AV3410
Professional Specialism
Evan Goddard
Compositing
Compositing Overview
"VFX compositing seamlessly integrates digital assets with live-action footage to bring together the final shot of a film or game. Compositing is the final step of the VFX pipeline." - (2018) CG Spectrum
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"At its core, VFX compositing is the bridge between live-action video footage and digital assets. It adds the minor details to make the digital effects look like they’re a part of reality." - Adobe
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"Compositing is the process of taking several visual elements from different sources and combining them into a single video. The video effects (VFX) technique is usually used to imply that the elements are from the same scene. Compositing mostly takes place in postproduction, but it can also be done in-camera using mattes or LED screens during production." - (2019) Backstage
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In the world of VFX it is the compositors role to bring the final shot together, to ensure its photorealism and co ordinate and communicate any changed that need to be made.
Compositing Breakdowns
Weta Digital. (2020, April 7). Avengers: Endgame VFX | Breakdown - Compositing | Weta Digital [Video].
Digital Domain. (2019, February 1). Ready Player One | VFX Compositing Breakdown | Digital Domain [Video].
These examples show what compositing in film looks like in these examples we see a wide range of CG intergration skills, Green Screen, Painting and advanced asset uses
Compositing In Film and TV
Netflix. (2024, June 4). The Crown | VFX Reel | Netflix [Video]
Figure 1: Clean-plate taken from The Crown
Rodeo FX. (2023, January 31). The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power - VFX Breakdown by Rodeo FX [Video].
Figure 3: Clean-plate taken from LOTR: The Rings of Power
DNEG. (2022, May 10). Uncharted VFX Breakdown | DNEG [Video].
Figure 5: Clean-plate taken from Uncharted
Artemple. (2017, October 21). Mindhunter VFX Breakdown - Artemple [Video].
Figure 6: Clean-plate taken from Mindhunter
Green Screen Shots
The Crown
In this example on the left we see the original plate and on the right we see the moving background, this is a very common shot in film and TV as it is far safer and more controlled to replace the background instead of driving around a set, furthermore, it stops the camera and crew appearing in the reflections in the window glass. These shots are done by tracking the plate, using a keyer, placing footage of a street on a card in the background, and adding the windows in the post
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Background Replacement
Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power
Background replacements vary from shot to shot in terms of difficulty, here we see a somewhat simple shot. To achieve the final look they would've used a luminance key to remove the sky, some manual rotoscoping to keep the actors then matte paintings to replace the clouds, and add the castle. In this example, they edit the reflections in the sand, because this is close to the camera I suspect they would use a projection to give the sand some 3D movement​
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Set Extensions
Uncharted
Set Extensions are similar to background replacements however these typically use more 3D elements in this example by DNEG on the left we see the clean plate, our job as a compositor would be to key this footage, de spill and integrate the 3D models over the top of the footage. Set extensions combine the skills of the other two examples for more technically complex shots
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Painting and Cleanplating
Mindhunter
Another common composing job is painting (or removing) objects from your shot this is called clean-plating. In this example, the pavement has been raised to match the period the film is set in. Other examples of painting could be in action films when stunts are being filmed on wires the wires would be painted out and removed.
Netflix. (2024, June 4). The Crown | VFX Reel | Netflix [Video]
Figure 2: Final result taken from The Crown
Rodeo FX. (2023, January 31). The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power - VFX Breakdown by Rodeo FX [Video].
Figure 4: Final result taken from LOTR: The Rings of Power
DNEG. (2022, May 10). Uncharted VFX Breakdown | DNEG [Video].
Figure 6: Final result taken from Uncharted
Artemple. (2017, October 21). Mindhunter VFX Breakdown - Artemple [Video].
Figure 7: Final result taken from Mindhunter
Professional Development
After graduating I want to be a compositor therefore I must have a thorough understanding of compositing thought history and be aware of Nuke, the industry-standard software, and its strengths and weaknesses. While asking questions about this area I will also be networking with other professional compositions giving me a contact to get portfolio reviews once I've finished university and advice once I've finished my third year. This research project ties well into the group production project as one of my main jobs in that project is compositing as well as other things
Where Im starting from
In the lead up to third year I decided that I wanted to focus on compositing for my specialism after doing some fun compositing work in my second year group project. I then went on and did three major projects: My Space Ship scene, this was to practice AOV compositing, The Foggy Building shot, this was to experiment with clean plating a moving shot and generating a depth pass to grade and create fake fog then lastly I worked on a feature film called The Silver Screen and Dreams Cafe, that required hundreds of greenscreen shots and set extensions.