How To Become a Matchmover

How To Become a Matchmover

What is a Matchmover?
A Matchmover is the bridge between 2D and 3D. A Matchmover is responsible for match moving, which is a technique that allows the insertion of computer graphics into live-action footage.

What is the Job?
Match moving has become a standard visual effects technique in almost every case where live-action materials and computer-generated imagery are combined. It allows real and virtual scenes to be seamlessly merged together, to make them appear as if they are from the same perspective.

The most basic duty of a Matchmover is to match a CG camera to a live action camera, as well as matching animated objects and characters to real-world objects and characters. This is done by object-matching and tracking the movement of a camera through a shot so that a virtual camera can reproduce identical motion through the use of the latest match moving software.

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How To Become a Concept Artist

How To Become a Concept Artist

What is a Concept Artist?
A Concept Artist is a designer who visualises and creates art for characters, creatures, vehicles, environments, and other creative assets. Concept art is used to visualise ideas so that Modellers, Animators and VFX Artists can make these ideas a reality, ready for production.

What is the job?
The role of a Concept Artist involves getting the project started by imagining and sketching characters and worlds that don’t yet exist across film, animation, VFX, video games and advertising. You’ll have to apply imagination and artistic skill to create images of people, creatures, places and moods.

A Concept Artist has the opportunity to work across many areas of visual media, such as animation, comic books, and films. Any project involving a visual story will likely require a Concept Artist. You can choose to specialise in one area of concept art, such as character (producing mainly human characters), creature (illustrating non-human characters) or environmental (creating detailed scenes and worlds).

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How To Become a 3D Generalist

How To Become a 3D Generalist

What is a 3D Generalist?
A 3D Generalist is an individual who can work in any number of capacities on projects in the film, games and animation industries. They are fairly common in the field, and most students with little specific career experience will be prepared to start as a Generalist while they sharpen their skills.

What is the job?
The role of a 3D Generalist varies from studio to studio. However, in most positions, Generalists are responsible for modelling, rigging, animation, motion capture, painting, and sculpting. On top of this, the 3D Generalist will be responsible for anything else that the studio needs done at any given time. It’s not expected for the 3D Generalist to be an expert in every field, but it is expected that they have basic knowledge in a variety of niches.

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How To Become a Rotoscoper

How To Become a Rotoscoper

What is a Rotoscoper?
Rotoscope Artists provide traced outlines (mattes) so that live-action objects can be integrated into layers for films, television shows, and video games. Instead of manually tracing each frame by hand, computers and complex software are used to make the process slightly easier.

What is the Job?
The main duties of a Rotoscoper involve tracing over live-action movements on film, in order to create more realistic and fluid animation. Modern technology has allowed this process to become a lot easier than it used to be; the old technique of projecting film images onto a glass panel to be redrawn has almost completely been replaced by computers. Rotoscopers will create detailed digital mattes with 2D image processing and drawing tools. The mattes are then used to remove wires, rigs, and other unwanted elements, as well as to make background fixes and extractions.

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How to Become a Lighting Technical Director

How To Become a Lighting Technical Director

What is a Lighting Technical Director?
A Lighting Technical Director (TD) is an essential member of the CGI team who adds surface qualities to objects, through adding depth to sets and characters with shadows, as well as light to provide illumination that helps accentuate the mood and emotion of a scene.

What is the Job?
As a Lighting Technical Director, you will be responsible for ensuring effects look as good as possible with the available resources. It is also your duty to write tools to facilitate lighting and shading rendering techniques, to ensure that shots can maintain the highest standard and continuity as required.

Lighting Technical Directors often work from references, such as paintings, drawings, photographs and film, as well as actual objects and locations. On top of this, they will work with a variety of different departments, such as art, digital paint and lighting, and will work in a variety of different stages of production (but will spend most of the job in rendering).

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How To Become a VFX Editor

Become a VFX Editor

What is a VFX Editor? 
VFX Editors work across a range of productions, both big and small. They are responsible for tracking and communicating shots between the VFX facility and the cutting room, enabling the transformation of the production into the final masterpiece that audiences will see.

VFX Editors are becomingly increasingly common on post-production teams, whether it be a TV show, film, or commercial. This is because over the past few years the use of visual effects has increased dramatically.

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How To Become a Compositor

How to become a Compositor

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.

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