3...ABOUT THE VES
4...Foreword
6...Chapter 1......Introduction
6......Visual Effects and Special Effects
7.........Visual Effects
7.........Special Effects
7......Why Use Visual Effects?
8......The Creation of Visual Effects
9......A Bit of Visual Effects History
12.........Optical Printers
13.........Electronics for Camera Control
15.........The Digital Age
18....Unintended Consequences: Where Does Creativity End?
19..........Conclusion
21...Chapter 2......Pre-Production/Preparation
21......Overview
22......Breaking Down a Script—Budgeting
23.........Ballpark Budget
24..........More Detailed Budgets
24..........Bidding
25..........Plate Photography3
26..........Temp Screenings
26..........Reviewing Bids
27..........Contracts
27..........Rebidding during Shooting
27..........Rebidding in Post
27..........Monitoring the Budget and Schedule
27..........Keeping the Budget Down
29......Working With the Director and Producer
29..........Demo Reel
30..........The Meeting
30..........Moving Forward
32......Production Departments
32..........Production Design
33..........Camera
Camera Operator 33
Camera Assistant 33
Special Effects 34
Stunts特技 34
Wardrobe行头，戏装 35
Makeup 化妆 36
Production 36
Visual Effects 37
Planning 37
Testing 37
R&D 38
Reference Materials 38
Modeling 38
Editorial 38
Locations 39
Location Scout 39
Tech Scout 40
Production Meeting 41
Designing Visual Effects Shots 41
Guidelines for Directors 42
Storyboards 42
Previs 43
Objective of the Shot 44
Concept Art 44
Continuity 44
Photorealism 45
Original Concepts 45
Budget 45
Reality and Magic 46
Camera Angles 46
Framing 46
Scale 47
Detail 47
Speed 47
Scaled Images 48
Sequence of Shots 48
Camera Motion 48
Less Is More 49
Action Pacing 49
CG Characters 49
Creatures and Character Design 50
Powers of 10 Shots 50
Oner长镜头 50
Summary 51
Visual Effects Techniques 51
Technique Considerations 51
Budget 51
Time 51
Number of Shots 52
Length of Shots 52
Complexity 52
Flexibility and Time on a Live-Action Set 52
Flexibility in Post 52
Camera Motion 52
Look 52
Additional Suggestions for Determining Techniques 53
The Actual Shot Requirements 53
Breaking It Down to the Simplest Requirements
Review Other Films and Alternative Techniques
Think Outside the Box
Think Pre-Digital
Budget Time and Money for Testing
Research and Development
Keep the End Result in Sight
Hand Versus Automated Work
Try Not to Solve Every Permutation
Balance Techniques
Cheating
Examples
What is Previs? 57
Pitchvis, Technical previs, On-set previs, Postvis, D-vis(design visualization)
Development of Previs Techniques 59
History and Background
The Aplications of Previs: Who Benefits From it and How?
Camera and Art Departments: A Special Case 63
Postvis 66
Cautions and Suggestions for Good Practice 70
The Perils of Previs!
Passing the Work On
The Role of the VFX Supervisor in Previs
The Future of Previs: Advanced Techniques 76
Environment Input
Character Input
Camera Input
Gaming Techniques
On-Set Previs
Lighting Previs
3D Stereo Previs
Virtual Production
Camera Angle Projection 80
Drawing What the Lens Sees
Acquisition/Shooting 82
Working on Set
Typical Process
Common Types of Special Effects 88
What Are Special Effects?
The Special Effects Supervisor
Working with the Visual Effects
Visual Effects in Service to SFX
Special Effects Design and Planning
Storyboards and Previs
The Elements: Rain, Wind, and Snow and Ice 90
Mechanical Effects
Flying Wire Rigs and Stunts
Safety
Front and Rear Projection Systems for Visual Effects
Front Projection (Blue or Green Screens and Picture Imagery)
Rear Projection Equipment
Front Projection Equipment
Greenscreen and Bluescreen Photography
Function of the Backing—Green, Blue, or Red
Backing Uniformity and Screen Correction
Illuminators 103
Alternative Light Sources 105
Eye Protection
How to Expose a Greenscreen Shot and Why
Balancing Screen (Backing) Brightness to the Shooting Stop
(In fact, the optimum backing brightness depends only on the f-stop at which the scene is shot.)
