Course description
Compositing for VFX
This intensive evening course will teach you the fundamentals of compositing, from understanding the VFX pipeline, to mastering rotoscoping to integrating the final shot.
Our online evening course is popular with students who need to manage study around work or family commitments. You’ll be hands-on in the studio two evenings per week. You'll be taught by a tutor who has worked, or is currently working in the industry, so they can share their real-world tips and techniques. See below for the online course requirements.
The course follows the same principles as our full-time 12 week course. You’ll gain sought after VFX production skills, including industry-recognised Nuke training. We cover everything you need to start working on your showreel and in the final weeks you’ll work on a project that brings all the techniques together. We’ve been teaching compositing at Escape Studios since 2002 and we’ve helped thousands of students break into the industry.
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Upcoming start dates
Suitability - Who should attend?
Aged 18 or over, a good understanding of written and spoken English.
Training Course Content
Week 1 - Introduction to Compositing
- The VFX pipeline
- The Nuke interface
- Project settings and formats
- Read and write nodes
Week 2 - Merging your elements
- Premultiplied images
- Image and channel blending
- Generating masks, alphas and mattes
Week 3 - 2D Tracking
- Understanding tracking and stabilising
- Curve editor
- Multi-point tracking
Week 4 - Advanced Tracking
- Cornerpinning
- Planar tracking
Week 5 - Rotoscoping in Nuke
- Roto and tracking
- Rotoshape breakup
- Human motion vs objects
Week 6 - Mastering Rotoscoping
- Silhouette Rotoscoping (SFX)
- Tracking in SFX
- Working with motion blur
- Project: Roto a shot in SFX
Week 7 - Rig Removal Prep Work
- Painting in Nuke
- Marker Removal Procedures
- Generating clean plates
Week 8 - Mastering Prep Techniques
- Film grain management
- Warping and morphing
- Retiming techniques
Week 9 - Silhouette Painting
- SFX paint cleanup
- Wire removal painting
Week 10 - Keying Foundations
- Luma keying and the keyer node
- Primatte keying
- Compositing outside the keyer
Week 11 - Improving Edge Mattes
- Colour difference keying: keylight node
- Nuke’s IBK keyer
- Pre & post processing: refining the matte
Week 12 - FG and BG Edge Integration
- The despill process
- Keying motion blur
- Edge treatment and luminance
Week 13 - Understanding Colour Corrections
- Colour management and LUTs
- Float and linear light workflow
- Density and colour matching
- Mastering the colour correct node
Week 14 - Colour Matching FG and BG
- Primary grading: grade node
- Exposure, gamma and curves
- Depth queuing and atmospherics
Week 15 - Nuke’s 3D System
- Intro to the 3D interface
- Projection types and 3D displacement
- Projected mattes
Week 16 - Nuke Camera Tracking
- Lens distortion
- Solving the camera
- Utilising camera data
Week 17 - 3D Projection Workflows
- Projection cleanup workflows
- UV and camera projections
- Optimising 3D motion blur
Week 18 - Compositing CG
- Multi-channel workflow
- Rebuilding the beauty pass
- Utilities passes
Week 19 - Integrating CG with Live Action
- CG grading
- Applying convolve filters to CG
- Interactions and depth of field
Week 20 - Final Project Submission
Course delivery details
Mode of study: Part time (Evenings: Mon and Wed 7-10pm)
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: £3,196
Continuing Studies
Compositors often start out as rotoscope artists or in junior roles, but can rise to become mid-level, then senior 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: ILM, Framestore, Cinesite, DNeg, MPC, Milk VFX, Sky, Electric Theatre Collective, JellyFish Pictures and Pixomondo.