Compositing – Campus VFX

ADVANCED VFX COMPOSITING

What is compositing?

Compositing is a vital part of the process in creating visual effects (VFX) for movies, TV, and animated productions. The Compositor combines elements filmed during production with Computer Generated Imagery (CGI) created by other artists to blend them together seamlessly. Compositors also fix problems in the footage that occurred during filming, and find methods to enhance VFX shots to better match the director’s vision. All of the final pieces are assembled by Compositors, who can transform a shot into something spectacular that initially was not possible.

Our 12 months program

The Advanced Visual Effects Compositing Diploma offered only at Campus VFX is specifically designed and continuously updated to provide students with a broad variety of real-world compositing tasks to sharpen and prove their skills on a demo reel.

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN | CURRICULUM

These are the core concepts that will be covered in our Advanced VFX Compositing program using Foundry’s Nuke Software. Our curriculum evolves and adapts to fit Industry needs.

Keying

By selecting a range of specific pixel colours and brightness levels in the image, the Compositor creates a cutout or "matte" that can be used to replace the background. We explore a vast number of keying tools and strategies to preserve fine details (like an actor's hair) and go beyond the first steps into the realm of digital relighting and colour correction.

ROTOSCOPING

When keying is impossible or needs to be improved, rotoscoping can be used to isolate a specific part of the image to make all kinds of adjustments. Rotoscoping (roto) is the foundation of what we do in Compositing, and we teach you established techniques to roto challenging shots quickly and precisely.

Tracking

Since Compositors work on motion pictures, being able to track the movement of any given object is an invaluable part of the process. We cover the 3 main categories of tracking in depth: point tracking, planar surface tracking, and camera tracking, providing you with a variety of tracking tasks, tips, and tricks to handle complex movements.

Digital Painting

Often the goal of digital painting in visual effects is to paint something out, (company logos, stunt equipment, reflections of the camera and crew, etc.). You will learn multiple methods to complete high level paintouts, as well as advanced techniques related to digital makeup and de-aging effects. The end goal here is to make your paint work invisible and believable to the audience.

2D compositing

Compositing in 2D involves taking footage shot during production and 2D elements created in post-production to integrate them cohesively into a single shot. Blending layers of 2D elements to create the illusion of depth while matching colour, lighting, and perspective. We teach you how to analyze and recreate camera and lens properties, with a special emphasis on creating photo-realistic composites.

3D Compositing

By understanding what each of the different layers in a 3D element does, a Compositor can separate a specific pass to make quick changes. Integrating 3D elements into a live action shot and making it look like they were both shot on the same day is one of the toughest challenges Compositors face, and we teach you how to do it successfully.

Fortunato Frattasio

Advanced VFX compositing instructor

Experience

Fortunato brings over 25 years of VFX production experience as an artist, supervisor and manager. He has over 100 feature film and television credits to his name on productions such as Mars Attacks (1996), Armageddon (1998), Mission Impossible (2000), Spider-Man (2002), The Hunger Games (2012), Oz: The Great and Powerful (2013), and Goosebumps (2015).

skills

As a Compositing Lead and Industry Outreach Specialist working for one of the leading visual effects schools in the world, he is able to parlay all of his skills as he continues to teach and mentor students towards a long-lasting career in this fascinating industry.

Industry involvment

As a board member of VES (Visual Effects Society) and Access VFX, Fortunato continues to be involved with the school outreach programs which are designed to expose students to the visual effects industry as a career option to all.

ALUMNI SUCCESS

We believe that progress toward our mission can be measured by the profound impact our graduates have on the visual effects industry. Our alumni continue to engage and shape the world of entertainment. Through our project-based learning and the unique curriculum of each of our veteran instructors, our alumni have proven time and time again that Lost Boys produce extraordinary artists ready to start on the ground floor.