This course aims to introduce and develop students' technical and aesthetic skills in digital compositing relevant to the production of digital visual effects.

This course will focus on the production of digital visual effects for film, multimedia and broadcast using industry-standard software packages. Students will explore the process of layering and integrating conputer-generated images and live-action plates to create photorealistic composites.  Beginning with digital image fundamentals such as resolution, bit depth, colour and geometric transformations, the course progresses to more advanced topics relating to the treatment and management of assets in compositing, such as colour operations, keying, filters, tracking and various methods for creating mattes. In addition, students will be given a historical context for the techniques being taught. This course includes a production schedule for the completion of a major project.

Students will be offered an introduction to industry standard digital compositing processes; an introduction to cinematography and the fundamentals of photorealism; the ability to realise a concept from beginning to end; development of project development, management and research skills;  an awareness of historical and contemporary trends, and future directions in the visual effects industry.

All sessions take place in a computer laboratory:

3 hours of seminar / studio practice per week

Students are expected to do at least an extra 6 hours of studio practice each week

By portfolio and permission of MVFX Convenor

Brinkmann, R. The Art and Science of Digital Compositing, Morgan Kaufmann, 1999