Visual effects
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Visual effects (or 'VFX' ) is the term given in which images or [film] frames are created and manipulated for film and video. Visual effects usually involve the integration of live-action footage with computer generated imagery or other elements (such as pyrotechnics or model work) in order to create environments or scenarios which look realistic, but would be dangerous, costly, or simply impossible to capture on film. They have become increasingly common in big-budget films, and have also recently become accessible to the amateur filmmaker with the introduction of affordable animation and compositing software.
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[edit] Timing
Visual effects are frequently integral to a movie's story and appeal. Although most visual-effects work is completed during post-production, it usually must be carefully planned and choreographed in pre-production and production. A visual effects supervisor is usually involved with the production from an early stage to work closely with production and the Director to achieve the desired effects.
[edit] Categories
Visual effects may be divided into at least four categories:
- Models: miniature sets and models, animatronics
- Matte paintings and stills: digital or traditional paintings or photographs which serve as background plates for keyed or rotoscoped elements
- Live-action effects: keying actors or models through bluescreening and greenscreening
- Digital animation: modeling, computer graphics lighting, texturing, rigging, animating, and rendering computer generated 3D characters, particle effects, digital sets, backgrounds, etc..
[edit] Notable visual effects companies
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- Animal Logic (Sydney, AU and Venice, CA)
- Boss Film Studios (Marina Del Rey, CA) - closed
- Bird Studios (London UK)
- CA Scanline (München, DE)
- Cinema Production Services aka CPS (Van Nuys, CA)
- Cinesite (London/Hollywood)
- C.O.R.E. (Toronto, ON, Canada)
- Def2shoot (Paris, France)
- Digital Domain (Venice, LA, CA, US)
- Double Negative (VFX) (London, UK)
- DreamWorks (LA, CA, US)
- The Embassy (Vancouver, Canada)
- Escape Studios (London, UK)
- Flash Film Works (LA, CA, US)
- Framestore CFC (London, UK)
- Giantsteps (Venice, CA)
- Hydraulx (Santa Monica, LA, US)
- Image Engine (Vancouver, BC, CA)
- Industrial Light and Magic (San Francisco, CA, US)
- Intelligent Creatures (Toronto, ON, CA)
- Intrigue FX (Canada)
- Look Effects, Inc. (Hollywood, CA)
- M5 Industries (San Francisco)
- Mac Guff (LA, CA, US; Paris, FR)
- The Mill (London, UK; NY and LA, US)
- Moving Picture Company (Soho, London, UK)
- The Orphanage (company) (LA and San Francisco, CA, US; Vancouver, BC, CA)
- Palmavfx (Los Angeles, USA)
- Pixomondo (Berlin, Germany; London, UK; )
- Rainmaker (Vancouver, CA, London UK)
- Red Chillies VFX (Mumbai, India)
- Rhythm and Hues Studios (Los Angeles, CA, US, Mumbai, India, and Hyderabad, India)
- Rising Sun Pictures (Adelaide and Sydney, AU)
- RIOT (Santa Monica, CA and Manhattan, NY, USA)
- Surreal World (Melbourne, AU)
- Sony Pictures Imageworks (Culver City, CA, US)
- Tippett Studio (Berkeley, CA, US)
- Weta Digital (Wellington, NZ)
- Zoic Studios (Culver City, CA, US)
[edit] See also
- Animation
- Computer-generated imagery
- 3D computer graphics
- Physical effects — another category of special effects
- Bluescreen
- Front projection effect
- Rear projection effect
- Compositing
[edit] External links
- VFXY - Visual Effects Portal
[edit] Further reading
- T. Porter and T. Duff, "Compositing Digital Images", Proceedings of SIGGRAPH '84, 18 (1984).
- The Art and Science of Digital Compositing (ISBN 0-12-133960-2)
- McClean, Shilo T. (2007). Digital Storytelling: The Narrative Power of Visual Effects in Film. The MIT Press. ISBN 0-262-13465-9.
