Visual Effects and Virtual Production

Shooting for visual effects and virtual production: VFX planning and budgets, previs, plates and elements, blue and green screen, tracking markers, on-set data capture, motion control, set extensions, LED volumes and in-camera VFX, volume lighting and colour, and turnover to the VFX team.

CINE-302 Year 3 3 credits 12 lessons · 5 h 4 min

Offered by HSM University · Cinematography

This is the Canadian version of this course. See the American version.

What you'll learn

  • Explain how visual effects fit into the production pipeline and distinguish practical, special and visual effects
  • Break down scripts for VFX, understand bids and budgets, and recognize how photography choices drive VFX cost
  • Use previs, techvis, stuntvis and postvis to plan effects shots with real lenses, distances and camera moves
  • Shoot clean plates, background plates, tiled plates and elements that VFX artists can integrate
  • Light and photograph blue and green screens for clean keys while lighting subjects for the final environment
  • Plan tracking markers, parallax and lens grids so matchmovers can solve camera motion accurately
  • Capture on-set VFX data including lens metadata, HDRIs, reference spheres, LiDAR and photogrammetry
  • Plan motion control and repeatable moves for multi-pass shots, crowds and miniatures
  • Shoot for set extensions, digital environments, atmosphere and digital doubles with appropriate consent
  • Explain LED volume systems, including frustums, tracking, latency, pixel pitch, moiré, genlock and wall brightness
  • Light and manage colour in LED volumes with image-based fixtures, full-spectrum sources and calibration
  • Collaborate with the VFX team through reviews, turnover, colour pipelines and finishing, and write a VFX shooting plan

Course content

12 lessons · 5 h 4 min total · final exam

  1. 1 Visual effects in the production pipeline 25 min · quiz
  2. 2 VFX breakdowns, budgets and bidding 25 min · quiz
  3. 3 Previs, techvis, stuntvis and postvis 25 min · quiz
  4. 4 Shooting plates and elements 25 min · quiz
  5. 5 Green and blue screen technique 25 min · quiz
  6. 6 Matchmoving and tracking markers 25 min · quiz
  7. 7 On-set data capture: lens data, HDRIs, LiDAR and references 25 min · quiz
  8. 8 Motion control and repeatable moves for VFX 25 min · quiz
  9. 9 Set extensions, digital environments and digital doubles 25 min · quiz
  10. 10 LED volumes and in-camera VFX 29 min · quiz
  11. 11 Lighting and colour in LED volumes 25 min · quiz
  12. 12 Working with the VFX team: reviews, turnover and the final image 25 min · quiz
  13. E Final exam 20 questions

Requirements

Recommended background. You can start any course at any time.

Description

Shooting for visual effects and virtual production: VFX planning and budgets, previs, plates and elements, blue and green screen, tracking markers, on-set data capture, motion control, set extensions, LED volumes and in-camera VFX, volume lighting and colour, and turnover to the VFX team.

Part of the Film & Photography stream, typically taken in year 3.