What isn’t a compositor might be a better question to ask but let’s keep this article on point.  In short a compositor is responsible for fusing together elements such as live action footage, 3d animation, stock footage and other sources into a single picture.  Sometimes the goal is photo-realism for a motion picture and other times the goal is to exaggerate the world for a TV spot.

A good comparison might be the job of a weldor. Wikipedia has a curious description that I found particularly useful:

“Welders typically have to have good dexterity and attention to detail, as well as some technical knowledge about the materials being joined and best practices in the field.”

In order to complete some shots, a compositor might take on other responsibilities such as modeling and rendering a 3D object or element.   Similarly, a weldor might need to fabricate a special tool or object needed for a custom vehicle manipulation.

When a weldor is combining various parts of a bicycle frame,  it is important that the parts are fused together properly or the bicycle might just fall apart.  Much like a visual effects shot that is not sound, you may see it fall apart on screen.

Knowing the tools and understanding the related jobs of this industry might just answer questions you didn’t know you had.  Never stop learning and developing new techniques.

Wikipedia also has a note regarding weldors:

“Welders are also often exposed to dangerous gases and particulate matter.”

But I won’t get into that.

After Effects lights can be moved around in 3D  space but a lens flare effect can only move in 2D space on the X and Y axis. So how can you add a 2d lens flare to a 3D moving light?

The secret is using a simple expression on the “Flare Center” of the lens effect.

1. Alt Click on Flare Center stop watch to add expression

2. Type this in the expression box:

thisComp.layer(”Light 1“).toComp([0,0,0]);

NOTE: Just change “Light 1” to the name of your light.

This tip can be found in the bump map tutorial around 6:15 for those who would like to see it in action. View Tutorial

Dan Ebberts has an ever useful “3D Lens Flare” case study on his website that includes distance falloff. Check that out.

Here is an anamorphic lens flare project too.

As we get closer to launching Action Essentials 2, I have been developing a simple guideline for better compositing that is broken down to 7 key points.  This is by no means a ‘complete’ guide for every scenario but it should be a good place to start. I plan on detailing many of these techniques in the future but here is a basic overview. If you have some tips that have helped you out in the field, please share them in the comments below.

I call it: P.E.R.F.E.C.T.

Perspective:
When compositing a scene, you want to consider the perspective of your plate (raw footage) and carefully mix elements that align with your shot. A major perspective conflict can be a give-away that your shot was poorly composited.

Esthetics (aesthetics):
Make it look cool. Keep an eye on your composition and balance the elements in your scene evenly. Look at the composite as a whole and not just the area you are working on.

Randomize:
The world is unpredictable so you want to use variations in your compositing work. One example is when creating an army of soldiers from a small group of extras.  It is important to offset the individuals by time and space so they do not look mechanically duplicated. This is also important when adding muzzle flashes and ricochets. Don’t just reuse the same muzzle fire or ricochet, use multiple clips and alter the size and rotation so that your mind doesn’t pick up on the pattern of similarity.

Feathering:
The way elements are blended in a scene is a top priority. Feathering is a great way to blend multiple elements together in a scene as well as performing a subtle light wrap. But don’t overuse the light wrap!

Environment:
When you composite an element in your scene, ask yourself how would this affect the surrounding environment? When an explosion goes off, does it leave a hole or burn marks? Does the bright light cast on the walls around it? Be creative and think of clever ways to make your fx elements blend with the real world.  You should also consider on-set action for planned visual effects.  Having real interaction in your scene goes a long way to sell a shot like pillows on a couch being shot-up by a machine gun. A simple string works well to ‘toss’ the pillows around as they are blown away.

Color:
Matching color and light are essential to photo realistic compositing. Obviously you want the fx elements to match the color of the scene but you also want to match the contrast level too.  Be mindful of the light direction in your scene and be sure to use elements that cooperate.

Timing:
There is a rhythm to cinema and visual effects. There is action and reaction.  Let your shot flow and unfold. If you force things to happen in a short amount of time, the shot may turn out mechanical and choppy.

Feel free to expand on these ideas and continue to create impressive visual effects. In the mind of an artist nothing is ever “perfect”, but I like to think of the word as an verb for a work in progress as we attempt to ‘perfect’ the art.

Here’s another use for the Disintegration Tutorial techniques in a motion graphics example.  I used a little bit of shine or a Radial Blur to create a lighting effect as it burns or blows away.  You can even play around with the colors to create a magical burn away as well.  This tutorial has a cool method for creating light beams if you’re interested.

Keep experimenting and have fun!

Watch Video Sample

High Quality Image

The font is called Avalon Quest!

UPDATE: Green screen footage uploaded for Disintegration Tutorial project.

