COMING SOON - John Knoll CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION - Michael Fink, VES What is a Visual Effect? What is a Special Effect? Art and Technology CHAPTER 2: PRE-PRODUCTION/PREPARATION Overview - Scott Squires, VES Breaking Down a Script - Budgeting - Scott Squires, VES Ballpark Budget More Detailed Budgets Bidding Plate Photography Temp Screenings Reviewing Bids Contracts Rebidding during Shooting Rebidding in Post Monitoring the Budget and Schedule Keeping the Budget Down Examples of Script and Shot Breakdowns - Susan Zwerman, VES, Jeffrey A. Okun, VES Breakdowns Production Breakdowns Generating a VFX Breakdown: The First Pass Working with the Director and Producer - Scott Squires, VES Demo Reel The Meeting Moving Forward Production Departments - Scott Squires, VES Production Design Camera Working with the Cinematographer - Bill Taylor, ASC, VES Special Effects - Scott Squires, VES Stunts Wardrobe Makeup Production Visual Effects Editorial Locations Production Meeting Designing Visual Effects Shots - Scott Squires, VES Guidelines for Directors Storyboards Previs Objective of the Shot Concept Art Continuity Photorealism Original Concepts Budget Reality and Magic Camera Angles Framing Scale Detail Speed Scaled Images Depth of Field Sequence of Shots Camera Motion Less is More Action Pacing CG Characters Creatures and Character Design Powers of 10 Shots Visual Effects Techniques - Scott Squires, VES Technical Considerations Additional Suggestions for Determining Techniques Development of Previs Techniques - Mat Beck, Stephanie Argy History and Background New Potent Techniques Artificial Intelligence (AI) What is Previs and Other Forms of Visualization? - Hamilton Lewis What is Previs? Different Types of Visualization and When to Use Them Visualization: The New Essential The Application of Previs: Who Benefits and How? - J. Todd Constantine The Benefits of Previs Project Types Post Visualization - Scott Hankel What is Post-Visualization? Why Use Postvis? Who Does Postvis? Cautions and Suggestions for Good Practice - Mat Beck The Perils of Previs! Passing the Work On The Role of the VFX Supervisor in Previs Previsualization: Advanced Techniques - Christopher Ferriter Introduction Benefits of Visualization Advanced Techniques Camera Angle Projection - Steven D. Katz Introduction by Bill Taylor, ASC, VES Drawing What the Lens Sees Techvis - Christopher Ferriter What is Techvis? How is Techvis used? Advancements in Techvis Emerging Techniques and Trends Essential Data Captured in Techvis Real Time Engines and Their Previs Applications in VFX - Ryan McCoy Introduction Pre-Production Applications Production Applications Pipeline Advantages Real Time Engines and Their Application in Animation - Ryan McCoy Traditional 3D Pipeline Real-Time Pipeline CHAPTER 3: ACQUISITION / SHOOTING Working on Set - Scott Squires, VES Common Types of Special Effects - Gene Rizzardi What are Special Effects? A Brief History of Special Effects The Special Effects Supervisor Working with the Visual Effects Visual Effects in Service to SFX Special Effects Design and Planning Storyboards and Previs The Elements: Rain, Wind, and Snow and Ice Smoke, Fire, and Pyrotechnics Mechanical Effects Flying Wire Rigs and Stunts Safety Greenscreen and Bluescreen Photography - Bill Taylor, ASC, VES Best Practices and Otherwise Overview Function of the Backing Negative Scanning and Digital Conversion Backing Uniformity and Screen Correction The Alpha Channel The Processed Foreground The Composite Recommended Specifications and Practices How to Expose a Greenscreen Shot, and Why Setting Screen Brightness Choosing the Backing Color Floor Shots, Virtual Sets Foreground Lighting Controlling Spill Light Lighting Virtual Sets Tracking Markers On-Set Preview Cameras for Bluescreen or Greenscreen Photography Underwater Photography On-Set Data Acquisition - Karen Goulekas Camera Report Tracking Markers Props for the Actors Cyberscanning Digital Photos LiDAR/Laser Scanning Lens Distortion Charts HDRI and Chrome Balls LiDAR Scanning and Acquisition - Alan Lasky On-Set 3D Scanning Systems - Joshua DeHerrera Types of Technology LiDAR Photogrammetry Prop Scanners Lighting Data - Charles Clavadetscher, Jeffrey A. Okun, VES Gathering Lighting Data Using Conventional Still Cameras Reference Shooting Considerations