Digital Compositing for Film and Video (Focal Press Visual Effects and Animation) [Paperback]

Steve Wright (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0240804554 | ISBN-13: 978-0240804552 | Publication Date: December 19, 2001 | Edition: 1st

Digital Compositing for Film and Video is a hands-on, practical, how-to guide that addresses the problems and difficult choices faced by the professional compositor in real-life situations. It presents techniques, tricks, and solutions for dealing with badly shot elements, coloration artifacts, and mismatched lighting that bedevil actual compositors working on real shots. Readers are offered in-depth practical methods for matte extraction, despill procedures, compositing operations, and color correction--the "meat and potatoes" of all digital effects.






Compositing is the artistic blending of several disparate elements from a variety of sources into a single image while making all the component elements appear to be in the same light space and shot with the same camera. When confronted with a bad composite any observer will recognize that something is wrong--the artist will know what is causing the problem, and the technician will know how to fix it. A good compositor must be both an artist and a technician.

Written by a senior compositor with over ten years' experience in both feature film and broadcast television, this book offers a broad range of alternative solutions that will save hours of fiddling with composites trying to get them to look right when the basic tools aren't working. A companion CD-ROM provides examples of the many topics covered in this book.








Loaded with practical tricks, techniques and alternative solutions to the common thorny problems faced by today's compositorsCompatible with Adobe PhotoshopWritten by a senior compositor with over ten years of digital compositing experience

Editorial Reviews

Review

"One of the best compositing books out there..., If you consider yourself an upper intermediate level user or less, I'd recommend this book. Among many other things that it does quite well, it explains what procedural keyers like Primatte are doing and shows you how to accomplish the same kinds of processes manually. You will know what each of the many keyers in After Effects (and other compositing apps) are doing and the logic behind each. You will also learn where best to use each based on the situation at hand. It also takes you through many other areas like matte extraction, despill procedures and color correction. After reading it, you will understand scientifically what is going on under the hood of your favorite imaging and video apps. To me, this is the "Photoshop Channel Chops" of 2001. What David Biedny's legendary PCC book did for Photoshop artists a decade or so ago, this book will do for compositors today. I have seen other books handle this subject, some do it well but none as good as this one. Well-written and very easy to understand --though there are definitely places where you will have to reread passages to understand what's being said. But if you commit to reading it with more than a cursory perusal, you'll walk away a master. Highly recommended. Five Cows." - Ron Lindeboom, creativecow.net

From the Publisher

Written by a senior compositor with over ten years' experience in both feature film and broadcast television, this book offers a broad range of alternative solutions that will save hours of fiddling with composites trying to get them to look right when the basic tools aren't working. A companion CD-ROM provides examples of the many topics covered in this book.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Focal Press; 1st edition (December 19, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0240804554
• ISBN-13: 978-0240804552
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.9 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #873,897 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best compositing books out there..., December 26, 2001

By 

R. Lindeboom "theboomer" (Paso Robles, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Digital Compositing for Film and Video (Focal Press Visual Effects and Animation) (Paperback)

If you consider yourself an upper intermediate level user or less, I'd recommend this book. Among many other things that it does quite well, it explains what procedural keyers like Primatte are doing and shows you how to accomplish the same kinds of processes manually. You will know what each of the many keyers in After Effects (and other compositing apps) are doing and the logic behind each. You will also learn where best to use each based on the situation at hand. It also takes you through many other areas like matte extraction, despill procedures and color correction. After reading it, you will understand scientifically what is going on under the hood of your favorite imaging and video apps. To me, this is the "Photoshop Channel Chops" of 2001. What David Biedny's legendary PCC book did for Photoshop artists a decade or so ago, this book will do for compositors today. I have seen other books handle this subject, some do it well but none as good as this one. Well-written and very easy to understand -- though there are definitely places where you will have to reread passages to understand what's being said. But if you commit to reading it with more than a cursory perusal, you'll walk away a master. Highly recommended. Five Cows.

Ron Lindeboom
creativecow.net

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Concise technical information!, December 24, 2002

By 

Jason White (London, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Digital Compositing for Film and Video (Focal Press Visual Effects and Animation) (Paperback)

I really struggled through the first chapter, but after that is stared to make more sense. This book is very technical, and many topics like 10-bit logarithmic color are definitely complex concepts, but generally the author does an excellent job of explaining them as simply as possible.

Explanations for what is happening 'under the hood' of a lot of compositing tools are explained, as well as how to achieve them manually. Stuff like keying, despill, unsharp mask, and defocus operations. I've read the 2 other main compositing textbooks available on Amazon.com, I would say this is definitely better than "Digital Compositing In Depth", and slightly better than "The Art & Science of Digital Compositing". It's definitely the most detailed and technical of the 3 books.

I wouldn't recommend this for a beginner, it'd be more suited to someone who has composited for a few years and wants to better understand the underlying concepts of their compositing software.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fabulous resource., August 28, 2002

By 

Robert Nederhorst "throbby throb" (California United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Digital Compositing for Film and Video (Focal Press Visual Effects and Animation) (Paperback)

The author has done a great job of taking most if not all the tricks and tips and combined them into one excellent book.
Film and Video is completely explained and the reader gets a great idea why they are so completely different.
This book is an A+ must have for anyone wanting to know more about the compositing process.