Principles of visualization using cgi graphics. Computer graphics as art

Visual effects and computer graphics have become an integral part of our lives. Today, anyone can explore the mysterious and magical world of post-production and become an expert in this field. The tips below will help you level up your VFX and CGI knowledge.

This is fairly obvious advice, but beginners very often ignore it. The habit of looking and analyzing should become part of the work process or training. After watching a film with cool visual effects, watch it again, but not as a viewer, but as a specialist. Try to find mistakes and problems, there are actually a lot of them. Analyze how the frame was created, how it was lit, and why it was done that way.

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Try to repeat frames from your favorite films or videos. Of course, a cool team of artists worked on creating one cool shot. But I am sure that most of the shots can be recreated with a minimum budget. The task is to create something similar with a minimum budget and maximum quality. Remember, you are doing this in the interest of your professional development. As a result, these works will fit perfectly into the portfolio, and they can be published on behance.

Who am I?

When you watch Hollywood's acclaimed CGI blockbuster, remember that a team of professionals worked on every frame. Each team member did one highly specialized job. One group modeled while another lit the models, some painted the environments, some animated the characters, and some did the compositing, blurring the line between reality and the CG world. If everyone did everything, the result would be disastrous.

Therefore, it is important to decide what your soul is about. What are you willing to do for 10-12 hours a day without regretting a single second spent on work? You can choose several directions for yourself, but it is important to highlight the primary ones and, if possible, tighten up the rest.

Learn the Basics

Being a highly specialized expert is important, but you need to understand the entire process of creating a visual piece. If your job is to rig characters, then you need to understand and know how those characters were modeled, how best to light them, and how they will be composed with the footage. Basic knowledge in each of these areas will give you a huge boost to development.

Chat and meet experts

Go to CG and film related events. Of course, there are very few of them in the CIS, but when they happen, real visual effects sharks gather there.

It's never too late to learn or how to save a few years

A few years ago, it was believed that only a select few could become a VFX artist. In fact, that's how it was. Only the most diligent and persistent could find the valuable information they needed and spend hours studying programs through trial and error. Now everything is exactly the opposite. There is so much information that you could spend your entire life watching tutorials alone. But you won't get that far.

The only correct way is to learn from professionals. Only under the supervision of a master will a student conquer the heights of the CGI industry.

The only question is where to go to study?

There is only one answer - to the best masters of their craft. For example, take studio courses TerminalFX, just look at them portfolio to understand how cool the teachers work there.
The money spent on training will pay off tens, if not thousands of times. The field of computer graphics is only gaining momentum and specialists are always needed here.

There Are None So Blind As Those Who Will Not See:

According to the ‘ Random House Dictionary of America's Popular Proverbs and Sayings by Titelman, Gregory’ this proverb has been traced back to 1546 ( John Heywood), and resembles the Biblical universe Jeremiah 5:21 - New King James Version(‘Hear this now, O foolish people, Without understanding, Who have eyes and see not, And who have ears and hear not:’).

In 1738 it was used by Jonathan Swift in his ' Polite conversation’ and is first attested in the United States in the 1713 ‘Works of Thomas Chalkley’ (see this unexpected link title: ).

The full saying is:

‘There are none so blind as those who will not see. The most deluded people are those who choose to ignore what they already know’.

Any data collected from multiple sources and compiled into one frame for discussion will, by definition, be fake. NASA often collects information from multiple satellites, over a wide range of time, or from multiple sensors onboard a single craft; then pieces it all together (concisely - for discussion) into a single image for brevity and clarity of any given topic.

Many a NASA spacecraft, or mobile (or stationary) planetary ground unit, is out there without alone a cameraman tagging along, and is therefore incapable of snapping a photo of itself. One exception is a rover currently driving around in circles on the Martian surface, which has a camera mounted on a selfie-stick of sorts.

NASA trains it "s astronauts in environments on Earth (prior to launch into the great unknown) in an effort to prepare the off-Earthers for otherwise unexpected conditions. Fighter pilots do the same thing, using simulators which are similar to the real cockpit of an actual F-35. Commercial airlines and railroad engineers, ditto. Often these exercises are filmed, photographed, and documented for educational purposes. Their existence does not prove that our resident alien (Neil A.) wasn"t on the moon.

Journalists often exaggerate, or perhaps unintentionally distort the facts; either because they don"t fully understand the material, or have not done the necessary research (due to time restraints or deadlines); in order to sell newspapers. If a headline contains a question mark, you can be reasonably certain the answer is" no." (see Betteridge's Law of Headlines here, at " Calmer Than You Are": is betteridge's law of headlines correct?)