• The frame rate for digital film work is 23.976 so you should use this if you are making a cinematic commerical or movie about robots.
• Some video editing applications abbreviate 23.976 as 23.98 but AE requires the more specific frame rate.
• Film or not, you should work at the frame rate of your source material.
• Non-standard frame rates such as 12 and 15 are great for creating animations for the web or even flash.
• If you have multiple fps sources try to conform things to your output format.

The reason I sometimes use 24 fps instead of 23.976 is probably because I’m lazy and web video can be non-standard without many problems. Of course, it is probably good practice to use standard frame rates so that you can easily author to DVD or Blu-ray. Hope this helps but be sure to investigate your specific workflow, so that you don’t run into problems in the middle of a project. Remember PAL & NTSC standards may vary.

More info on Frame Rates here

For anyone using CC Particle World instead of Particular, you may know that Particular’s Turbulent Field is not available.  This feature allows random 3D displacement of a particles position.  A similar effect can be achieved with Particle World by adding a TURBULENT DISPLACE effect. It works best with smaller particle and it has some limitations because it is only 2D but it is a nice way to get away from “perfect” particle movement.

Download Project Comparison

Related Topics:

Fire Title Project — Uses Turbulent displacement
Dark Energy & Electric Energy — Uses Turbulent displacement
Fire Burning Project — Complex Fire Project

Related Tutorials:

Soul Removal Tutorial
Energy Tutorial

I stumbled upon a recently published list of Tips for motion graphics folks by Computer Arts.  There is tons of great advice I’m sure you will find useful.  So I started thinking, without restating any of these tips (intentionally), I could make a top 10 list, maybe even 20.  So here it is! -5 more.

1. Make Proxies of Elements

Designs can be complex, often times an element is used or reused that can be very heavy on rendering. For example, this circular element contains a heavy radial blur that renders very slow. Other parts of the design still require work and you should not have to waste extra time. So I created a full resolution proxy of the element I could output as well.

In the render settings, there is an option for the proxy use, to use none or current settings. Of course if you really need to change the design element, just disable the proxy and have at it. This is also a great idea for pre-comps and things that are somewhat “finished”.

2. King of the Kaps lock

Have you ever noticed how fast you can move around in After Effects with the Caps Lock on? It’s because rendering is disabled however, you can still do almost everything. In big compositions (even small ones) this can save time navigating, editing clips and even keyframin’ without any tax. There is also the Live Update button but this way is much better. Practice using your pinky and toggle on!

3. Watch your Video Someplace Else

Change your scenery and watch a quicktime on another computer or on your desktop outside of AE, perhaps in the presence of another person. You will look at things in a new way revealing aspects you may have overlooked and you might even get some constructive criticism too. At which point you tell your wife to get here things and leave.

4. Safe Experimentation

Do you like what you have created so far but want to try something risky? Duplicate your composition and continue working from the copy. No regrets just a free and open mind.

5. Be Ambitious but not Unrealistic

When working for a client, plan your project carefully. Don’t put all your time into 1 shot and assume the rest can be pulled together last minute.  Leave extra time to finesse the end result.  For example, a 3d scene can look great with some GI and refractions and all that jazz but rendering will be a nightmare and re-rendering is a nightmare you can actually die in.  You can make things look great with standard rendering and creative lighting so don’t be lazy here.

A commercial isn’t usually judged on the best part but rather what is lacking. Remember this, with today’s technology, you can create anything imaginable, but deadlines are a reality and you don’t want to shoot and miss.

1. Fade in Fade out Adjustments:
So you have a video element that has 2 keyframes in the beginning that fade the clip in and 2 more at the end to fade it out. Now you want to lower the opacity but you normally have to adjust both keyframes. Instead I just add an expression by alt clicking the stopwatch and typing value*.5 this cuts all values by 50 percent.

2. Helping Failed Renders due to image buffer errors:
Often times HD projects will fail on render due to image buffer errors or all sorts of things. Here are a couple things to try during clutch situations.

• Change the AE secret preference to purge after 1-4 frames. (hold down SHIFT while accessing the edit menu/preferences. The “Secret” menu appears.
• Another thing to try is render to an image sequence like PNG or TIFF, this way if the render fails when going to a QuickTime, you still have good frames that you can add to by rendering the incomplete portion.
• Another thing to try (if you have access) is loading your project into a 64bit machine since it can handle more memory and actually allowed me to finish a render when my 32bit machine couldn’t.

3. Working Late
Order a pizza before they close so that you can have a late snack after most places close. Be considerate of toppings that will still taste good after refrigeration. When you have rendering problems they can last all night but then you pull out a cheesy friend and somehow it’s not so bad.