Graphics Programs Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 17
Layout 4: Special FX
When people in the industry talk about
pro-
duction value
, they are referring to whether
the work looks like it was done “profession-
ally.” Is
each
and
every
part of its process
brought up to the highest level appropriate
for the story?
“Low budget” does not have to look low
budget. Just because you're filmmaking on a
shoestring doesn't mean it has to look that
way! There are hundreds, if not thousands,
of simple, little things you can do to “kiss
the details” and make your work read with
a high production value.
In this chapter, we go over some of Lay-
out's special effects that can be used to
greatly increase the level of professionalism
that your work exudes.
Note
Some adjectives used to describe a high
production value are: lush, luscious, juicy,
deep, rich, polished, slick, and tasty.
GlowEffect
Glow Effect is something I use in almost
every single one of my renders. Most of the
time it is handled so subtly you wouldn't
know it was there; it's a general soft,
“atmospheric” sort of thing that is hard to
put one's finger on. Glow Effect is
this
art-
ist's
first
step in making something look
“not CG.”
Glow Effect isn't something to be
restricted to “recreations of reality.” Glow
Effect cranks up the cool factor on flying
logos, web graphics, and all kinds of
design-oriented applications. It can even be
used to imitate volumetric lighting.
Note
A way of looking at using Glow Effect is like
imagining the way light bounces around
inside a practical camera's exposure cham-
ber. If there's too much light coming in on a
certain spot (like a pinpoint of sunlight on a
chrome bumper), that light “bleeds” out,
exposing the film around it as well as the
actual spot of film where the light really
falls.
Lens flares (explained later in this chapter)
simulate the way light
scatters
on the
defects
of a lens. (Those nifty “star-thingies” around
lights and whatnot were first considered
flaws.) Together, lens flares and Glow Effect
can increase the level of “realism” in your
renders. They have a
multiplicative
effect on
one another, so plan on spending some
time testing and tweaking to get things
right.
