… for Visual Effects

Tip #867: Four Tips to Improve VFX Compositing

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

The trick with any composite is to make all elements look related.

In his YouTube video, Javert Valbarr provides tips to improve compositing for visual effects. Here’s a summary.

1. Look out for your black and white levels when adding elements. You want the elements you’re bringing in to look like a part of the scene and to belong to the same world. Keep composted elements within the range of lightest and darkest values of the original footage, or change them to meet in the middle. This can be fixed by applying LUTs and changing the color space of video elements.
2. Use selective blurring to draw attention to the most important areas of your shot. This can be done using color gradient effects.
3. Match the grain/quality of your footage and composited elements. You may need to add grain to composited elements to create the illusion that they belong to the story world. When adding grain or noise, make sure to match the color of the added grain to the color of the original grain. Conversely, you may need to sharpen composited elements to match your footage.
4. Don’t forget that color grading has a large impact on the final look of the composited image. The final step can and will change your image! 

Here’s the link to his video.