Image Processing Reference
In-Depth Information
day digital approach. In film, effects had to be combined directly in the camera
or with an optical printer, which was developed in the 1920s and 1930s. Optical
printers are rarely used anymore, but they became quite sophisticated in the
latter part of the 1980s, just as the dawn of digital compositing came into play.
They involve one or more projectors that focus exposed developed film directly
into a film camera with great precision and control.
Fig 10.1 an optical printer,
courtesy of academy award
winning optical printer artist
eugene Mamut.
Since the great majority of moving images are created digitally these days,
compositing various images and frames together is much more accessible. A
good computer and software like Photoshop, After Effects, Shake, Blender, and
Nuke make this possible. These programs are not cheap, but they are more
affordable to use than optical printers or even high-end professional posthouse
programs. Many of these programs offer 30-day free trials and wonderful
discounts for educational purposes. We get into some of these techniques but
first we need to explore how to prepare for a composite/collage project.
Why would you choose to composite images? Artists can make certain
aesthetic decisions that determine whether they composite images or not.
This is not something that can be easily pinned down. The combinations
of imagery that can be paired together open up a huge area of visual
imagination, and many artists are curious to open that door. Quite honestly,
any combination of figures and images can be combined to serve any idea.
There are also many practical reasons to composite images. A filmmaker may
not be able to find two images that can be placed together, like an elephant
and the Empire State Building or paper hearts that might surround the heads
of lovers. In cutout animation, this juxtaposition of unlikely images can easily
be achieved under the camera in one pass. We saw this in the work of JibJab,
Terry Gilliam, and Jim Blashfield. Photographs and drawings can be cut
out with a scalpel or scissors and prepared for shooting under the camera.
Anything is possible with this approach. Ultimately, as mentioned previously,
new cutout animation has become the ultimate digital composite form. This
new cutout animation, which utilizes programs like Flash, Toon Boom, and
After Effects, composites images electronically with layers and lots of fine
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