Setting Screen Brightness
White Card Method for Screen Balancing 108
Levels for Digital Original Photography
Backing Types and Lighting
Backlit Backings
Frontlit Backings
Floor Shots, Virtual Sets
Floor Shots, Virtual Sets
Limitations of Floor Shots and Virtual Sets 114
Foreground Lighting
Creating the Illusion: Lighting to Match the Background
Environmental Bounce Light
Local Color
Shooting Aperture
Color Bias in Foreground Lighting
Illumination and Reflections from the Backing
Controlling Spill Light 119
Lighting Virtual Sets
Lighting to Eliminate the Shadow (Vlahos Technique)
Tracking Marks on the Screen
matchmoving
On-Set Preview 121
Camera for Bluescreen or Greenscreen Photography 122
Film Photography: Choosing a Camera Negative
Choosing a Digital Camera
Spatial Resolution
Color Bandwidth and Compression
Edge Enhancement/Sharpening/Detail Settings
Recording
Filtration
Negative Scanning and Digital Conversion 125
Color Correction（Color correction at the scanning/conversion stage can be a major source of data loss.）
Software Functions
The Processed Foreground
Underwater Photography
Working with the Cinematographer 128
The Alpha Channel （matte channel）
Compositing Software
Keylight
Ultimatte
Primatte
The IBK (Image-Based Keyer)
On-Set Data Acquisition 130
Camera Report
Tracking Markers
Props for the Actors 136
Cyberscanning
Digital Photos
Lidar/Laser Scanning 140
Lens Distortion Charts
HDRI and Chrome Balls
Lidar Scanning and Acquisition
Lidar in Visual Effects
Previsualization
Art Department
Set Extension
3D CG Characters
Matchmoving
Collision Geometry
Lidar: Practical Realities
On-Set 3D Scanning Systems 148
On-Set Data Acquisition
How to Get the Most out of Your 3D Scanning Time on Set
3D Scanning Systems
Prepping the Actors for Scanning
Scanning Props or Cars
Review All That Has Been Scanned
3D Scanning Post-Production
Things to Help Speed the Delivery Cycle
Lighting Data 153
Gathering Lighting Data
Beware of False Savings!
Goals
Using Conventional Still Cameras
Shooting Considerations
Streamlining the Process
Choosing Other Times to Shoot the Photographs
Remember the Goals
Clean Plates
Shooting the Clean Plate
Locked-Off Camera
Moving Camera
Postprocess
Alternates without Clean Plates
Other Uses for Clean Plates
Monster Sticks
On-Set Animation Capture: Witness Cam 172
Wireless Nonvideo Motion Capture
Factors Affecting Witness Cameras
Position and Setup
Camera Synchronization and Phasing
Dealing with the Data in Post-Production
Real-Time MatchMoving and Camera-Tracking Data 175
Triangulation as a Method of Recording Camera Data 180
Tutorial: Camera/Subject Positional Information
Photographic Reference 198
Shooting Video as a Reference 200
Rules, Setup, and Testing
Do a Complete Test Shot! 204
Why Run Through Example or Test Shots?
Digital Cinematography 207
Dynamic Range
Highlight Headroom
Sensitivity and ASA Ratings
Color Space
Color Space As It Relates to Cinematography
The Calculus of Color Sampling
The Issues of Color Subsampling
Subsampling Schemes
Chip Size in Digital Cameras
CCD vs. CMOS
Frame Rates
Film Camera Aperture Sizes and HD Sensor Sizes
The Viewing System
The Recording System
Scene Files
On-Set Look Management
ASC Color Decision List (ASC CDL)
Filming Live-Action Plates to be Used in VFX
Camera Position (Station Point)
Angle of View
Lighting Considerations
Camera Tilt
Background Quality
Moving Plates
Scouting the Camera Positions
A Case Study
Camera Cars
Camera Car Safety Issues
Purpose-Built Crane Cars
Advantages of Crane Cars
Limitations of Crane Cars
Vibration and Camera Stabilization
Road Speed
Road Speed Related to Camera Angle
Precautions
Panoramic Rigs
On the Water
Air to Air
Cable Systems
Shooting Elements for Compositing
What Is an Element?
