Hi Friends
Have you ever wondered what is it that makes the VFX believable? How to add CG elements to your shots with such finesse that the eye cannot differentiate if it’s real or not?
There are a few elements that go into creating a life-like CGI composite:
Textures of CG Objects: Make sure that there are enough surface imperfections in the textures of 3D models. Textures are even more important than the form of 3D model itself.
Story of the Hero: Think about what it is living like the hero of the shot. What is his everyday life? Then you can add props and models according to his story. If he is a rebel in a post-apocalyptic world, what are his everyday needs etc.
Compositing: I want you to think about composting as the ACTUAL real deal. The images from the renderer should be ‘just enough‘. The real magic happens in the composting. In the 3D software, think that you are preparing the images for the compositor.
5 Effects form the core of compositing.
- Levels: To adjust the black and white values
- Curves: To adjust individual colour channels
- Hue/Saturation: To change the look of colours
- Camera Lens blur: Render engines produce sharp renders, matching camera lens blur is paramount to a good composite
- Noise/Grain: Know the model/build of the camera with which the live-action footage was shot with. Then replicate the same kind of grain on the CGI elements.Atmospheric FX: Added mist, smoke, fog etc makes the scene fuller and blends CG and real-life objects together.
Global Colour Correction: Adding an overall adjustment layer of colour correction gels everything together and removes any small abberancies.
Foreground Elements: Rotoscoping foreground elements and placing part of them on top of the CG elements really sells the effect. Bonus points if CG elements interact with eachother/environment.
Appropriate Shadows and Reflections: Shadow catchers play a vital role in rendering out just the shadows. Make sure you have this indirect data from your render engine either as a separate layer or the same layer.
OpenEXR Rendering: If you want ultimate control in the post, you can render out in openEXR. Personally if I am doing a high end project I would render out in openEXR. For YouTube and personal projects, .png is fine.
If you want to practise these elements, my recent YouTube video stars a post-apocalyptic environment with free assets. You can follow along and it serves as a comprehensive guide to the complete process.
Let me know what things you struggle with and we can address that in a post or a YouTube video.
Until then,
Farewell!