book

Compositing Visual Effects in After Effects

Name: Compositing Visual Effects in After Effects
Author: Lee Lanier
ISBN: 9781317622116

by Lee Lanier

November 2015

Intermediate to advanced

270 pages

English

Routledge

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Cover
Half Title
Title Page
Copyright Page
Contents
Introduction
Chapter 1: Selecting Color Spaces, Resolutions, and Frame Rates
Choosing Bit-Depths and Color SpacesAn Overview of Common Bit-DepthsInteger versus Floating-PointWorking with Color ManagementCalibrating MonitorsUsing a Working Space in After EffectsWorking in Linearized Color SpacePreviewing and Converting Different Color SpacesLinear versus LogarithmicImporting Raw FilesSelecting Resolutions and Frame RatesOverview of ResolutionsA Note on Nonsquare PixelsChoosing a Frame RateInterlaced versus ProgressiveSpeeding Up and Slowing Down FootageMismatching Frame RatesFrame BlendingTime Warping with TimewarpTime Warping with RE:Vision Effects TwixtorTime StretchingTime RemappingAltering the Frame Rate with Time Effects
Chapter 2: Generating Alpha with Keyers and Mattes
Generating Alpha with Chroma Key TechniquesUsing KeylightWorking with Imperfect Green ScreenApplying Additional Keylight PropertiesScreen Pre-BlurScreen Gain and Screen BalanceClip Rollback, Screen Shrink/Grow, and Screen SoftnessScreen Despot Black and Screen Despot WhiteUsing the Primatte Plug-InUsing Difference KeyersDifference MatteColor Difference KeyUsing Range KeyersColor RangeLinear Color KeySuppressing SpillWorking with Spill in KeylightApplying Spill EffectsAltering Alpha with MattesActivating Track MatteCreating a Custom Luma MatteImproving Matte EdgesChapter Tutorial: Keying a Difficult Green Screen, Part 1
Chapter 3: Masking, Rotoscoping, and Basic Keyframing
Creating MasksUsing the Pen ToolAltering Existing MasksCombining Masks to Make Complex ShapesAdjusting a Mask with Pen VariantsSwitching to RotoBezierRotoscopingKeyframing a MaskRotoscoping ApproachesRotoscoping with Roto BrushImporting MasksImporting Bitmap and Vector MasksWorking with Mocha AE MasksBasic KeyframingEditing Keyframes on the TimelineSeparating DimensionsWorking in the Graph EditorAltering CurvesChanging Tangent TypesChapter Tutorial: Keying a Difficult Green Screen, Part 2
Chapter 4: Transforming and Motion Tracking
Transforming LayersWorking with the Anchor PointWorking with Additional Transform PropertiesParentingNesting and Transform CollapsingPrecomposing and Pre-RenderingMotion BlurMotion TrackingTransform TrackingSelecting Features and Fine-Tuning Motion PathsTransform Tracking with Rotation and ScaleAdjusting Applied Tracking TransformsTracking Multiple FeaturesStabilizing FootageCorner-Pin Tracking3D Camera TrackingIntroduction to The Foundry’s CameraTrackerA Note on Hand Tracking Motion Tracking Masks and Facial TrackingPlanar Tracking with Mocha AEChapter Tutorial: Planar Motion Tracking

