either digitally recreated or seamlessly integrated from the stunt doubles’ prosthetics. “We trained for mustache and eyebrows,” Beveridge noted. “Thankfully, neither character had any hair on top—small victories!”
Lasers, Mirrors, and Mind-Blowing VFX
Now, let’s talk about those iconic lasers. The scene’s choreography was carefully timed to a pre-programmed laser show, but RSP had to take it several steps further. The goal was to make the lasers feel dynamic, responsive, and utterly mesmerizing.
The breakthrough moment came when the team stumbled upon a video of a dancer performing inside a laser grid while covered in tiny hexagonal mirrors. That was the aha! moment—rather than just dodging lasers, the characters needed to interact with them. This discovery led RSP to develop custom tools in Maya, allowing lasers to reflect dynamically off the characters’ suits in real time.
But getting it right was no small feat. “A real laser is almost invisible,” explained RSP’s compositing supervisor Antony Haberl. “We had to find the perfect balance between realism and the fantasy of making the scene visually stunning.” This meant tweaking the angles, intensity, and reflections of the lasers to create an effect that was scientifically plausible but also ridiculously cool.
Rebuilding Reality—From Scratch
As if all that wasn’t enough, RSP ultimately scrapped the real set and built a completely digital environment for the sequence. “They had meticulously shot this gorgeous hallway with all the choreography, but in the end, it wasn’t working,” said Mathew Mackereth, CG supervisor at RSP. “So, we started from scratch.”
This creative freedom allowed the team to fully integrate the lasers with the dance, crafting an environment that responded perfectly to the action. With a combination of high-tech matchmoving, detailed face replacement, and cutting-edge FX simulations, RSP delivered a truly spectacular cinematic moment.
Final Thoughts: The Magic of VFX
Sonic the Hedgehog 3’s laser dance sequence is a testament to the magic of modern visual effects. By blending practical techniques with groundbreaking AI-driven tools, RSP created a scene that is equal parts thrilling, hilarious, and visually breathtaking. Whether you’re here for the sci-fi spectacle or just to watch Jim Carrey dance through a laser grid, one thing’s for sure—this is VFX at its finest.
