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The Art and Science of Digital Compositing

Techniques for Visual Effects, Animation and Motion Graphics

  • 2nd Edition - May 21, 2008
  • Latest edition
  • Author: Ron Brinkmann
  • Language: English

The classic reference, with over 25,000 copies in print, has been massively expanded and thoroughly updated to include state-of-the-art methods and 400+ all-new full color im… Read more

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Description

The classic reference, with over 25,000 copies in print, has been massively expanded and thoroughly updated to include state-of-the-art methods and 400+ all-new full color images!

"At ILM, compositing is one of the most important tools we use. If you want to learn more, this excellent 2nd-edition is detailed with hundreds of secrets that will help make your comps seamless. For beginners or experts, Ron walks you through the processes of analysis and workflows - linear thinking which will help you become deft and successfully tackle any shot." --Dennis Muren ASC, Senior Visual Effects Supervisor, Industrial Light & Magic

"Ron Brinkman's book is the definitive work on digital compositing and we have depended on this book as a critical part of our in-house training program at Imageworks since the 1999 Edition. We use this book as a daily textbook and reference for our lighters, compositors and anyone working with digital imagery. It is wonderful to see a new edition being released and it will certainly be required reading for all our digital artists here at Imageworks." --Sande Scoredos, Executive Director of Training & Artist Development, Sony Pictures Imageworks

The Art and Science of Digital Compositing is the only complete overview of the technical and artistic nature of digital compositing. It covers a wide range of topics from basic image creation, representation and manipulation, to a look at the visual cues that are necessary to create a believable composite. Designed as an introduction to the field, as well as an authoritative technical reference, this book provides essential information for novices and professionals alike.

  • 17 new case-studies provide in-depth looks at the compositing work done on films such as Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, The Golden Compass, The Incredibles, King Kong, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Sin City, Spider-Man 2, Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, and Star Wars: Episode 3 – Revenge of the Sith.
  • Includes new sections on 3D compositing, High Dynamic Range (HDR) imaging, Rotoscoping, and much more!
  • All disc-based content for this title is now available on the Web.

Key features

  • 17 new case-studies provide in-depth looks at the compositing work done on films such as Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, The Golden Compass, The Incredibles, King Kong, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Sin City, Spider-Man 2, Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, and Star Wars: Episode 3 – Revenge of the Sith.
  • Includes new sections on 3D compositing, High Dynamic Range (HDR) imaging, Rotoscoping, and much more!

Readership

Developers, artists, and creative directors in film and computer graphics special effect, and students in these disciplines.

Table of contents

Chapter 1 Introduction to Digital Compositing
Definition
Historical Perspective
Terminology
Organization of the Book

Chapter 2 Learning to See
Judging Color, Brightness, and Contrast
Light and Shadow
The Camera
Depth, Distance, and Perspective
Visual “ Correctness ”

Chapter 3 The Digital Representation of Visual Information
Image Generation
Pixels, Components, and Channels
Spatial Resolution
Bit Depth
Normalized Values
Beyond Black and White
Floating-point and High Dynamic Range Imagery (HDRI)
The HSV Color Representation
The YUV Color Representation
Image Input Devices
Digital Image File Formats
File Format Features
Vendor-specific File Format Implementations
Compression
Choosing a File Format
Nonlinear Color Encoding

Chapter 4 Basic Image Manipulation
Terminology
Color Manipulations
Spatial Filters
Geometric Transformations

Chapter 5 Basic Image Compositing
Multisource Operators
The Matte Image
The Integrated Matte Channel
Additional Operators
Compositing with Premultiplied Images
Morphing

Chapter 6 Matte Creation and Manipulation
Rotoscoping
Procedural Matte Extraction
Matte Manipulations

Chapter 7 Time and Temporal Manipulations
Apparent Motion
Temporal Resolution
Temporal Artifacts
Changing the Length or Timing of a Sequence
Keyframing

Chapter 8 Image Tracking and Stabilization
Tracking an Element into a Plate
Human Intervention
Tracking Multiple Points
Stabilizing a Plate
Camera Tracking

Chapter 9 Interface Interactions
Workflow
The Evolution of Interactivity
Methods of Representing the Compositing Process
Timelines
Curve Editors
Working with Proxy Images
Image Viewing and Analysis Tools

Chapter 10 Film Formats: Media, Resolution, and Aspect Ratios
Aspect Ratio
Format Conversion Pipeline
Film Formats
Video Formats
Other Formats
Working with Nonsquare Pixels
Converting and Combining Formats

Chapter 11 Quality and Efficiency
Quality
Efficiency
Production Methodologies
Minimizing Data Loss
Internal Software Accuracy
Consolidating Operations
Region of Interest
Working in a Networked Environment
Disk Usage
Precompositing

Chapter 12 Creating Elements
Lighting
Interactive Lighting
Matched Cameras
The Reference Stand-in
Clean Plates
Film Stock
Filters
Choosing a Format
Lighting and Shooting with Bluescreens
Bluescreen versus Greenscreen
Shooting Order

Chapter 13 Additional Integration Techniques
Scene Continuity
Color and Lighting
Camera Characteristics

Chapter 14 Advanced and Related Topics
The Digital Representation of Images, Revisited

3D Compositing
Working with CG Elements
Related 2D Disciplines

Chapter 15 Case Studies
James and the Giant Peach
Speed
Independence Day
The Prince of Egypt
Budweiser Lizards Commercial
Titanic
A Gentlemen’s Duel
Battlestar Galactica
Carlton Draught “ Big Ad ”
Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
Golden Compass
The Incredibles
I, Robot
King Kong
Lost
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
The Orion Nebula from The Hubble Space Telescope
Sin City
Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow
Spider-Man 2
Underworld: Evolution
Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit
Star Wars: Episode 3—Revenge of the Sith

Review quotes

"At ILM, compositing is one of the most important tools we use. If you want to learn more, this excellent 2nd-edition is detailed with hundreds of secrets that will help make your comps seamless. For beginners or experts, Ron walks you through the processes of analysis and workflows - linear thinking which will help you become deft and successfully tackle any shot."—Dennis Muren ASC, Senior Visual Effects Supervisor, Industrial Light & Magic

"Ron Brinkman's book is the definitive work on digital compositing and we have depended on this book as a critical part of our in-house training program at Imageworks since the 1999 Edition. We use this book as a daily textbook and reference for our lighters, compositors and anyone working with digital imagery. It is wonderful to see a new edition being released and it will certainly be required reading for all our digital artists here at Imageworks."—Sande Scoredos, Executive Director of Training & Artist Development, Sony Pictures Imageworks

Product details

  • Edition: 2
  • Latest edition
  • Published: May 24, 2008
  • Language: English

About the author

RB

Ron Brinkmann

Ron M. Brinkmann has been working in the field of Computer Graphics for over a decade, involved with both hardware and software design, development and use. His primary field of expertise is in visual effects for feature films, and his personal feature-film credits include: Contact, The Ghost and the Darkness, James and the Giant Peach, Die Hard with a Vengeance, Speed, Hideaway, Tall Tale, Last Action Hero, and In the Line of Fire. He has had articles published in a number of magazines, and has lectured on the topics of digital compositing and visual effects in the U.S., Europe, Australia and China.
Affiliations and expertise
Hermosa Beach, CA, USA

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