Until an article in Sky and Telescope some years ago, the standard definition of a Blue Moon was quite different than the accepted definition used today, due to a reporter's misunderstanding of the then-accepted rules for naming such an event.

The statement "I"ll marry you, m"lady, when the Moon is blue!" would not have been taken as a betrothal in the 18th century. (see: Blue Moons - Origins and History of the Phrase)

"Yf they say the mone is belewe, We must beleve that it is true."(from a work by William Barlow, the Bishop of Chichester, the Treaty of the Buryall of the Masse, 1528)

The data represented in any given CGI image published by NASA is accurate, or at least useful, in the context of it"s publishing. Personally, I would rather see a glossy animated representation of a Black hole, than a penciled sketch any day of the week .

Material from Wikipedia - the free encyclopedia

CGI studios

One of the first computer graphics studios was the American company Industrial Light & Magic, founded by George Lucas in 1975. ILM revolutionized the concept of visual effects in films.

see also

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Notes

Literature

• Boris Mashkovtsev(Russian) // Film equipment and technologies: magazine. - 2006. - No. 2.

• Kerlow, I.V.. - 2004. - 451 p. - ISBN 0471430366.

An excerpt describing CGI (graphics)

“Ma bonne amie, [My good friend,”] said the little princess on the morning of March 19th after breakfast, and her sponge with mustache rose according to an old habit; but just as in all not only smiles, but the sounds of speeches, even the gaits in this house since the day the terrible news was received, there was sadness, so now the smile of the little princess, who succumbed to the general mood, although she did not know its reason, was such that she reminded me even more of general sadness.
- Ma bonne amie, je crains que le fruschtique (comme dit Foka - the cook) de ce matin ne m "aie pas fait du mal. [My friend, I'm afraid that the current frishtik (as the cook Foka calls it) will make me feel bad. ]
– What’s wrong with you, my soul? You're pale. “Oh, you are very pale,” said Princess Marya in fear, running up to her daughter-in-law with her heavy, soft steps.
- Your Excellency, should I send for Marya Bogdanovna? - said one of the maids who was here. (Marya Bogdanovna was a midwife from a district town who had been living in Bald Mountains for another week.)
“And indeed,” Princess Marya picked up, “perhaps for sure.” I will go. Courage, mon ange! [Don't be afraid, my angel.] She kissed Lisa and wanted to leave the room.
- Oh, no, no! - And besides the pallor, the little princess’s face expressed a childish fear of inevitable physical suffering.
- Non, c"est l"estomac... dites que c"est l"estomac, dites, Marie, dites..., [No, this is the stomach... tell me, Masha, that this is the stomach...] - and the princess began to cry childishly, painfully, capriciously and even somewhat feignedly, wringing his little hands. The princess ran out of the room after Marya Bogdanovna.
- Mon Dieu! Mon Dieu! [My God! Oh my God!] Oh! – she heard behind her.

Just a few years ago, a group of highly respected Hollywood actors and directors were seriously trying to organize a movement to protect live artists who, in their opinion, were threatened by the expansion of digital artists. Robert Zemeckis made a particularly strong impression on people with his “The Polar Express,” “Beowulf,” and “A Christmas Story,” where the actors were replaced by computer dummies. Years have passed, but digital remains a tool; nothing threatens the bread and butter of Hollywood stars.

Moreover, over the past years, technology has not made a qualitative leap - special effects are sometimes lame even today, and CGI characters are sometimes scary to the point of trembling in the worst sense of these words. We believe that in a couple of years, viewers will remember with horror the heroes of the recently released Warcraft and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2. But now, together with the Film.ru portal, we will remember those computer heroes who spoiled our viewing pleasure a little earlier - and this is the best proof of the superiority of man over machine.

Max Rebo Band – Return of the Jedi

It has long been known that George Lucas's worst enemy is George Lucas himself. How many copies have been broken around his decision to “correct” the classic Star Wars trilogy, and it seems that there are still more people dissatisfied with the changes than those who were delighted with the corrections. Take, for example, Max Rebo's musical ensemble, accompanying the whims of Jabba the Hut. In the original Return of the Jedi, it was a trio, two of which were portrayed by latex-clad performers, and the third was a puppet. In the revised third film, the trio were joined by nine more newcomers, but, by God, it’s better not to see this - they are ridiculous, lopsided and look like alien bodies in their usual company. Wouldn't you be chasing quantity, George?

