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Build your VFX arsenal with quick-access, step-by-step instruction on how to create today's hottest digital VFX shots. This essential toolkit provides techniques for creating effects seen in movies such as 300, Spiderman 3, Predator and others, with lessons on how-to: * splatter blood or digitally lop someone's arm off * create a scene with actors running from an explosion * create the "twin effect" (same actor, same location, 2 performances) * produce space-ship dog fights Organized in a 'cookbook' style, this allows you to reference a certain effect in the index and immediately access concise instructions to create that effect. Techniques are demonstrated in each of the most popular software tools- After Effects, Final Cut Studio, Photoshop, and Combustion are all covered. Brilliant, 4-color presentation provides inspiration and stimulating visual guidance to the lessons presented, while the companion DVD contains project media files enabling you to put concepts learned into immediate practice.
[...]... HOW TO USE THIS BOOK Visual Effects Visual effects are processes used to manipulate imagery in the now mostly digital postproduction process Often abbreviated as VFX, visual effects have taken over creating the kinds of imagery that were once dominated by the process of creating special effects Special effects are effects either created on the set or within the camera Both of these processes are employed... reputation in the industry Avid did dominate the video editing market for a long time for a reason: they have a solid video editing system VFX artists will like the excellent choice of effects I won’t state my preference for video editors, as, honestly, they are all of equal power I used Final Cut Pro for the tutorials in this book because it has the most users and the techniques are the same (the buttons... because the user doesn’t know the techniques to take true advantage of these programs The tutorials in this book will push users into the sub-sub menus to make these packages do more than just the initially obvious 2 YOUR TOOLBOX There’s basic equipment that VFX artists will need to solve the day-today issues of visual effects Hardware A Digital Video Camera Most independent filmmakers rely on the digital... shoots, the VFX artist needs a camera to gather additional elements to bring into his or her computer For example in Chapter 5, we have a tutorial on creating a Driving Shot The VFX artist would be responsible for replacing greened windows with driving footage, and often it makes sense for the VFX artist to gather this footage on their own without the bulk of a crew When it comes to buying a DV camera, there... classes in visual effects, I made an observation about what motivates students to learn As I lay out to them what they will learn in my class, they don’t get excited about terms such as fractal noise, rotoscoping, and particle systems Why would they, unless they know what those things can do for them? When I teach my lessons, it’s not the tool they get excited about, it’s what the tool can do for them So,... waited for the clouds to spread, but the clouds don’t, so they shoot anyway Now despite many attempts to cut around the overcast footage, the editor needs the shot A compositor is called in to replace the clouds and brighten up the footage to make it look right Depending on the shot, it could take hours, but if there’s lots of motion, it could take longer Now, had the weather been checked, the problem... in the real world or far too difficult, dangerous, or expensive to achieve without the use of visual or special effects Before the 1990s there were two major special effects categories Optical effects are techniques such as multiple exposures, glass shots, or mattes Also in this category were the effects achieved through the optical printer, where footage could be rephotographed Optical printing effects. .. to you and your personal preferences The guiding rule is to get the platform that you know and feel comfortable using The other rule would be to get the platform that runs the software you want to use Adobe’s software comes in both Mac and PC versions Do some research as to what the differences are, as there are differing hardware requirements (for example with the CS4 version, Photoshop maxes out... on many other films that rely on VFX However, in addition to Photoshop’s lineage as having a connection to the world of visual effects, it has practical use as a tool for VFX artists Considered to be the foundation software for editing any image on a computer, it’s often used in conjunction with Adobe After Effects After Effects reads the separate layers of a Photoshop document and allows the user to... because it’s not meant for working with moving footage It’s one of the most powerful tools we have The Effect—This is the heart of each tutorial; each of these will be done in Adobe After Effects I’ll go through all the techniques for using this software to solve the major issues of visual effects Even though After Effects is a very basic compositer, I decided to focus on After Effects because of its . VISUAL EFFECTS ARSENAL VFX Solutions for the Independent Filmmaker This page intentionally left blank THE VISUAL EFFECTS ARSENAL VFX Solutions for. at the discretion of the VFX artist. The Underrealized Power of Available Software One of the most commonly used tools by VFX artists is something