Is there a "bible" for compositors?

[ndog]

These two are highly recommended:
The Art And Science Of Digital Compositing by Ron Brinkman and Digital Compositing For Film And Video by Steve Wright.

[mjca]

Thanks for the reply!

I think I'm going to get either one of two Steve Wright's book. Both have great reviews and only a third of the price of Ron Brinkman's book.

[jussing]

Ron Brinkmann's book really told me everything I need to know. After that, you can start on any compositing app.

(however, Ron's explanation of the math behind premultiplied alphas is not entirely correct - ask Master Zap of these forums for a better explanation)

Cheers,
- Jonas

[Rickmeister]

Ron Brinkmann's book really told me everything I need to know. After that, you can start on any compositing app.

(however, Ron's explanation of the math behind premultiplied alphas is not entirely correct - ask Master Zap of these forums for a better explanation)

Cheers,
- Jonas

Though that book is back from 1999... does this matter? For some books it doesn't because they cover how to think, and all.

[vander]

I don't know speak english, ok. So.... sorry.

I have this 2 books of Steve Wright. "Digital Compositing for Film and Video" is a good book (a little confuse to inexperient people, and teorically Non Software Based, but Steve uses Shake and the nodes and formulas presented in the book is Shake Based. This book is not a Step by Step Guide. Full of theory. I recommend.

The second and new book "Compositing Visual Effects: Essentials for the Aspiring Artist" is really ESSENTIAL.... Very, very essential. Is only a superficial talk about how is the visual effects workflow. No tutorials, no how tos, nothing. If you can, is better you buy the one-o-one visual effects workshop of Steve Wright http://www.swdfx.com/about/training.php - much better than this book.

The book "The Art and Science of Digital Compositing" I don't have. But I'm think to buy.

[jussing]

Though that book is back from 1999... does this matter? For some books it doesn't because they cover how to think, and all.Well, honestly I haven't opened it since 1999. :)

There are lots of new things not covered, but basically it's a bible for the fundamentals of compositing. So many people get stuck with tons of things they don't understand whey they sit at their Flame or Nuke or whatever, and basically it's because they've never been schooled in the principles of compositing. If you read this one book, you'll know eveyrthing that anything in compositing is based on.

I know I'm not selling it very well, because I make it sound like a "nice to have", but I really recommend it.

(the best tell-tale sign of the book's age are the movie screenshots - X-files, Con Air, etc.)

- Jonas

[Hirazi]

The long awaited second edition of Ron Brinkmann's book will be published in may of this year! (might be worth the wait!):)

[Rickmeister]

The long awaited second edition of Ron Brinkmann's book will be published in may of this year! (might be worth the wait!):)

Oh well... in that case i'll wait for that one.

[Gentle Fury]

Ron Brinkman Art and Science is the compositer bible. It is the textbook used in most VFX schools and it is the technical manual for shake!

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