Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/65909
it could be said that the composit- ing process is where things all come together, be it in a feature film, commercial or television program. Compositors have a keen eye, and it's their job to not only combine elements in combine elements in a scene a scene, but to actually help sell the effect to the audience. Roto, keying and tracking skills serve as the foundation of their craft, and success comes in creating a believability that goes without questioning. These pros have based their careers on the art of compositing. Their toolsets vary, but their goals are similar: to convince audiences that what they are seeing is actually taking place. Here's a look at what they are doing and how they are going about achieving the end results. ABSOLUTE Dave Smith is the owner/operator of Abso- lute (www.absolutepost.com), a seven-year-old visual effects facility with locations in London and New York. The company has 65 core staffers on its teams and scales up when necessary. Absolute provides compositing, CG, design, modeling, light- ing and visual effects services to commercial cli- ents, but their work goes beyond traditional broadcast spots. Smith says clients are constantly looking for innovative ways to market their prod- ucts, and this can include viral and interactive videos, and even creating stylized presentations for projection onto buildings. As an owner, Smith still keeps his hand in the creative process. He says he's been shrewd in surrounding himself with the right people to manage his business, allowing him to continue to contribute to client projects. "My skill is on the machine," he notes. "I have a great eye for that." Smith has been involved in the post field for 35 years. He began his career as a runner, and steadily moved his way up. "Media colleges didn't really exist back then," he explains. "I got my training from the ground up." He got a job working in an editorial house that cut film and found he had a natural talent for it. He then moved to a small edit house that was working in video post, where he segued into grading as a colorist, working on music videos for the likes of Michael Jackson and David Bowie. As his music video work progressed, so did the demand for stylized visuals. "That's how I got into compositing," he says. Smith feels he was always at the right company at the right time. He was able to explore the lat- est technology, be it Quantel's Harry, Henry and Paintbox early on, and later Discreet Logic's (now Autodesk's) Flame. Today, he still uses Flame, calling is a "massive toolbox of different effects," but also draws on The Foundry's Nuke and Adobe After Effects at Absolute. "I vowed never to buy a Flame, but it's still the best tool out there," he says. Nuke, he adds, has a place, particularly on jobs involving lots of com- puter graphics. After Effects is also useful when breaking down a job. Smith says the studio will analyze how much work is going to be done on a job, and what type of work it requires. This often influences which tools are called on. Abso- lute even uses Combustion when a job calls for heavy roto work. "Technology is more complex, but I can do so much more," he says, looking back at his early days in VFX. "It's a lot simpler now, then even two to three years ago." But with powerful tools come high expecta- tions. Smith says there are no excuses when it io for TV 24 Post • May 2012 www.postmagazine.com Combining roto, keying and tracking techniques to create believable effects.