Visual Effects for Directors review

DISASTER!!! You may be about to cause a career ending disaster and you don't even know it.

If you are a director or DP you probably don't spend a lot of time wondering if the scene you are shooting is about to become a post-production nightmare.

But you should. Let me explain.

More and more today's films are depending on visual effects to raise the production values bar and still meet budget constraints. But most directors and DPs don't really understand digital visual effects and don't know that a little bit of knowledge can make the difference between an easy post-production fix and a complete disaster.

After the actors are gone to other projects and the sets are broken down is no time to realize the camera angle has made what seemed like a simple shot a complete post-production nightmare.

There is now a superb solution to this problem.

Per Holmes, Grammy-winning music producer, music-video director and creator of the Hollywood Camera Works Master Course in High-End Blocking and Staging, has pulled back the curtain by creating a stunning new self-study course on how visual effects are done. But more than that he clearly illustrates what works and what doesn't and how to get it right.

Beyond that this course shows you how most of the effects you would like to include in your film can be done on a budget that many indie filmmakers can afford. Stunning visual effects aren't just for the "big boys" anymore.

What's in the Visual Effects for Directors Course?

What you get is a box of seven very professionally produced DVDs filled with more than 11 hours of detailed, clearly explained and illustrated videos on how every type of visual effect is actually accomplished.

The most complex concepts are explained in simple to understand visuals with outstanding narration. The course shows exactly where you can easily go wrong and the simple changes that will make a scene work, both for best storytelling, and to facilitate post-production.

Subjects covered in the course include:

• 3D shading and mapping
• Lighting
• Software modeling tools
• 3D animation and character rigging
• Compositing and matting
• 2D and 3D tracking and camera matching
• How to shoot for matchmoving
• Motion control
• Handling shadows and reflections
• 3D and live interaction
• Virtual props
• Motion capture
• Object removal
• Crowd replication
• Everything imaginable about working with green screen
• 3D particles, fluids, hard/soft body physics, cloth, hair and explosions

An in-depth analysis of the creation of five typical visual effects scenes:

• An actor flies a 3D F-16
• A dramatic chase scene of a T-Rex chasing a boy through a forest
• A car crash involving a semi-tractor and two sports cars
• An actor walking in a 3D garden complete with correct lighting and shadows
• A shootout in a foreign embassy

If you don't know what all these things are then you clearly need this course.

My Take on Visual Effects for Directors

I watched the entire 11+ hour set in just two sittings. It's really that interesting. The presentation of every concept is well paced, clearly illustrated and nicely narrated. Even some very difficult to grasp concepts, such as various compositing methods, suddenly are very clear.

A major problem with a course of this type is trying to balance theory with details about the practical tools you need to use. Because products change and new products appear constantly this type of course could quickly become outdated if it was too closely tied to particular brands and versions of the tools.

Although Visual Effects for Directors necessarily uses specific software and hardware to illustrate concepts, it sticks to theory in the explanations so newer or different brands of tools should work just as well.

The course strikes a good balance between how particular tools work and the underlying theory that all the tools rely on.

While it's possible that a new piece of software sporting some as-yet unrevealed technology could change all the rules it is unlikely the material in this course will be quickly outdated. All of the concepts in this course are very basic to how digital effects have been done for many years.

You simply won't find a better launching pad for getting into visual effects than Visual Effects for Directors from Hollywood Camera Work.

There is a generous return policy that allows you to return the DVDs within 14 days as long as the seal on the last three DVDs is not broken for just a 15% restocking fee. The last three DVDs go into the greatest depth on how some of the most amazing effects are done but the first four discs alone are like a complete film school semester on visual effects.

You wouldn't feel cheated if all you got was the first four discs but I dare you to try to return this set. The material is just so good and so well presented that you are going to want the entire set to study over and over.

Frankly, the material is so fascinating, like the most interesting "making-of" special feature you've ever seen, that I think there could be a much larger audience for this course.

Any serious student or fan of SciFi, special effects or modern movie making would love to get their hands on this product. Only the cost is going to prevent a much wider audience from experiencing it.

For the intended audience of Visual Effects for Directors the cost will be negligible compared to the time they will save over trying to learn these concepts and techniques any other way.

Summary

Visual Effects for Directors is a dynamite self-study course and an overdue addition for the library of any independent film director, DP or serious student of film. Per Holmes has done it again in a serious course that is also a highly entertaining package. This is pure genius.

Even if you are not a director or DP I suggest you look into this product. It should also be studied by 3D artists and all post-production specialists.

I give it my highest and most enthusiastic recommendation.

The Hollywood Camera Work site has a generous selection of clips and images from the course so you can learn if this course is right for you before you buy.

Review By Jerry Anderson