What is a Compositor?
You’ll find Compositors working in animation and post-production. They are the ones with all the technical know-how, who bring the various elements of the production together – responsible for constructing the final image of an animation sequence. This is done by combining layers of previously created material together into the finished product. It is primarily a 2D role within the 3D world of CGI and Visual effects.
What is the Job?
A Compositor works at the end of the production process. They receive materials from other stages of the process, including rendered computer animation, graphics, special effects, live action footage, 2D animation, static background plates, and more. The Compositor is responsible for ensuring all these elements are united in a way that maintains a similar style for the final image.
Compositors work closely with other members of the team to ensure that lighting is right, colour levels and blacks match, shadows are convincing, motion blur is added if needed, mattes are created where necessary, and rotoscoping is completed. The primary roles of a Compositor include working to make sure the green screen seamlessly works throughout a film, as well as digital image manipulation. The secondary roles include physical computing and background editing.