Beware of False Savings! Clean Plates - Scott Squires, VES Shooting the Clean Plate Locked-Off Camera Moving Camera Other Issues Post-Process Alternates without Clean Plates Other Uses for Clean Plates Monster Sticks - Scott Squires, VES On-Set Animation Capture: Witness Cam (IBMC) - Joel Hynek Wireless Non-Video Motion Capture Factors Affecting Witness Cameras Dealing with the Data in Post-Production Camera Tracking for Real-Time Visualization - Joe Lewis Introduction Camera Department: Pre-Production and Cooperation Camera Tracking Strategies in an LED Volume Emerging, Innovation and Mature Technology Triangulation As a Method of Recording Camera Data - Stuart Robertson Camera/Subject Positional Information Basics: The Toolkit Basics: Nodal Point Photographic Reference - Charles Clavadetscher How to Proceed Shooting Video as a Reference Rules, Setup, and Testing - Charles Clavadetscher Do a Complete Test Shot! Why Run Through Example or Test Shots? Digital Cinematography - David Stump, ASC, Marty Ollstein, David Reisner, W. Thomas Wolf Digital Definitions High Dynamic Range (HDR) Camera / Lens Metadata Camera Tracking Look Management The Recording System VFX Photography - Eric Swenson The Camera Array Designing an Array Shot Technicians Shoot Day Special Techniques Post The Future Filming Live-Action Plates to be Used in VFX - Bill Taylor, ASC, VES Camera Position (Station Point) Angle of View Lighting Considerations Camera Tilt Background Quality Moving Plates Scouting the Camera Positions A Case Study Camera Cars Camera Car Safety Issues Purpose-Built Crane Cars Vibration and Camera Stabilization Road Speed Precautions Panoramic Rigs On the Water Air to Air Cable Systems Shooting Elements for Compositing - Mark H. Weingartner What Is an Element? Stock Footage Types of Elements Generic versus Shot-Specific Elements Determining Element Needs Cheating Backgrounds Black Backgrounds Line-Up Camera Format Considerations Assorted Methods for Shooting Elements High-Speed Cinematography and Filming Elements - Jim Matlosz Cameras Technicians Director of Photography Lighting Moving the Camera Video Assist Post Supervising Motion Control - Mark Weingartner What is Motion Control? Performance Choreography Multiple-Pass Photography Scaling Import and Export of Camera Move Data The Data Types of Motion Control Systems Motion Control Software Camera Types Sync and Phase Dealing with Production Acquisition of Motion / Still Photographic Textures for Mapping onto CG - Mark Weingartner Panoramic Backgrounds Tiled Stills Motion Tiling and Synchronous Plates Practical Considerations Stills for Textures and Lighting Stop-Motion - Pete Kozachik, ASC Evolution of Stop-Motion Photography The Time Required to Shoot in Stop-Motion Preparation before Shooting Setting up a Shooting Space for Stop-Motion Use of Motion Control in Stop-Motion Useful Caveats Evolution of a Shot Use of Stop-Motion in Visual Effects CHAPTER 4: PERFORMANCE AND MOTION CAPTURE Defining Motion Capture / Performance Capture - Demian Gordon, Nathan Camp, John Root How Motion Capture is Used Across the Industry - Demian Gordon, Nathan Camp, John Root Is Motion Capture Right for a Project? – Demian Gordon, Nathan Camp, John Root, Tracy McSherry The Mocap Look Visual Storytelling and Aesthetic Production Planning Performance Technology and Approach Aligning Needs vs. Wants Optical Motion Capture Motion Capture for Virtual Production Motion Capture for Animation Production Planning Scenarios for Motion Capture – Demian Gordon, Nathan Camp, Rhea Aylin Fischer, and John Root Subject Matter of the Shoot Performance and Actor Considerations Real-Time Presentation Subjects Being Captured Volume Size and Build Syncing Hardware and Software Rigging and Retargeting for Motion Capture Shot List Client or Vendor Delivery Optical Motion Capture – Nathan Camp, Demian Gordon , John Root Technical and Approach Entry Point Budget Hardware Software Inertial Motion Capture - Rhea Aylin Fischer, Ted O’Brien ,John Root, and Demian Gordon Use Cases Technology and Approach Entry Point Budget Hardware Software Motion Capture for Virtual Production - Nathan Camp, Ted O'Brien Use Cases Technology and Approach Entry Point Budget Hardware Software Hand Capture Demian Gordon , Rhea Aylin Fischer, Tracy McSherry. John Root, Use Cases Advantages and Disadvantages