becoming a highend compositor

[dprgb]

I want to become a highend compositor in about 2 monthshttp://www.vfxtalk.com/forum/images/smilies/smile.gif.

That comment made my day.

Anyway, on a reality note, check out fxphd - they have excellent intro Toxic classes and you even have access to a VPN version. Other than that, I haven't really heard of any Toxic classes or training anywhere else except maybe through Autodesk. www.fxphd.com

[WoolyLoach]

I have to admit, I edited my response about 12 times before settling on this one.

FXPHD looks good, I'm considering taking classes from them myself. I think it's going to take me a bit longer than two months to get even passable, though!

[Aneks]

Hi,

I have been compositing for over 8 years now and teach the Shake and Roto classes at FXPHD. It took me a long time to get into Film and TV. I think that it takes a bit longer than 2 months. Nothing is ever that easy. If you want to learn Toxik then fxphd is the only place doing tutorial material at the moment. As mentioned we also offer a VPN of the software. In the next semester, which starts on July 7, we will begin to teach Nuke 4.7 with a VPN version also.


Other folks offering DVD training or similar courses can be found in Deke's (Beaker) listing in the sticky thread on top of the compositing list and in application specific threads.

Good luck

Tahl

[akar]

thx, I'll definitely take somme clases there. But I'd wish that some experienced compositors would make some kind of "making of" on projects they made to enlight people like me on the "know how" of the highend compositing. :)

[scrimski]

Have a look at vfxtalk, there are breakdowns sometimes or Q&A sessions with compositiors from time to time, last one was Aruna describing his work on "Letters from Iwo Jima".
NOthing will beat the experience you gain from doing this by yourself, "know how" needs some time(yes, this means more than 2 months).

[JshuFX]

Compositing for Film & Video by Steve Wright

&

The Art and Science of Digital Compositing by Ron Brinkmann

are what I consider the two bibles of compositing.....they should became a permanent part of your arsenal.

I also highly recommend you take a look at DVDs by the gnomon workshop....they have an amazing slew of DVDs on Shake & a few on Nuke.....The Nuke one is great because he has an actual shot from a production, all the elements, and goes into detail as to how it was created......If you're interested in learning Digital Fusion I believe they still offer free downloads of training tutorials on their software.

My advice to you is to learn as much about compositing as possible and by that I mean...what is under the hood. There is math and fundamentals invovled that never changes between software packages. My biggest complaint are people who are so software obsessed that they feel the need to learn 12 different types of compositing softwares. They never learn what is actually going on under the hood, just where the buttons are and what does what. And all that goes to shit if say for example you come and work for a company that has their own proprietary software. The people that I see struggle the most with a software package that they can't learn anywhere but inside a specific studio are the people who don't have a true understanding for compositing and once again (my favorite phrase!) don't have an understanding for what's going on under the hood.

hope this helps,
time to get back to work

[akar]

thx for the replays; i'm starting to get the picture ;)

[CGTalk Moderation]

This thread has been automatically closed as it remained inactive for 12 months. If you wish to continue the discussion, please create a new thread in the appropriate forum.