The VES handbook of visual effects : industry standard VFX practices and procedures
The book covers techniques and solutions all VFX artists, producers, and supervisors need to know, from preproduction, to digital character creation and compositing of both live-action and CG elements. In-depth lessons on stereoscopic moviemaking, color management and digital intermediates are included, as well as chapters on interactive games and full animation authored by artists from EA and Dreamworks respectively. --from publisher description
Print Book, English, ©2010
Focal Press/Elsevier, Burlington, Mass., ©2010
Handbooks and manuals
xxvi, 922 pages : illustrations (chiefly color) ; 25 cm
9780240812427, 0240812425
515496996
Introduction : Visual effects and special effects ; Why use visual effects? ; The creation of visual effects ; A bit of visual effects history ; Unintended consequences: where does creativity end?
Pre-production/preparation : Breaking down a script: budgeting ; Working with the director and producer ; Production departments ; Designing visual effects shots ; Visual effects techniques ; What is previs? ; Development of previs techniques ; The applications of previs: who benefits from it and how? ; Postvis ; Cautions and suggestions for good practice ; The future of previs: advanced techniques ; Camera angle projection
Acquisition/shooting : Working on set ; Common types of special effects ; Front and rear projection systems for visual effects ; Greenscreen and bluescreen photography ; On-set data acquisition ; Lidar scanning and acquisition ; On-set data 3D scanning systems ; Lighting data ; Clean plates ; Monster sticks ; On-set animation capture: witness cam ; Real-time matchmoving and camera-tracking data ; Triangulation as a method of recording camera data ; Photographic reference ; Rules, setup, and testing ; Digital cinematography ; Filming live-action plates to be used in VFX ; Shooting elements for compositing ; High-speed photography and filming elements ; Supervising motion control ; Acquisition of motion/still photographic textures for mapping onto CG ; Stop-motion ; What are miniatures? ; Forced perspective miniatures ; The fabrication of miniature effects ; The incorporation of mechanical, practical, and pyrotechnic effects with miniatures ; Photography of miniature effects: motion control ; Photography of miniature effects: high-speed photography ; The use of miniatures in the digital world ; Special effects for miniatures
Performance and motion capture : What is motion capture? ; Other types of motion capture ; Is motion capture right for a project? ; Preparing for motion capture ; Hardware ; Software ; Facial capture ; Real-time motion capture
Stereoscopic 3D : How 3D works ; Stereoscopic design ; Virtual 3D photography ; The 3D camera rig ; 2D to 3D conversion ; 3D stereoscopic visual effects ; 3D stereo digital intermediate workflow ; Stereoscopic window ; Producing movies in three dimensions
Post-production/image manipulation : Resolution and image format considerations ; Image compression/file formats for post-production ; 4k+ systems theory basics for motion picture imaging ; Film scanning and recording ; Color management ; Digital intermediate ; VFX editorial ; Communication with artists ; The history of compositing ; Compositing of live-action elements ; Matte paintings/creative environments
Digital element creation : Digital modeling ; Rigging and animation rigging ; Texturing and surfacing ; Digital hair/fur ; Digital feathers ; Dynamics and simulation ; Particles ; Rigid-body dynamics ; Digital lighting ; Shader basics ; 3D compositing ; Crowd generation and simulation techniques ; CG prosthetics and actor enhancements ; 3D products, systems and software
Interactive games : Films versus games ; Games and platforms ; What are game engines and how do they function? ; What are the production steps in creating a game? Game cinematic sequences
Complete animation : What is an animation project? ; Difference between visual effects and animation ; A survey and history of animation techniques ; Considerations for a full CG-animated feature pipeline ; Managing an animated film ; The production process: an animator's perspective
Other workflow considerations : Virtual studio technology ; Analysis of a production workflow ; Design of a production workflow ; Deploying a production workflow ; Infrastructure ; Tracking assets ; Scene assembly ; Working across multiple facilities
Appendix A. Charts and formulas ; Appendix B. Credits/titles to be submitted in accordance with VES guidelines ; Appendix C. Glossary