Technology and Approach Budget Facial Motion Capture – John Root, Demian Gordon, Gareth Edwards, and Oleg Alexander Use Cases Markerset Lighting Facial Hair Advantages and Disadvantages Entry Point Budget Facial Actor Survey Actor Survey - Hardware Applying AI Volumetric Capture / Considerations for Production - Wardrobe, Hair, Makeup, and Blocking - Christina Heller, Skylar Sweetman, Mari Young CHAPTER 5: VIRTUAL PRODUCTION AND AI TOOLS IN VISUAL EFFECTS Virtual Production - Addison Bath What is Virtual Production How is Virtual Production Used? Note from the Editors: – Jeffrey A. Okun, VES, Susan Zwerman, VES, Susan Thurmond O’Neal Capturing Surfaces with Photogrammetry to Create Assets - Luis Cataldi Introduction Core Principles of Photogrammetry Applied Principles of Image Capture for Photogrammetry Capture Methods and Workflows Final Thoughts Photogrammetry and LiDAR Sets for Virtual Production - Tripp Topping Optimization The Use of AI in Visual Effects - Lucien Harriot Introduction Overview of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) Applications of GenAI in Visual Effects Impact on Visual Effects Processes Limitations, Challenges, and Ethical Considerations Future Developments in GenAI Embracing GenAI as a Tool for Innovation Summary of Techniques for NeRFs and 3D Gaussian Splatting - Mike Seymour Introduction Overview of NeRFs and Gaussian Splatting Neural Radiance Fields (NeRF) 3D Gaussian Splatting NeRFs and 3DGS in Combination with Other AI Limitations, Challenges, and Ethical Considerations Summary of AI Techniques Used in Visual Effects - Steve Wright A Brief History AI for Compositing Image Enhancement Visual Effects Other Features Adapting to a World with AI CHAPTER 6: POST-PRODUCTION / IMAGE MANIPULATION Resolution and Image Format Considerations - Scott Squires Formats Transport Resolution Academy Color Encoding System (ACES) - Bill Baggelaar, Annie Chang, Steve Tobenkin Overview Using ACES in Visual Effects Workflows ACES Color Space Encoding Compatibility Image Compression/File Formats for Post-Production - Florian Kainz, Piotr Stanczyk Image Encoding Still Image Compression Other Lossless Compression Methods File Formats Color Management - Joseph Goldstone The Three Guidelines Digital Color Image Encodings and Digital Cameras Color Management at the Desktop OpenColorIO Digital Intermediate - Tashi Trieu Introduction to Digital Intermediates The Colorist Tools of the Trade Emerging Technologies Grading with Mattes Communicating Color Through the Visual Effects Pipeline Visual Effects Plate Grading The Evolution of Color Grading Shot/Element Pulls and Delivery to VFX - David H. Tanaka Introduction The Lab “Production” Is to “Lab” as The Merge The Handoff VFX Editorial The Select The Pull VFX Editorial – Greg Hyman, David H. Tanaka Editing within a Shot: The Art of Precompositing (Precomp) How It Came To Be Modern Day Tracking and Disseminating of Information As the Shot Changes Wrapping It Up Editorial Workflow in Feature Animation - David H. Tanaka Introduction Editorial Crew Staffing and Structure Editorial Involvement with Feature Animation Production Stages Communication With Artists - Eric Durst Starting Working with Teams Working Globally Reference and Perspective Shot Production Communicating with Artists in Other Departments Completion Compositing of Live-Action Elements - Steve Wright Overview Green/Blue Screen Capture Pre-Processing the Green Screen Garbage Mattes Keying Strategies Motion Blur and Depth of Field Spill Suppression Grain Management Rotoscoping Post-Composite Processing 3D Compositing Inspecting the Comp Rotoscoping and Paint - Marshall Krasser, Sandy Houston Rotoscoping Digital Painting and Plate Reconstruction Deep Compositing - Steve Wright What is a Deep Image? Complex Depth Interactions The Depth Compositing Edge Problem The Re-rendering Problem Deep Compositing and Live Action Matte Painting/Creative Environments - Craig Barron, VES, Deak Ferrand, John Knoll, and Robert Stromberg Matte Paintings: Art of the Digital Realm What Is a Matte Painting? Matte Painting - Pioneers and History Visualizing the Matte Painting Shot in Pre-Production On-Set Supervision for Matte Painting Shots Basic Skills and Tricks of the Trade Miniatures and Computer-Generated Sets Finding the Best Frame Re-Projected Photo Survey The Need