Price of VFX Education

As me a "Visual effects Spartan!!:)"  points out all of these VFX schools are in it for profit, which is fine, but be aware of what the true costs are, especially to what they're selling and that you actually end up with at the end of the day.  This is like all the software, seminars, classes and other items related to visual effects where there are a very limited number of actual "script" sold.  There's a whole business of selling to those with dreams in a limited market.

"It's good to have dreams but don't go into early and costly debt, especially if you don't have to."

Degree course - ( a great funny thing!!":) I don't know of any vfx company that requires a degree in vfx or a specific software package. I suppose some type of 'degree' shows you've taken a class but the thing that will get you hired is your reel, list of credits and your list of software you know and the level you know it. (be honest on your resume) 

If you want to get a university/college degree then best to check out the colleges like NID, Hyderabad, pune film school, or abroad Vancouver film school, Gnomon School of Visual Effects.  However very few colleges offer real vfx degree classes.

You can learn quite a bit of the basics of any software with books, DVDs or online.  Good books and the better online classes cover the material at a professional level.   obviously you have to push yourself because it's self-education but this allows you to learn at your own pace and location without a lot of expense.   I'm self taught in electronics, computer programming, photography, vfx and many other things.

Many of faculty classes only run through the process of learning the software unless the teacher actually has hands on experience in production and the class is structured to cover those issues as well.

Many of the software vendors have a bundle of  learning additions and tutorials. ( like foundry for nuke) As with most software read the manual first.:)!!!

 

I'm self taught in photography, basic electronics, and screen printing, and many other things.

 

Thank u.

Muhammad Najeeb N.

Photography & VFX Compositing "the neighbourhoods" ??

One day my friend Vishnu saw some of my nice pictures in facebook and wrote on my  wall "VFX or Photography ? " that time i did not understand why he asked me this type of a question. most of people doesn't know about the relations between Photography & Visual Effects Compositing because most of the  learners [Indian learners :( ] always thinking about how to "learn more softwares and more plug in effects" they always going without a "GPS system" !! :)  if we don't have a understanding between Photography & VFX Compositing we can't create a great images its looks like professional.

Good Composition is a key element of good photographs and good compositors yet is something that is hard to define. Instead of looking at composition as a set of ‘rules’ to follow – I view it as a set of ingredients that can be taken out of the pantry at any point and used to make a great ‘meal’ (photograph or great compositing). Alternatively I’ve often described it as a set of ‘tools’ that can be taken out of one’s compositional tool belt at any given time in the construction of  great images.
The key is to remember that in the same way as a chef rarely uses all the ingredients at their disposal in any dish – that a photographer or compositor rarely uses all of the ingredients of composition in the making of images.

A compositor should be know about the composition techniques they are the same things  in a  professional photograph did by a professional photographer.

Today I’d like to look at five of the ingredients (or elements) of composition that I draw on in my photography and vfx compositing. They’re not ‘rules’ – just things that I consider when setting up a shot.

Rule of thirds. 

The rule of thirds is a compositional rule of thumb in visual arts such as painting, photography and compositing. The rule states that an image should be imagined as divided into nine equal parts by two equally-spaced horizontal lines and two equally-spaced vertical lines, and that important compositional elements should be placed along these lines or their intersections. Proponents of the technique claim that aligning a subject with these points creates more tension, energy and interest in the composition than simply centering the subject would.

The photograph to the right demonstrates the application of the rule of thirds. The horizon sits at the horizontal line dividing the lower third of the photo from the upper two-thirds. The tree sits at the intersection of two lines, sometimes called a power point or a crash point. Points of interest in the photo don't have to actually touch one of these lines to take advantage of the rule of thirds. For example, the brightest part of the sky near the horizon where the sun recently set does not fall directly on one of the lines, but does fall near the intersection of two of the lines, close enough to take advantage of the rule.

( Information courtesy Wikipedia.)

DOF ( Depth of Field ).

The depth of field that you select when taking an image will drastically impact the composition of an image.

It can isolate a subject from its background and foreground (when using a shallow depth of field) or it can put the same subject in context by revealing it’s surrounds with a larger depth of field.

 

 

Lines.

 

Lines can be powerful elements in an image. They have the power to draw the eye to key focal points in a shot and to impact the ‘feel’ of an image greatly. 

Diagonal, Horizontal, Vertical and Converging lines all impact images differently and should be spotted while framing a shot and then utilized to strengthen it.
These are just some of the elements of composition that I consider in my photography. They reflect my own style and personality but there are plenty more.

Symmetry.

 Depending upon the scene – symmetry can be something to go for – or to avoid completely.

A symmetrical shot with strong composition and a good point of interest can lead to a striking image – but without the strong point of interest it can be a little predictable. I prefer to experiment with both in the one shoot to see which works best.




Texture.

 Images a two dimensional thing yet with the clever use of ‘texture’ they can come alive and become almost three dimensional.

Texture particularly comes into play when light hits objects at interesting angles.

Pattern.

There are patterns all around us if we only learn to see them. Emphasizing and highlighting these patterns can lead to striking shots – as can high lighting when patterns are broken.