Young Razor – “Downhole Revenge”

In general, Peter Segal’s “killer revenge” cannot be called a film replete with special effects. The scene with an unsuccessful attempt to rejuvenate the hero Sylvester Stallone using a computer looks even more ridiculous. In one of the episodes, we are shown footage supposedly thirty years ago, in which “Razor” says goodbye to the big box – next to the live actors in the frame there is something with a mouth that opens out of time with speech. There is no doubt for a second that we are looking at a computer doll from a video game from the end of the last century or at an exhibit of a wax museum exposed in the sun.

Blarp - "Lost in Space"

The replacement of an animatronic doll with a computer character is horrifyingly obvious in the fantasy adventure Lost in Space. An extremely unfortunate forgery. Firstly, the CGI here stands out too much with its color scheme and uneven lighting. Secondly, the contact of the drawn ape-lizard creature with live actors looks frankly unsuccessful - the monster wriggling in the hands of Joey Trabbiani does not disturb the human fingers at all, and Heather Graham strokes the baby without touching it at all. It's just painful to watch.

Jar Jar Binks - Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace

A new addition to the Star Wars saga, Jar Jar Binks is still one of the franchise's least favorite characters. He falls out of the ranks of the heroes of both the classic and new trilogy, he does not fit into the atmosphere and does not get into the mood - Binks is alien to the film from the first frame to the last. Perhaps it is not made in the worst way, but this does not add to its charm - it is over the top stupid, its idiotic face just begs for a fist, and its clumsiness is not amusing, but annoying. There were, however, theories among fans explaining the intentionality of Binks' stupidity, but they remained dreams, and Jar Jar is just an unpleasant hero.

Green Lantern – "Green Lantern"

Oh, that computer suit of Ryan Reynolds in “Green Lantern”... Two hundred million dollars were wasted on the graphics, and the main character looks like an idiotic Christmas tree decoration, a light bulb in a garland, sparkling with artificial light. To be fair, in this picture all the graphics look fake, cartoonish and not at all alive, and there is a lot of it. Even the modest mask that hides Hal Jordan's eyes was rendered in post-production. Well, where is this good? Now "Lantern" is more of a source of jokes, including from the lips of Reynolds himself, but are studio bosses happy with this situation?

Langoliers - "Langoliers"

Yes, yes, this is a television series, filmed at a time when multimillion-dollar TV budgets could only be dreamed of in the sweetest dreams. But this does not negate the ugliness of the titular monsters devouring the past - it is difficult to find a person who, having read a Stephen King story, would look at these meatballs with teeth and say: “Yes! This is exactly how I imagined them!” Perhaps a neighbor's child helped the concept designer - otherwise how else can we explain the resemblance of the Langoliers to Pac-Man, only smeared with something brown (let's not even think about what). Bad, very bad.

The Scorpion King - "The Mummy Returns"

The most striking example of how unsuccessful special effects can ruin a film is the film “The Mummy Returns,” in which the Scorpion King wedges himself between Rick O’Connell and Imhotep, almost scaring away the audience. Although it would be more correct to say not “scaring”, but “making me laugh” - the Scorpio King did not look like a product paid for by a generous hundred million dollars. The final battle with the “drawn” Dwayne Johnson was completely similar to a beginner’s attempt at conquering the 3D editor package on his computer for the first time; for professionals, such a terrifying quality is simply unacceptable.

Monster – “Something”

The best proof that computer visual effects are still not far removed from the classic films of the last century is the 2011 remake of the horror film The Thing. The new film, in fact, was made in order to surpass the original (and in fact also a copy) of 1982, but surprisingly, the monster in Carpenter’s film looks more convincing compared to its younger brother. Of course, in 1982 it was more difficult, but this complexity gave specialists the impetus to invent something new. Today, monsters look like pitiful versions of what scared us in childhood. It would be better not to do such remakes.

Conductor - "Polar Express"

Having mentioned Zemeckis's experiments in computer graphics, we cannot help but return to his work, but if you choose the worst character that the new movie Frankenstein gave birth to, you can get stuck for a long time - everyone is too ugly. However, let's focus on the most obvious - the leading character of the debut film, the conductor of the Polar Express. This hero should be endearing, but this angular monster with Tom Hanks' death mask instead of a face is more frightening than endearing. The director's creepy experiment backfired - A Christmas Carol became the creepiest cartoon in history. Not recommended for children. Adults too.

