Blog Summary of Visual effect and compositing

Blog Summary of Visual Effects and Compositing

Throughout my project, I have kept a journal outlining what I did for my Visual Effects project and what challenges I resolved/worked around to level the problems out and succeed in making a VFX animation using three of Autodesk’s programs: MatchMover, Maya, and Composite. In this report, I will research and talk about the processes of Visual Effects and use quotes to support my research from books, mainly ones that have helpful tips for making a VFX.

                “While there is still a fundamental relationship to traditional animation skills and techniques, the software for computer-generated work has changed the nature of the approach.” [Wells, 2006, p125]

The above quote illustrates a key lesson to learn from when beginning to do any Visual Effects as VFX today compared to VFX over the last one hundred years shows how largely the industry had created these illusions, from complicated man-made objects all the way to creating 3D models that interact with live action characters and environments. The production of Computer Generated Imagery (CGI) has ultimately been recognized as one of the most effective pieces of filming to amaze the audiences. As time has progressed, so has the way Visual Effects is done.
Personally, how to begin to create an effective Visual Effects depends on these elements I feel most relevant to doing so. I have explained each below.

Lighting

Having a good light source is the key to making the animation work well. Some methods of recording footage need to have a good camera in order to capture the footage making sure it is up to a almost perfect standard (meaning it does not have any faults like blurriness in). The reason is because when it comes down to match moving, you need to be able to pick the right points and have the program mimic the correct camera path you intentionally want to make. This quote supports studio lighting in match moving:

                “When using studio lighting, try to use lights with an even distribution and as polarized a light path as possible.” [Allen and Connor, 2007, p27]

Cameras

Having a camera that can record footage clearly is going to be the only tool to make a successful animation. Devices that compress videos or jpeg images will disrupt the tracker when match moving as sometimes, compressed footage has a nasty grainy feel to it if there isn’t enough sunlight. It is unnoticeable by the naked eye, but the match moving programs definitely pick up on it. It is also key that when recording too, it is better to do it in hand or on a dolly, and not on a tripod as we need to get the 3D visuals of the objects and scenery we record.

The set

To do a simple yet effective piece of visual effects, this can be done in the confines of a room so long as there is sufficient lighting available. Some things like reflections can make track points go awry and place them behind the camera. If there are too many track points behind the camera, the program will mimic a camera facing the complete opposite way which in some cases could ruin your footage if unintentional.

Colour Quality

The quality of the colours is very important to Visual Effects. This will mean that the program will pick up more than what the human eye can see and display more vibrant and fantastic colours when producing the visual effects piece. After all, the right colours catch the attention of a lot of people.

Colour Balance

As well as having a good colour balance, it is also key to figuring out the right balance for the composed effects, just so it doesn’t look wrong when showcasing it to an audience.

Once the footage is recorded, the footage must then be tracked. Researching upon the internet and in help books, I had found that there are numerous match moving programs that work just as well as MatchMover. The processes are different but the results are the same. The following quote explains about the importance of 2D tracking:

                “The 2D tracking software tells the computer where these features are on every frame of the sequence, in 2D (flat) space.” [Hornung, 2013, p33]

Once the footage is tracked, it is then moved onto a 3D modelling/animating program that will then begin to make whatever special effects the VFX artist wishes to create (e.g. flying spaceships, exploding buildings etc.) It is very important to state again that the program must mimic the camera shots otherwise it will confuse the artist when making the effects come to life. It also comes down to the VFX artist to then create render passes for when rendering out the project, so when it comes to compositing, the effects will look almost real. The reason why making these render passes is supported by the following quote:

                “You need to account for a multiplicity of complex lighting, materials, surface attributes, and atmospheres to get a photorealistic CGI object.” [Wright, 2008, p47]

Researching more onto exporting rendered files, I had found that not only I have used EXR files to export renders, but also a multitude of other VFX artists have too. The reason being is because OpenEXR is a very useful file for compositing as it details down to the core of the render passes.
Once rendering is done, it is time to move onto compositing. Using the right channels in compositing an animation is key to success. There are some that blend and composite two render passes like beauty passes and diffuse passes and some that are used as alphas like speculars and mattes. This quote supports the use of channels in Autodesk Composite:

                “As with many composting programs, Composite allows you to work with individual channels, whereby you can transfer and combine them to create customized results.” [Lanier, 2014, p285]

Looking back on the process I endured compared to researching how VFX is done, I have noticed many other VFX artists who endure these tasks and many more when creating Visual Effects on large scales for filming. One book I had found talked about the processes that were done one hundred years ago, commenting on George Melies’ “A trip to the Moon” and the original 1933 “King Kong”. The author called this “Practical Effects”, which relied on using man-made objects to combine with live action footage. The following quote supports this evidence:

                “These early “effects” pictures depended entirely on practical effects, that is, effects that involved creating an objective reality and then photographing it convincingly.” [Benedetti, Brown, Laramie, and Williams, 2004, p48]

It is no wonder why so many people appreciate the world of Visual Effects and how it amazes the masses who come to watch the films that display this wonderful process.

References

Wells, P (2006), The Fundamentals of Animation, Switzerland, AVA books

Allen, D and Connor, B (2007), Encyclopaedia of Visual Effects, United States of America, Peachpit Press

Wright, S (2008), Compositing Visual Effects, United Kingdom, Focal Press

Benedetti, R, Brown, M, Laramie, B, and Williams, P (2004), Creative Postproduction, United States of America, Pearson Education Inc.

Lanier, L, (2014), Creating Visual Effects in Maya, United Kingdom, Focal Press

Hornung, E, (2013), The Art and Technique of Matchmoving, United Kingdom, Focal Press