for Creative Compositing Digital Environments - Robert Stromberg Reimagining Artistic Roles in Film: The Rise of the “Environment and Creation Artists” Virtual Production and Game Engine Technology Future of the Environment Creation Artist and AI The Power of Curiosity in Creativity and Innovation CHAPTER 7 - DIGITAL ELEMENT CREATION Digital Modeling - Kevin Hudson Overview: The Importance of Modeling Types of Modeling Model Data Types Development of Models Modeling for a Production Pipeline Engineering Aspects for Polygons Engineering Aspects for NURBS Rigging and Animation Rigging - Steve Preeg Rigging: What is It? Animation Rigging Deformation Rigging What Makes a Good Rig for Animation – Felix Balbas Introduction User and Uses Technical Aspects Technology Restrictions New Technologies Texturing and Surfacing - Ron Woodall The Importance of Texture Painting Hard Surface Models Creature Models Types of Geometry: Their Problems and Benefits Prepping the Model to Be Painted Texture Creation Various Other Map-Driven Effects Texture Painting in Production Model Editing Digital Hair/Fur - Armin Bruderlin, Francois Chardavoine Hair Generation Process General Issues and Solutions Digital Feathers - Armin Bruderlin, Francois Chardavoine Morphology of Real Feathers Modeling Digital Feathers Similarities between Hair and Feathers Differences between Hair and Feathers General Geometry Instancing - Armin Bruderlin, Francois Chardavoine Asset Creation World Building Shot Considerations Dynamics and Simulation - Craig Zerouni, Judith Crow How is a Simulation Created? When is Simulation Appropriate? Tricks and Cheats Important Considerations Planning and Preparation Software Solutions: A Broad Overview of Current Options Particles - Craig Zerouni What are Particle Systems? The Next Step The Birth of Particles Creating Effects Rigid Body Dynamics - Craig Zerouni How Rigid-Body Dynamics are Created Potential Problems Other Issues Tricks for Getting It Done Digital Lighting - Andrew Whitehurst Light in Reality and in Computer Graphics Case Study of Reality Compared with Simple CG Simulation Visual Sophistication through Texture Mapping Physically Derived Shading Models Beneath the Surface Goals of Lighting in Visual Effects Work Flow for Successful Creative Digital Lighting The Technologies of Lights in Computer Graphics Direct Lighting: Source to Surface to Camera Reflections Photographed Reflections Shadows Image-Based Lighting Rendering Occlusion Ambient Occlusion Reflection Occlusion Creating Light Sources from Environment Maps Physically Based Rendering Physically Plausible Rendering Volumetric Lighting Effects Shader Basics - Derek Spears What are Shaders? Shading Models Bump and Displacement Map-Based Shaders Procedural Shaders Shader Design Anti-aliasing Considerations 2D Compositing - Matt Leonard 2D File Formats Image Quality: Color Bit Depth and Concatenation Log vs. Linear Low Dynamic Range and High Dynamic Range Images Mattes and Pre-Multiplied Alpha Working with Rendered CG Elements Integration Techniques 2.5D Compositing - Matt Leonard Z-Depth Compositing Adding Depth of Field Adding Motion Blur Relighting 3D Compositing - Matt Leonard Working with 3D Data in a Compositor Pan and Tile Camera Projections Set Extensions Coverage Mapping Cubical Camera Setup 3D Mattes 3D Retouch and Cleanup Adjusting Camera Moves Particles Deep Compositing Crowd Generation and Simulation Techniques - John Knoll Live-Action Replication Sprites Computer-Generated Crowds Modeling for Replication Variation Mesh Density Animation Cycles for Replication Motion Capture Keyframe Animation Dynamic Motion Synthesis Behaviors and Crowd Control CG Prosthetic and Actor Enhancements - John Knoll On-Set Tracking and Capture Considerations Eye Enhancements 3D Techniques 2D Techniques 2.5D Techniques Silhouette Changes Re-Projection 3D Products, Systems and Software - Richard Kidd Digital Element Creation Process 3D Graphics Software 3D Tracking Special Effects Rendering Texturing CHAPTER 8 – INTERACTIVE GAMES Overview – David Johnson, VES How the Gaming Industry and Film/TV Industries are different - David Johnson, VES Publishers and Developers v. Film/Television Studios and VFX Facilities – David Johnson, VES Game and TV/Film Converging with Virtual Production and Cinematics - David Johnson, VES Game Engines and