Chapter 5: Working with the 3D Environment
Creating and Transforming 3D LayersUsing Multiple ViewportsCreating and Transforming a 3D CameraTransforming a 3D CameraAltering 3D Camera PropertiesWorking with Depth of FieldSetting Up LightsWorking with MaterialsAmbientDiffuseSpecular Shininess, Specular Intensity, and MetalLight TransmissionCasts Shadows, Accepts Shadows, and Accepts LightsMasking 3D LayersArranging 2D Layers as Visual Effects CardsImporting Cameras, Lights, and GeometryImporting Maya CamerasUsing the RLA and RPF FormatsWorking with Cinema 4D LiteWorking with Cinema 4D Multi-PassesExtracting Cinema 4D Scene ElementsMotion Blurring Cinema 4D ScenesSwitching to Ray-Traced 3DChapter Tutorial: Rendering Reflections with Ray-Traced 3D
Chapter 6: Creating Particle Simulations
General Particle WorkflowUsing Built-In Particle EffectsCreating Dust Puffs with Particle PlaygroundCreating Sparks with CC Particle Systems IICreating Smoke with CC Particle WorldUsing Particle Plug-InsRed Giant Trapcode ParticularVideo Copilot Element 3DWondertouch particleIllusionRowbyte Plexus 2Digieffects PhenomenaMotion Boutique Newton 2An Introduction to Trapcode Particular3D Camera AwarenessVolumetric EmittersSoft ParticlesSelf-ShadowingLight AwarenessLife ColorTextured ParticlesSub-ParticlesChapter Tutorial: Creating Particle Rain
Chapter 7: Integrating Render Passes
Identifying Render Passes and Blending ModesUsing Object Render PassesReview of Blending ModesOverview of Common Shading PassesApplying Advanced Shading PassesSupplying Alpha to Nonalpha PassesWorking with Multichannel Image FormatsCreating Motion Blur in the CompositeChapter Tutorial: Using OpenEXR Depth Channels for Depth of Field
Chapter 8: Color Grading, Color Effects, and HDRI
Color GradingWorking with Blacks, Whites, and Color CastChoosing Color EffectsColor Theory TerminologyWorking with Hue, Saturation, Tint, and Color BalanceWorking with Brightness and ContrastWorking with Pedestal, Gain, Gamma, and Photo FiltersWorking with Stylistic Color EffectsAn Introduction to Color Finesse 3Overview of HDRI WorkflowHDR Compander (Effect > Utility)HDR Highlight Compression (Effect > Utility)Exposure (Effect > Color Correction)Chapter Tutorial: Color Grading Effects
Chapter 9: Damage Repair and Distressing
Working with Noise, Grain, and Compression BlocksNoise and Grain RemovalAdding Grain and NoiseUsing Perlin NoiseAdding Other Film and Video ArtifactsScratches, Dirt, Debris, and DropoutFilm WeaveHalation, Glow, Glint, and GlareLens FlaresColor Fading and ShiftingDeprecated TechnologyA Note on Median FiltersUsing Paint ToolsCreating a Basic Paint StrokeEditing a Stroke’s Color, Opacity, and SoftnessTransforming and Erasing a StrokeUsing the Clone Stamp ToolOverview of Distortion EffectsTurbulent DisplaceOptics CompensationCC LensMesh Warp and LiquifyDetail Preserving UpscaleRolling Shutter RepairChapter Tutorial: Emulating Low-Quality Video Footage
Chapter 10: Expressions, Scripting, and Project Management
Automating with ExpressionsCreating an ExpressionExpression Channel SyntaxWriting ExpressionsAdditional Expression OptionsAutomating Animation with ExpressionsRunning JavaScript ScriptsProject ManagementRenaming LayersManaging MemoryCustomizing the Program Environment and Keyboard ShortcutsUsing Built-In Render Farm SupportBook Wrap-Up
Index

Content preview from Compositing Visual Effects in After Effects

Introduction

Visual effects compositing is rarely boring and is often surprising. Every shot you are tasked to work with will undoubtedly contain new challenges. With time and practice, you’ll develop your own tricks and workflows to create professional results—and that is what this book is about. I’ve worked as a professional animator and VFX compositor for almost 20 years, spending thousands of hours working in Adobe After Effects and similar compositing programs. The VFX compositing wisdom I’ve gained through mistakes, successes, and long hours is contained in this book. I have no intention to cover every After Effects effect, plug-in, parameter, option, and so on. Instead, I’ve included the most critical information on the most useful components ...

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Compositing Visual Effects in After Effects

by Lee Lanier

Become an O’Reilly member and get unlimited access to this title plus top books and audiobooks from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers, thousands of courses curated by job role, 150+ live events each month,
and much more.