Compositing for Visual Effects (12 weeks)

• Nuke technical requirements: https://www.foundry.com/products/nuke/requirements
• Processor - x86-64 processor, such as Intel Core 2 Duo or laterStorage
• 5 GB disk space available for caching and temporary filesRAM
• At least 8 GB RAMDisplay
• At least 1280 x 1024 pixel resolution and 24-bit color
• Video card - Graphics card with at least 512 MB of video memory and driver support for OpenGL 2.0.*
• Wacom tablet or alternative graphics tablet
• An external Hard drive to back up your work during the course. Minimum 2TB

We pride ourselves on our industry powered training, that's why we partner with some of the world's leading studios on all our Escape Studios daytime short courses (full-time). Previous partners for our Compositing courses have included Industrial Light & Magic, The Mill and MPC Advertising to name a few.

This is a great opportunity for our students to receive industry standard critique from an expert in their field, personalised feedback allows students to improve their work to guarantee it's studio ready.

• This course is hands-on. You’ll be working on high-spec hardware to master 2D skills. We have no more than 13 students in a class so you’ll get plenty of 1-2-1 time with your tutor.
• We partner with professional from the industry on all of our daytime courses (full-time). We partnered with top studios including The Mill, Double Negative, ILM and Rushes on previous Compositing courses. You’ll get feedback on your work directly from professionals and they'll share their experiences of working of in VFX.
• We'll give you the skills to start creating a killer 2D showreel and you’ll have access to our Aftercare package for 12 months after the course.
• You'll study in a studio environment that mirrors a VFX studio, and will begin your introduction to the VFX pipeline. 
• There’s high demand for skilled compositors and we can help you connect with studios and find roles. Escape Studios is well regarded in the industry and you’ll become part of our creative, vibrant, well-connected and global community of Escapees.

Week 1 - The Interface: Premultiplied Images

• Production pipeline and light
• Digital images, formats and resolution
• Film properties and behaviour: log vs. linear
• Premultiplication Maths
• Introduction to Nuke

Week 2 - Transformations and Rotoscoping

• Transformations and introduction to tracking
• Multiple point tracking
• Planar tracking and refining track data
• Introduction to rotoscoping
• Rotoscoping human movement

Week 3 - Rig Removal Composites

• Rotoscoping in Silhouette (SFX)
• Tracking in SFX
• Painting in Nuke
• Generating clean plates

Week 4 - Advanced Paint/Prep Work

• SFX prep techniques
• Warping and morphing
• Advanced prep work
• Matching film grain
• Marker removal

Week 5 - Keying

• Introduction to keying methods
• Keylight node and the despill process
• Primatte and IBK keyers
• Compositing outside the keyer
• Pre and post – processing: refining the key

Week 6 - Colour Correction and Grading

• Exposure, gamma and curves
• Density and colour matching
• Colour management
• Atmospherics

Week 7 - Filters, Motion Vectors and Time Based Effects

• Convolutions filters
• FG and BG edge integration
• Retiming

Week 8 - Nuke 3D Projections

• Introduction to the 3D interface
• Projection types and 3D displacement
• Camera projections

Week 9 - Projection Workflows and Camera Tracking

• Lens distortion
• Nuke camera tracking
• Projection rig removal methods
• Utilising camera data

Week 10 - Compositing CG

• Multi channel workflow
• Introduction to render passes
• 2D and 3D motion blur
• CG production pipelines – Framestore, MPC, The Mill

Week 11 - Refining Element Integration

• Integrating CG and live action
• Edge pre and post treatment
• Refining your composites

Week 12 - Project Week

• Finalising your shot
• Developing your demo reel
• End of course presentation

• Nuke
• Silhouette

Compositors are the masters of make-believe, responsible for creating the illusion of reality. They compose the final image in a VFX or motion picture sequence, creating VFX that make the impossible, possible! Without them, we’d all be looking at the wires that support actors during action sequences, or shots lacking in atmosphere or composition. As a Compositing Artist it is their responsibility to make the shot look totally believable. You’ll need an artist’s keen, trained eye for photo-realistic details so that you always create exceptional imagery.

After the course is over we offer three months of online mentoring, so that our students can continue to refine and polish their skills. We take aftercare very seriously - since it can take time to put together a job-ready demo reel, we make sure our students get the time and practice that they need to refine their work to make them job-ready. Learn more about our Aftercare support.

Compositors often start out as rotoscope artists or in junior roles, but rise to become compositors and compositing supervisors. From here the path is open to becoming a VFX supervisor.

Escapees from our compositing courses have gone on to work at companies including: ILM, Framestore, Cinesite, DNeg, MPC, Milk VFX, Sky, Electric Theatre Collective, JellyFish Pictures and Pixomondo. For more careers advice, download our Careers Guide.

Compositors are the masters of make-believe, responsible for creating the illusion of reality. They compose the final image in a VFX or motion picture sequence, creating VFX that make the impossible, possible! Without them, we’d all be looking at the wires that support actors during action sequences, or shots lacking in atmosphere or composition. As a Compositing Artist it is their responsibility to make the shot look totally believable. You’ll need an artist’s keen, trained eye for photo-realistic details so that you always create exceptional imagery.

After the course is over we offer three months of online mentoring, so that our students can continue to refine and polish their skills. We take aftercare very seriously - since it can take time to put together a job-ready demo reel, we make sure our students get the time and practice that they need to refine their work to make them job-ready. Learn more about our Aftercare support.

Compositors often start out as rotoscope artists or in junior roles, but rise to become compositors and compositing supervisors. From here the path is open to becoming a VFX supervisor.

Escapees from our compositing courses have gone on to work at companies including: ILM, Framestore, Cinesite, DNeg, MPC, Milk VFX, Sky, Electric Theatre Collective, JellyFish Pictures and Pixomondo. For more careers advice, download our Careers Guide.