172
A big thanks to movies and televisions for making us experience the fantastical worlds that can never exist on our Earth. Although some don't enjoy the fantasy genre, we all have seen these effects in action – whether in cinema, video games or even in advertisements nowadays. And the main thing which has made these possible is VFX. So, now you may be curious about what is VFX? It stands for Visual Effects; the use of VFX in movies and T.V. has increased rapidly over the past few decades. It was previously found in science fiction movies and high-budget action movies alone but is a part of our daily lives nowadays.
Now come to the definition of VFX – It is a term used to describe the creation of imagery and manipulating or enhancing any film. In other words – A moving clip that does not occur during live-action filmmaking and video production. Instead, VFX involves integrating live-action clips captured in the camera with the created imagery or manipulated film, which may look realistic but only exists in the virtual world or maybe impossible to shoot in real life.
A Brief History of VFX & Animation in India:
During the '90s, Indian studios started shifting traditional 2D artists to 3D pipelines. However, it was not an easy task, as computer graphics training was not prevalent in India. So studios started training their completely new employers. Finally, C.G. Pipeline was adopted.
While starting as film production companies, the employees and the studios' infrastructure became more efficient in creating 3D Pipelines. Besides these, the output quality of the film has grown steadily. And International Companies became interested in either setting up their studio or company here in India or investing in Indian companies. As an example of own studio opening in India, we can see the Studio in Hyderabad in 2017. As another example of investing in Indian companies by international firms, we can see The Aquisition of Indian animation studio Paprikaas by Technicolor in 2010, or the Joint Venture between Framestore and Pune-based VFX studio Anibrain in early 2018.
Indian animation and VFX effects were limited to C.G. Creation and worked with national projects that increased the use of C.G. in film industries (Bahubali in 2015, Magadheera in 2009). According to the 2019 KPMG report, India had grown in C.G. and VFX work by 18.4% from 2018 to 2019. Besides this, the online streaming (OTT) platforms have also increased the demand for C.G. and VFX content for movies and series, and various shows, so the market value has been raised.
Techniques of visual effects
Generally, there are VFX supervisors and teams of VFX artists of all the categories in a studio. VFX can be divided into a number of classes as listed below –
https://wallpaperaccess.com/cgi
-
CGI (Computer Generated Imagery) – Computer Generated Imagery or CGI is the term that can be implemented on2D or 3D graphics and used to create VFX in film. It is imagery made by computers and other VFX effects used to enhance the live camera footage. An example can be C.G. Animation. But it only needs computers to create and improve or manipulate.
https://www.pinterest.com/em43047/croma-film/
-
Compositing – Also known as 'Chroma Keying', compositing refers to combining visual elements from different sources to make it appear as if they are in that same place. For example, the green screen effect replaces the background colour of footage with new background imagery or something that is not possible to shoot in real. This process is called Chroma Keying.
https://lukebeech.wordpress.com/motion-capture/
-
Motion Capture – It is often shortened as ‘mo-cap’. It records the movement of something or someone while shooting live and transfer these recordings or the movements to a 3D model, which C.G. Animation creates. Also, this process includes body language, facial expression, and every performance made by the object. Then finally, the data captured is converted into 3D model using the motion capture software.
Techniques followed by pipeline
VFX Pipeline includes the various stages of production which are required to add visual effects to a movie. It helps to organize the various roles of every artist in each department, making the production move along within the deadline. Now, a project is divided into 3 stages:
- Pre-Production
- Production
- Post-Production
https://www.yellowcat.london/vfx-pipeline-breakdown/
VFX Pipeline is used in every stage but the most in the “post-production” stage as visual effects, color grading, sound, and editing is applied to the film clips.
The pipeline is divided into 10 parts, mostly to perfect the visual effects in a film which are as follows:
- Story
- Storyboarding and Animatics
- Pre-Vis
- Concept Art and Design
- Layout and Production Design
- Research and Development
- 3D Modelling and Texturing
- Rigging and Animation
- F.X. and Simulation
- Lighting and Rendering
The VFX Pipeline is ended with Composting. A compositor gathers all elements of a film and layers them on top of each other. They use several elements like color correction or masking to create an illusion that makes everything look perfectly natural. For example, an action scene or an entire city being swept away due to a natural calamity – everything looks alive. Hats off to VFX Pipeline and all those artists working behind the scenes to make this possible.
