When Michael Bay’s barrels into theaters this summer in 3-D — the first 3-D outing for the film series and for Bay himself — you’ll have one man to thank for it: James Cameron. Fittingly, Bay took the stage at a footage screening Wednesday night on the Paramount Studios lot to compare notes on the format, its future, and its frustrating limitations with none other than Cameron himself.

When Paramount asked him to make in 3-D, Bay says, Cameron (“the man who talked me into it”) insisted he give it a shot: “[He said] Michael, we’ve done everything. You’ve got to look at it as a toy, another tool to get emotion and character in the experience.”. “3-D is all ones and zeroes,” Bay explained to the audience of journalists and film students. But Bay, a purist at heart who still prefers film over digital, felt alienated by Cameron’s tech-heavy production. Having once invited Bay years ago to the set of , a film whose vertical sinking ship set piece is evoked in a building-toppling sequence from , Cameron welcomed Bay onto the set of while he was in production.

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