Course description
Compositing for Visual Effects
Compositors are in high demand and this 12 week course could be your opportunity to jump into the industry.
We’ve been teaching compositing at Escape Studios since 2002 and we’ve helped thousands of students break into the industry. This 12 week course gives you a thorough introduction to all things 2D. We’ll teach you how to composite layers together seamlessly, to create a showstopping final shot. You’ll cover all the essentials including rotoscoping, prep work, keying, camera tracking and colour correction.
Over 12 weeks you’ll be hands-on, getting to grips with Nuke and learning how real studios and pipelines operate. All of our tutors have worked in the industry so you will learn the techniques, software and skills used in the industry today. After the course you’ll have access to our AfterCare package so you can perfect your showreel.
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Suitability - Who should attend?
Aged 18 or over, a good understanding of written and spoken English.
Training Course Content
Week 1 - The Interface: Premultiplied Images
- Production pipeline and light
- Digital images, formats and resolution
- Film properties and behaviour: log vs. linear
- Premultiplication Maths
- Introduction to Nuke
Week 2 - Transformations and Rotoscoping
- Transformations and introduction to tracking
- Multiple point tracking
- Planar tracking and refining track data
- Introduction to rotoscoping
- Rotoscoping human movement
Week 3 - Rig Removal Composites
- Rotoscoping in Silhouette (SFX)
- Tracking in SFX
- Painting in Nuke
- Generating clean plates
Week 4 - Advanced Paint/Prep Work
- SFX prep techniques
- Warping and morphing
- Advanced prep work
- Matching film grain
- Marker removal
Week 5 - Keying
- Introduction to keying methods
- Keylight node and the despill process
- Primatte and IBK keyers
- Compositing outside the keyer
- Pre and post – processing: refining the key
Week 6 - Colour Correction and Grading
- Exposure, gamma and curves
- Density and colour matching
- Colour management
- Atmospherics
Week 7 - Filters, Motion Vectors and Time Based Effects
- Convolutions filters
- FG and BG edge integration
- Retiming
Week 8 - Nuke 3D Projections
- Introduction to the 3D interface
- Projection types and 3D displacement
- Camera projections
Week 9 - Projection Workflows and Camera Tracking
- Lens distortion
- Nuke camera tracking
- Projection rig removal methods
- Utilising camera data
Week 10 - Compositing CG
- Multi channel workflow
- Introduction to render passes
- 2D and 3D motion blur
- CG production pipelines – Framestore, MPC, The Mill
Week 11 - Refining Element Integration
- Integrating CG and live action
- Edge pre and post treatment
- Refining your composites
Week 12 - Project Week
- Finalising your shot
- Developing your demo reel
- End of course presentation
Why choose Escape Studios
Top 6% of Institutions for Graduate Employability -- by Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA)
First Unreal Authorised Training Center in the UK
Expenses
- Tuition fees (on campus): £11,295
- Tuition fees (live online): £9,036
Continuing Studies
Compositors often start out as rotoscope artists or in junior roles, but rise to become compositors and compositing supervisors. From here the path is open to becoming a VFX supervisor.
Escapees from our compositing courses have gone on to work at companies including: Industrial Light & Magic, Framestore, Cinesite, DNEG, MPC, Milk VFX, Sky, Electric Theatre Collective, JellyFish Pictures and Pixomondo.