Bringing concrete examples from industry to light, this book explains how to use Blender to create visual effects for video/film production. It supplies readers with a practical way to learn how to use Blender’s tools across a wide range of scenarios in video/film production, including setting up cameras on a stage, lighting, and other production processes.
Maintaining a focus on composition, the book not only explains how to use the most common tools, such as tracking, rendering, and compositing, but also explains how to deal with software limitations and sort out problems.
Since the best way to learn something is with a practical example, this book follows one of the author’s own projects, starting with how to prepare the elements that will be needed later on. The example illustrates how to use Blender tools and features for scene tracking, setup, rendering, masking, and other post-production functions—from start to finish in a professional workflow.
The book examines all the compositing nodes that can be used in Blender. It details time-saving tips, features such as the motion tracker, and rendering techniques so readers will have enough information to accomplish the most common tasks encountered in the creation of a professional visual effects composition.
By following the example project presented in the book, you will gain the practical understanding required to use Blender’s tools in the most common scenarios in video/film production. You will also gain industry insights into the limitations of the software and how to sort out the problematic scenarios that may come up through the various stages of your project.
Problem Definition
Introduction
Approaching the Task
Additional Materials
Summary
Preparation
Getting Ready
Setting up Blender
Shooting
Calibration
Summary
Tracking
Basics of Tracking
Preparing the Footage
Working with the Tracker
Calibration inside Blender
Placing the Marks
Solving the Tracking
Applying the Solved Camera
Plane Track
Summary
Scene Setup
World Creation
Setting up Elements
Lighting
Summary
Rendering
Internal Render vs. Cycles Render
Internal Render Pros and Cons
Cycles Render Pros and Cons
Rendering with Layers
Understanding the Render Passes
Combined (RGBA)
Depth (Z)
Ambient Occlusion (AO)
Shadow
Vector
Normal
Object Index
Material Index
UV
Formats
Basic Channel Format
Multichannel Format
Render Settings
Render Device
Dimensions
Sampling
Light Paths
Film
Overscan
Summary
Masking
Starting to Mask
Clean Plate Preview
Refining the Mask
Tracking the Mask
Frame-by-Frame Painting
Summary
Compositing
First Steps
Nodes Overview
Inputs
Render Layers
Image
Texture
Value
RGB
Time
Movie Clip
Bokeh Image
Mask
Track Position
Outputs
Composite
Viewer
Split Viewer
File Output
Levels
Layout
Frame
Reroute
Switch
Group
Distort
Translate
Rotate
Scale
Flip
Crop
Transform
Displace
Lens Distortion
Map UV
Stabilize 2D
Movie Distortion
Plane Track Deform
Corner Pin
Matte
Difference Key
Color Spill
Distance Key, Chroma Key, Color Key, and Channel Key
Keying
Luminance Key
Double Edge Mask
Keying Screen
Box Mask and Ellipse Mask
Converter
Combine and Separate (RGBA, HSVA, YUVA, YCbCr)
Alpha Convert
Math
ID Mask
Set Alpha
RGB to BW
ColorRamp
Filter
Filter
Blur
Directional Blur
Bilateral Blur
Vector Blur
Dilate/Erode
Inpaint
Despeckle
Defocus
Glare
Bokeh Blur
Pixelate
Sun Beams
Vector
Normal
Vector Curves
Normalize
Map Value
Map Range
Color
RGB Curves
Mix
Hue Saturation Value
Bright/Contrast
Gamma
Invert
AlphaOver
Z Combine
Color Balance
Hue Correct
Tonemap
Color Correction
Compositing the Scene
Film Grain
Fake Grain
Real Grain
Vignetting
Preview
Rendering Limitations
Depth Pass
ID Passes
Final Notes
Summary
Index
Biography
Sam Vila earned a filmmaking certificate from the London Film Academy in 2006 and other degrees from different schools for film editing, camera operation, Steadicam operation, and postproduction.
He has been progressing in his career as a filmmaker and visual effects artist by participating in several productions not only for television but also for feature films.
Currently Sam Vila is working as a visual effects artist in Los Angeles, California, using Blender as the main tool to generate all the visual effects on a daily basis.
His experience includes five feature films and several short films usually as a visual effects artist. With several years of experience creating 3D content, he has wide-ranging knowledge of many well-known 3D software programs, and he has engaged in professional collaborations with companies such as NVIDIA and OTOY (Octane Render).
He is also a co-founder of Los Angeles Blender Group and a very active member of the Blender community.
