From the course: How a Visual Effects Company Works

What types of visual effects are there?

From the course: How a Visual Effects Company Works

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What types of visual effects are there?

- There are many types of visual effects ranging from simple split-screens through to fully computer-generated photorealistic creatures and environments. And there are many different ways to achieve the same effect. The type of effect and the method chosen will change which skills and departments that will be required to complete the work. Let's look at some of the work our example project Space Cop will include. The first is paint-out work. This involves removing things that shouldn't be visible in the final shot. This is often items that we always knew would need removing, things like safety wires or tracking markers. But it can also include things that ended up in the shot by accident, like a crew member stood in the wrong place or a coffee cup left on a table. This work is usually done by dedicated paint artists using 2D compositing techniques. But it can sometimes benefit from a 3D camera track or occasionally require CG renders. In Space Cop, there are tracking markers in several shots that need removing. And in the exterior shots at the end, we need to remove the warning signs from the wall and the door behind the cop. Environment work involves creating an environment for the action to be set in or enhancing existing environment from the filming locations. Sets are often built for filming but they usually only fill the immediate surroundings of the subjects in the frame. Visual effects can be used to extend sets beyond what was built practically. Decades ago, this work was done by painting scenery onto a piece of glass that was placed in front of the camera during filming. Since moving to digital visual effects, this work was regularly done in Photoshop where artists create high-resolution images that were passed on to the compositing team. These days, more and more environment work involves creating full 3-D models of the scenery and rendering out the appropriate angles based on the footage that was shot on set. Space Cop will need a map painting for the final few shots where the alien spaceship arrives. The director wants to replace the paper mill yard with something more dramatic and dystopian. Next, we have character work. This involves creating, animating, and rendering characters or creatures. In Space Cop, the final reveal is that the assailant turns into an alien before he's beamed up onto the spaceship. So based on the script, we will need to create, animate, and render a 3D alien to achieve this effect. Simulations can be used if the elements are too complex to be animated by hand, such as organic elements like smoke, fire, explosions, and water. Abstract ideas like magical powers or force fields are usually simulated too. The department that does these simulations is usually referred to as the effects department, not to be confused with visual effects or special effects. In our project, the effects team will be responsible for the futuristic weapons that are fired during the chase, the wind, dust, and distortion caused by the spaceship and the beaming up effect that will allow the alien to escape at the end. Probably one of the most common effects are screen replacements. Most images or graphics that you see on a screen in a movie or a TV show are added in post. Adding these images to screens is usually a compositor's job and is often done with 2D tracking. But it does sometimes require a 3D camera track and some geometry from other departments. The graphics themselves are usually created by a separate graphics team before they are passed on to the compositors. I've separated these types of visual effects into different tasks but in reality individual shots will regularly include many of these at the same time. Different departments will be working on different elements simultaneously so working together efficiently is of the utmost importance.

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