FXPHD – NUK312 – Photorealism in Compositing with NUKE Fundamentals

The goal of the visual effects compositor is photorealism, using the art of compositing layers of images to look coherent using the physics of light at the service of storytelling. It's critical that, in the end, the merged image needs to loo like they have been shot at the same time with the same camera and lenses, under the same lighting conditions.

Applying the physics of light in a photo-realistic environment could not always be artistically synthesized in simple formulas or fixed structures due to the complexity of the light phenomena. However, understanding the journey a ray of light has taken from its source to get to the screen could lead to a more scientific analysis of the image composition process to replicate and emulate the qualities and artifacts of light as the eye perceives it, interpreted by the lens of the camera.

This, the first of a two part course, looks at the key tools that are the building blocks for managing color and creating a photoreal composite. Perez provides a detailed foundation of nodes such as Grade, ColorLookUp, secondary operators (brightness, contrast, saturation), as well as valuable tips for using the Viewer and Pixel Analyzer.

As an overall goal, to log the events in the lifetime of a specific ray of light, Perez proposes a Mind Mapping Analysis Structure to translate the physics of light into mathematical operations within NUKE. This aims to create an articulated system of observation to guide compositing artists in their craft.