The course is intense training on everything from green screen, virtual set, 3D, camera tracking, and motion control, to character animation, motion capture, crowd replication, digital set extension, VFX cinematography, compositing, and much, much, much more. The course is completely unique, in that it’s about understanding exactly what to do on the set, so that more of the budget ends up in front of the camera instead of being wasted on fixing impossible problems in post — and trust us, it happens every day, even by big guys who should know better. This is training that everybody needs, from Directors and DPs to highly professional Visual Effects Artists, because the challenge is the same: to make some really good decisions during shooting that you know for a fact will work easily in post. Even many Visual Effects Artists haven’t explored this aspect. The course covers everything from basic visual effects to advanced techniques. While part of the DVD series is geared towards high-budget shooting, the majority of it is exactly about how to do things like blockbuster green screen for practically no money. For example, the green screen cyc stage used in the course was built, painted and lit for less than $700, and we show how it was done. Once you understand what’s important, you can do top-notch work for very little money. Course Outline: VOLUME I: 3D PRIMER 1. Introduction 2. Shading And Mapping Part I 3. Shading And Mapping Part II 4. Simple Lighting 5. Advanced Lighting 6. Modeling Tools 7. Modeling Objects And Characters 8. Image-Based Modeling 9. Basic Animation 10. Character Rigging 11. Character Animation Part I 12. Character Animation Part II VOLUME II: MIXING AND MATCHING 1. Overview 2. Compositing Primer 3. Node-Based Compositing 4. Pulling A Matte 5. Garbage Matting / Rotoscoping 6. Compositing Without A Matte 7. 2D Tracking 8. How Trackers Work 9. Planar Tracking 10. How To Shoot For Planar Tracking 11. Camera Matching VOLUME III: MIXING AND MATCHING 1. Matchmoving 2. How To Shoot For Matchmoving Part I 3. How To Shoot For Matchmoving Part II 4. Motion Control 5. Matching Lighting And Shadows 6. Casting Shadows Into Live-Action 7. The Double-Shadows Problem 8. Receiving Shadows 9. Casting And Receiving Reflections 10. Casting And Receiving Light 11. Matching Camera Look 12. Interaction Part I: Live-Action Affecting 3D VOLUME IV: MIXING AND MATCHING 1. Interaction Part II: 3D Affecting Live-Action 2. Virtual Props 3. Motion Capture Primer 4. In-Shot Motion Capture: Body Tracking 5. In-Shot Motion Capture: Face Tracking 6. Object Removal Part I 7. Object Removal Part II 8. Crowd Replication VOLUME V: GREEN SCREEN INTENSIVE 1. 2 Kinds Of Green Screen, 3 Kinds Of Shooting 2. Green Vs. Blue 3. Color Sampling 4. Back-Drop Green Screen Part I 5. Back-Drop Green Screen Part II 6. Renting And Prepping A Cyc Stage 7. Building And Painting A Green Screen Cyc 8. Lighting A Green Screen Cyc 9. Keying Part I: Solids 10. Keying Part II: Transparency 11. Keying Part III: Preventing And Handling Spill VOLUME VI: GREEN SCREEN INTENSIVE 1. How To Place Tracking Markers Part I 2. How To Place Tracking Markers Part II 3. Matching Lighting 4. Matching Direction, Quality, Ratio 5. Extracting And Faking Shadows 6. Receiving Shadows And Light 7. Casting And Receiving Reflections 8. Physical Contact 9. Directing And Blocking On A Virtual Set 10. Giant Green Screen 11. Warping 12. Cinematography Checklist VOLUME VII: SIMULATION / COMPS 1. Physics 2. Particles And Fluids 3. Instantiation 4. Cloth, Hair, Demolition 5. Digital Stunt People 6 . Fusion Nodes 7 . Shot Analysis: F-16 Over Ocean 8 . Shot Analysis: T-Rex Chase 9 . Shot Analysis: Car Crash 10. Shot Analysis: Garden Shadows 11. Shot Analysis: Embassy Shootout