How VFX Works?
https://postproduction.emerson.edu/hc/en-us/articles/227094627-VFX-Workflow-Guide
- Create excitement and enhance the quality of work – The use of various VFX effects helps the producers at particular stages of the product development, as they can reduce the amount of required equipment and effort to make the film. Practically it affects the actual video or film production:
- Reduces the cost of the actor, actress, and high budget equipment along with the cost of actual location to shoot at, which can be very expensive.
- Adds elements and effects to the film that can be modified later according to the needs.
- Entertainment – We all know that we are able to understand the images far better than the words. So, special effects create a special impression in the mind of the viewers or the audiences. In addition, it helps to create a connection with the viewers, which means it can convert boring topics to attractive ones.
- Creates and strengthens a brand – VFX enhances the popularity of a brand. It sets a benchmark for a certain brand. For example, when you think of Marvel movies, you are immediately reminded of its grand use of VFX. The audience already has a preconceived notion that Marvel movies will have amazing visual effects. Throughout the years, Marvel as a brand has worked on VFX to set such a high standard. Even if we don't talk about the biggest brands out there, you will notice that every T.V. show or movie makes use of some kind of VFX.
VFX supervisor makes the proceedings of a direction simple –
A VFX supervisor starts working with the directors and executives from the early stages of a production. The supervisor goes through the content and decides the requirements to create the effect. After everything is set, the VFX supervisor starts working with a team of illustrators, conceptualists, and 3D artists to create the final VFX. The presence of a VFX supervisor at the early stages makes the production easy and it also saves a lot of time.
Opportunities in India
If you are a VFX artist, then you will have a lot of opportunities in India. The VFX industry of India is growing at a steady rate for the last few years, and it is expected it will grow a lot more with time.
It might be unknown to you, but a lot of massive international VFX production is actually done in India. According to the FICCI-EY report 2018, the VFX industry in India was worth 54 billion rupees which increased to 80 million in 2018. It is estimated the amount skyrocketed to an amount of 114 billion in 2020.
The different positions you can hold as a VFX professional are listed below:
1. Compositing Artist
The job of a compositing artist is to remove any kind of glitch between a VFX and live-action. The transition between live-action and VFX should be seamless, and the backgrounds must perfectly merge with the effects. The compositing artist maintains the balance.
2. Layout Artist
The layout artist is responsible for interpreting and visualizing the script. He is responsible for creating the foundation of the ideas of the director. He mainly works in the pre-production domain and supervises the camera angles, scene creation, etc.
3. Rendering Artist
The rendering artist has a very technical and sophisticated job. The models created by 3D artists do not look very real; it is the job of the rendering artist to transform the 3D forms to more real-world objects. Due to such an important and difficult task, these artists are always in high demand.
4. Matte Painter
A photographer or artist draws or presents an idea of the scene that’s to be created. It is the task of the matte painter to transform those pieces of information and turn them into beautiful realistic scenes with the help of VFX.
5. Match Mover Artist
A match mover artist is a specialist in both 3D and 2D forms of work. They are responsible for seamlessly transforming a 2D piece of work to its 3D form. They make sure the VFX is going hand in hand with the live-action parts.
6. Lighting Artist
Lighting is very important, whether it is VFX or live-action, a lighting artist is responsible for understanding lighting in the real world and implementing it to the VFX. If there is even a slight mismatch with the light, VFX will look unreal, so their job is very important.
7. Roto Artist
A roto artist is always in great demand because they are responsible for creating the frames through which CGI effects will meet with their real life backgrounds. Their job is pretty difficult and quite hectic too.
Conclusion
The VFX is undoubtedly growing at a steady rate in India. As the audience is getting more and more inclined towards realistic and quality content, it has become the responsibility of the directors to suffice their needs. India has also become a lot more technologically advanced in the previous decade, so that too plays a role in the popularity of this industry.
In order to be a VFX artist, you have to master some tools that you can learn online through tutorial videos or from any institute as a course. After the completion of your course, you can work as a composting artist, rendering artist, roto artist or anything you have mastered the most. The job opportunities are high, along with decent pay packages.
However, you must keep in mind that this career should only be pursued by hardworking and strong-willed people. The working hours can be as long as 10 to 15 hours in a day. There is also a risk of losing your employment if the company you are working for fails. You can also work as a freelancer, but then the stability of work becomes an important factor. Ultimately, in order to be successful, you have to learn to work in a team and try to be as skillful as possible.