Backgrounds
Camera Format Considerations
Assorted Methods for Shooting Elements
Actors and Props
Explosions
Flames
Water Splashes, Swirls, and Streams
Underwater
Dust, Debris, and Breaking Glass
Clouds
Smoke and Fog
Goo and Lava
High-Speed Photography and Filming Elements 249
。。。
Supervising Motion Control 256
What Is Motion Control?
Multiple-Pass Photography
Scaling
Import and Export of Camera Move Data
The Data
Types of Motion Control Systems
Motion Control Software
Acquisition of Motion/Still Photographic Textures for Mapping onto CG 269
Panoramic Backgrounds
Tiled Stills
Stop-Motion 276
Evolution of Stop-Motion Photography
The Time Required to Shoot in Stop-Motion
Preparation before Shooting
Setting Up a Shooting Space for Stop-Motion
Use of Motion Control in Stop-Motion
Useful Caveats
Evolution of a Shot
What are Miniatures? 287
.....
CH4 - PERFORMANCE and MOTION CAPTURE 338
CH9
Difference Between Visual Effects and Animation 742
Production Pipelines
Production
1. Pre-production: building of all the assets
2. Production: creating the shots
Layout
Animation
Cloth and Hair
Effects Animation
Lighting and Compositing(lighting keys)
A Survey and History of Animation Techniques
Traditional Animation
Breakdown artists and in-betweeners will fill in and finish the additional drawings. This operation is commonly referred to as cleanup.
Stop-Motion
Computer Graphic Technology
Considerations for a Full CG-Animated Feature Pipeline
However, because there are no photographic source
plates, scanning/input and matchmove are not the starting point
of an animation pipeline; rather camera layout in the 3D system
and blocking animation are the starting points.
Sequences are collections of shots that are conceptually
related by their role in the story.Assignments
are based on sequence delivery deadlines, and sequence deliveries
build into a reel lock in which a full reel of the film is fed from
final render (meaning the approved CG render prior to color
grading) into post-production and ultimately edited in to the reel,
color graded, and approved for film-out.
CG Feature Animation Pipeline
Storyboard Animatics and Previs
Production Design and Look Development
Look development is the process of taking sample sequence(s) and pushing them through the entire pipeline (all the way to film-out) in order to find the right way to translate the production designs into a CG look.
Layout and Set Dressing
Modeling, Texturing, and Articulation (Rigging)
In large feature animation pipelines, this may constitute as many as eight departments (one each of modeling, shading, texture painting, and rigging for characters and environments).
Character Animation, Character Simulation, and Crowds
Lighting and Compositing
it is often a very precise and time-consuming process, Additionally, in animation, decomposition of shots into layers of elements, and subsequent compositing, is usually done in the lighting department.
Effects Animation and Simulation
Shot Finaling, Rendering, and Cleanup
Post-Production
Production Management
Technical Considerations:
The need for end-to-end software pipeline integration
A fast, high-capacity network.
A large render farm.
A large image storage farm.
large model and shot storage farm.
A sophisticated backup system.
Managing an Animated Film
Film Management and Personal Style
Business Affairs
Production Finance
Building the Core Creative Team
Writing and Visual Development
Storyboarding and Reels
Research, Training, and Development
Working with a Studio
Completion Bonds
Managing Expectations
Facilities and Environment
Production Management 101
Using Subcontractors
The Production Brain Trust
Encouraging Iteration: Managing Change
The Production Process: An Animator’S Perspective
Working on CG-Animated Content in Live-Action Features
- DP: director of photography
- Special effects are sometimes referred to as practical effects or
mechanical effects.
- SFX: Special Effects
- 1st AD： the first assistant director
- DI：digital intermediate
- MoCap：Motion capture
- stand-in 替身
- gaffer (head of the electrical department)灯光指导，灯光师。
- close-up 特写镜头
- digitization： Video and data must be similarly converted into frames. This step is sometimes called ~
- Coordinator 协调者
- CCD：charge-coupled device
- CMOS (complementary metaloxide semiconductor)
- AAMs :Active Appearance Models
-The process of removing the head motion from the marker data is referred to as stabilization.
-DI: digital intermediate
- deep rasters.
it’s worth its weight in gold.
