About the Book
Wisdom from the best and the brightest in the industry, this visual effects bible belongs on the shelf of anyone working in or aspiring to work in VFX. 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. Written by 88 top leading visual effects practitioners and covering everything about visual effects from pre-production, production, and post-production.
Simply a must-have book for anyone working in or wanting to work in the VFX industry.
A Note on the Kindle Version:
There are several images throughout chapters 3, 5, 6, and 7 that are not visible in the Kindle edition of this book due to rights restrictions.
Special Thanks
The completion of this book required the efforts of many hardworking, talented and dedicated people in order to help it become a reality. Accordingly, the VES and Focal Press would like to offer very special thanks to all of our team Captains and Co-Captains:
Chapter 1: Michael Fink, Captain
Jacquelyn Ford Morie, Co-Captain
Chapter 2: Scott Squires, Captain
Mat Beck, Co-Captain
Chapter 3: Bill Taylor
Chapter 4: John Root, Captain
Demian Gordon, Co-Captain
Chapter 5: Rob Engle, Captain
Lenny Lipton, Co-Captain
Chapter 6: Marshall Krasser, Captain
Chapter 7: Kevin Rafferty, Captain
Chapter 8: Richard Taylor, Captain
Habib Zargarpour, Co-Captain
Chapter 9: Stephan V. Bugaj, Captain
Lyndon Barrois, Co-Captain
Chapter 10: Dan Novy, Captain
Stephan V. Bugaj, Co-Captain
Additionally, we would like to thank Ron Brinkmann and Lenny Lipton for the exhaustive efforts in compiling the Glossary
Table of Contents:
What is a Visual Effect; Brief History of Visual Effects; Preproduction; Breaking Down a Script; The First Meeting with the Filmmakers; Working with an Art Department for VFX Design; Previsualization; Shooting; Working on the Set; Blue and Green Screen; Special Mechanical Effects; On-Set Data Acquisition; Camera and Capture Specifications; 3-D Stereo; Second Unit and VFX Photography; Miniatures; Forced Perspective Miniature; Performance and Motion Capture; Postproduction; Resolution and Image Format Considerations and Postproduction Pipelines (4K & 2K); Digital Intermediate; Color and Data Management; Film Scanning/Recording; VFX Editorial; Image Compression/file formats for postproduction; Compositing of live-action elements; Matte Painting/Creative Environments; Digital Element Creation; Digital Element Creation; Introduction to Computer Graphics for VFX; Digital Characters; Digital FX; Lighting/Compositing CG Elements; Crowd Generation and Simulation Techniques; 3D Products/Systems; CG Prosthetics and Actor Elements; Interactive Games; Full Animation; Other Workflow Considerations;
About the Author :
JEFFREY A. OKUN has just completed the visual effects work on the 20th Century Fox's, The Day The Earth Stood Still Jeff was charged with creating invisible effects for the film, for which he was nominated for his 3rd Visual Effects Society award. The mission statement for this project was, 'If the audience sees a visual effect then we have ruined the film' - which is pretty difficult when you consider that spaceships, aliens, giant robots and nanotech killer insects were required for the project. The over 500 visual effects for this feature film include virtual characters, set extensions, full 3D photorealistic sequences, traditional matte paintings and creating spectacular action 'beats' that propel the story forward. Additionally Jeff employed science fact based CGI flocking systems based on chaos theory. Okun is known for creating 'organic' and invisible effects, as well as spectacular 'tent-pole' visual effects that blend seamlessly into the storytelling aspect of the project. "I feel that my job is not to showcase what can be done with the technology but to serve the story above all else." Okun has also worked on wide-ranging effects as seen in such award winning films as BLOOD DIAMOND, THE LAST SAMURAI, STARGATE, SPHERE, RED PLANET, DEEP BLUE SEA, LOLITA, and THE LAST STARFIGHTER. (For a full list of credits please refer to his CV.) His credits also include ground breaking music videos from such varied artists as Sting, The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, Janet Jackson, Wayne Newton, Bryan Adams, Amy Grant, Dolly Parton, Prince, Michael Jackson, the Neville Brothers and Rod Stewart. Additionally Jeff created visual effects tracking and bidding software that is in wide use within the industry, as well as the revolutionary visual effects technique dubbed the "PeriWinkle Effect" and the "Pencil Effect", which has been used in many projects to help achieve more a realistic sense of danger and more accurate budgets. Jeff is the Chair of the Visual Effects Society, and also served as chair of the VES Awards Committee, having spear-headed the creation of the Awards. He is a respected member of the Visual Effects Branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, the Academy of Television Arts and Science and BAFTA. He is currently editing the VES Handbook of Visual Effects, due to be published in early 2010. Ms. Zwerman is a highly respected Visual Effects Producer with an outstanding record of accomplishments in film production and visual effects. She began her career in film in New York, where she quickly rose through the ranks from Production Assistant to Assistant Director and Unit Production Manager in both films and commercials. She won a Grammy Award for "Best Concept Music Video" for producing the music video I'm Fat, starring Weird Al Yankovic. After moving to Hollywood she worked for several years as UPM and Post-Production Manager before making the leap to VFX Producer on the film Tall Tale. Since then, her credit has appeared on a successsion of high-profile feature motion pictures such as The Guardian, Men of Honor, Alien Resurrection, and Broken Arrow. She is a member of the Directors Guild of America, the Producers Guild of America, and the Visual Effects Society. She is very active in these organizations: Chairperson of the Directors Guild of America's AD/UPM VFX/Digital Technology Committee (DGA); a board member of the Producers Guild of America's New Media Council (PGA); and Chair of the Visual Effects Society's Special Projects(VES). Over the past ten years she has planned and hosted numerous technology and visual effects seminars for these organizations and was honored with a Directors Guild of America Honor Plaque for extraordinary service to the guild's Technology Council. She continues to share her knowledge by leading VFX seminars at universities and film schools, teaching visual effects techniques to young professionals just entering the entertainment industry
Review :
"The VES Handbook of Visual Effects offers a fine technical reference for any college-level collection strong in media technology. It surveys visual effects techniques and best practices learned from both research and practical applications, covering techniques for all VFX artists and producers and applying technical knowledge to industry standards. A 'must' for any involved in any aspect of visual effects production."---BookWatch
"According to Okun, it had been five years since the inception of the book and it took the last three to write and pull it together. What they have created is the definitive visual effects textbook for our times and there is no doubt that it will remain the bible for those laboring in our business for many years to come. If you're in the vfx, animation, gaming or production business in general, you've got to have this book. Not on your shelf, but in your hand as you commence each new project. It's the most definitive book on the market today."--Animation World Network Online