Real-Time Rendering - David Johnson, VES Runtime Component Unreal vs. Unity Disciplines and Job Titles - David Johnson, VES Game Design Engineering Production Test Art The Art Director Concept Art Environment Artists Texture Artist Characters Hard Modeling Props Lighting Baked vs. Dynamic Lighting vs. Raytracing Shadows Effects System Effects Environmental FX Breakables Destruction Tech Artist Animation UI Real Time Shaders and Materials - David Johnson, VES Optimization and Runtime Budgets - David Johnson, VES Performance Analysis and Profiling - David Johnson, VES CPU vs. GPU bound Technical Terminology - David Johnson, VES User Calibration Latency “Game Mode” on Televisions HDR10 PBR – Physically Based Rendering FBX Mip Mapping Filtering Texel Screen Space Ambient Occlusion Level of Detail Vertex Shaders and Fragment Shaders AR/VR - David Johnson, VES Future of Gaming - David Johnson, VES On-Demand Rendering, Cloud Distribution and Ray Tracing Fast Drives, Nanite and Lumen Fluid Simulations AI CHAPTER 9 – COMPLETE ANIMATION What Is An Animation Project? - Stephan Vladimir Bugaj Full Animation vs Visual Effects Difference Between Visual Effects and Animation - Rob Bredow Production Pipelines Production Animation Techniques - Frank Gladstone Traditional Animation Stop-Motion Computer Graphic Technology Considerations for a Full CG-Animated Feature Pipeline - Stephan Vladimir Bugaj CG Feature Animation Pipeline Managing an Animated Film - Don Hahn Film Management and Personal Style Building Brain Trusts Building the Core Creative Team Writing and Visual Development Working with a Studio Facilities and Environment Managing the Event The Production Process: An Animator’s Perspective - Lyndon Barrois Working on CG-Animated Content in Live-Action Features Planning the Process Production Character and Environment Interaction CHAPTER 10 – VISUAL EFFECTS WORKFLOWS Analysis of a Production Workflow - Stephan Vladimir Bugaj From Workflow to Pipeline Service Bureau versus In-House Requirements Design of a Production Workflow – Dan Rosen From Analysis to Design Deploying a Production Workflow - Stephan Vladimir Bugaj From Design to Implementation Tracking Assets - Stephan Vladimir Bugaj What is Task and Asset Tracking? Commercial Task and Asset Tracking Systems Building Task Asset Tracking Systems Scene Assembly - Stephan Vladimir Bugaj 2D Scene Assembly 3D Scene Assembly (Compositing) Working Across Multiple Facilities – Scott Squires, VES Images Models Texturing Animation Compositing R&D Version Control Software - Jase Lindgren, Katie Cole Introduction to Version Control Version Control Uses in Virtual Production Version Control Set-Up CHAPTER 11 – VR / AR (VIRTUAL REALITY / AUGMENTED REALITY) A Note from the Editor Prelude to Virtual Reality & Augmented Reality – Jeffrey A. Okun, VES Pre-Production for VR/AR - Chris Edwards Production for VR/AR - Grant Anderson Post-Production for VR/AR - Dave Franks Editorial Post-Production for VR/AR - John Grod How to Direct the Viewer? The Post-Process Nonlinear Editorial, Timelines and Edits World Lock and Forced Perspective Types of Head-Mounted and Handheld Displays - Bernard Mendiburu Identifying the Computer-Mediated Realities State of the Art in VR Photonic Technologies State of the Art in VR Hardware Technologies State of the Art in VR Software Technologies Using an HMD for Visual Effects Production Choosing an HMD for Visual Effects Production Hemispheres and Domes - John Grod Games Mechanics Are What it is All About Overcoming Doubt and Preconceived Notions Dome Projections The Future of Domes The Evolution of Domes: The MSG Sphere - Phillip Galler Uses of VR - John Grod Enterprise Narrative Storytelling Future of VR and AR - Ben Grossmann This is Just the Beginning Immersive Experiences Make Use of Advanced Visual Effects Technology - Philip Galler What are Immersive Experiences? Visual Effects’ Impact on Immersive Experiences Content Creation for Immersive Experiences Challenges for Delivering Content for Immersive Experiences Wearables and the Future of Immersive Experiences Acknowledgments Appendix A: Charts and Formulas Appendix B: Glossary Index

• Digital animation

• Film production: technical & background skills

• Professional & Vocational

• Tertiary Education (US: College)

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