Liu Kang - Mortal Kombat 2: Annihilation

The moment when Liu Kang, one of the heroes of the popular video fighting game Mortal Kombat, turns into a dragon is perhaps the most anticipated scene for fans in the second film of the franchise. By the time of transformation, everyone is already on edge, battles follow one after another, but instead of a climax and an explosion of emotions, the sight of a dragon evokes pity and apathy. A heartbreaking sight, unworthy even of its less technologically advanced time, this dragon does not inspire fear, it looks like a moth-eaten lizard, hastily rendered on some amateur's home computer. How can we save the Earth from annihilation with this? Unless you just make your enemies laugh until they cry.

Werewolves - "Twilight"

It's unfair to blame the first film in the Twilight franchise for poor quality CGI, since the film's budget was a modest $37 million. However, by the final film, filming had already cost 120 million per picture, but the quality of the effects remained the same “caveman”. Well, okay, the super speed of vampires can be depicted as a banal daub in the frame, but the wolves should have been drawn better. While Jacob and his company are standing, it’s all right, but in motion, it’s just blood from the eyes. The franchise has an impressive fan base that has brought in a lot of money at the box office, but it's hard to imagine anyone paying their money to see a cartoon werewolf.

T-800 – “Terminator: May the Savior Come”

The fourth film in the line of feature films about a robot sent from the future to correct the past in favor of SkyNet, “Terminator: May the Savior Come” is filled with special effects. The post-production directors did their best - there is not an ounce of complaints about the mechanisms, but with the people... More precisely, with one person, with the key actor of the franchise, Arnold Schwarzenegger, there was a problem. The fact is that at the time of filming, Arnie was still working in politics and could not devote himself to the film. Instead, McG used the actor's "digital face" stretched onto another person. The effect was terrifying, but Schwartz’s cameo was for a long time presented as the main “highlight” of the film.

Young Flynn - Tron: Legacy

Director Joseph Kosinski is certainly a talented visionary, but some of the technical challenges are difficult for even him to cope with. The long-awaited sequel to “Tron” was supposed to amaze the viewer with the latest achievements in the field of special effects, but in fact the picture was remembered only for the sluggish confrontation between the young and mature Jeff Bridges. Moreover, the computer-generated young Flynn was inferior in every way to his living counterpart - as soon as the camera took a closer shot, the lifeless facial expressions of the clone became obvious, and the dead eyes could not be hidden. One thing saved the film - according to the plot, the computer Flynn was not supposed to be human. But this does not add to his sympathy.

Hulk - "Hulk"

On the way to the screen of “Hulk”, Ang Lee was supported by a huge army of fans of the Green Giant, but the end result was more disappointing than encouraging for many - some ridiculous green computer-generated spot took up the frame. Eric Bana cannot be denied his efforts to portray Bruce Banner, but for the Brute his talent was not needed, the Hulk was “drawn” without any reference to the actor, and this turned one of the most beloved comic book characters into a lifeless pile of polygons. The same problem, by the way, buried The Incredible Hulk with Edward Norton in the title role, and only Joss Whedon was able to cope with the character, using the mocap technique, coupled with the efforts of Mark Ruffolo.

Inhumans – “I Am Legend”

For its time, the fantastic drama “I Am Legend” by Francis Lawrence cost fabulous money - $150 million. A lot could have been done with this money, but it seems that a significant part of these funds ended up in Will Smith's accounts. Hence the very mediocre “graphics”. Moreover, the opponents of the only surviving person were initially supposed to be played by made-up stuntmen, but later the director decided to replace people with computer models. On purpose or not, the nonhumans turned out to be lifeless, and their movements did not fit into the laws of physics. This greatly spoils the tape.

The creation of moving images is done by computer animation, which is a narrower area of ​​​​CGI graphics, applicable, including in cinema, where it allows you to create effects that cannot be achieved using traditional makeup and animatronics. Computer animation can replace the work of stuntmen and extras, as well as scenery.

Story

The first time computer graphics were used in a feature film was in Westworld, released in 1973. In the second half of the 1970s, films using elements of three-dimensional computer graphics appeared, including Tomorrow World, Star Wars and Alien. In the 1980s, before the release of the second Terminator, Hollywood cooled down to computer effects, in particular due to the more than modest box office receipts of Tron (1982), which was entirely built on the use of the latest achievements in computer graphics.

In "Jurassic Park" (1993), for the first time, it was possible to replace the stuntman with the help of CGI; the same film was the first to seamlessly combine CGI (the skin and muscles of the dinosaurs were created using computer graphics) with traditional filming and animatronics. In 1995, the first full-length cartoon completely simulated on a computer was released - “Toy Story”. The film "Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within Us" (2001) featured realistic CGI images of people for the first time