New Classes Just Added!

We are very excited to have invited master trainer, Steve Wright, a twenty year industry compositing veteran of over sixty motion pictures and author of the definitive book on the subject, Digital Compositing for Film and Video and the just released Compositing Visual Effects: Essentials for the Aspiring Artist, to teach three classes for us this Spring. SHAKE FOR FINAL CUT PRO, BEGINNING SHAKE and ADVANCED SHAKE. So jump into Spring and take one of these unique not offered anywhere else classes!

Shake for Final Cut Pro

Final Cut Pro 6 offers a “Send to Shake” feature that allows you to seamlessly work between FCP6 and Shake, Apple’s world-class node-based visual effects compositing program. But you are an editor, not a VFX artist and Shake is a large, non-trivial VFX compositing program in its own right. Come learn not only how to send your projects to and from Shake, but how Shake can make your projects much more professional by tapping into its advanced speed change technology, bluescreen keying, motion tracking, and many, many other powerful capabilities. Now that Apple has priced Shake at $499 it is practical for anybody to own. This is a very accessible two-day weekend class designed for those already functional in FCP6 but unfamiliar with Shake

What you will learn:

Learn to navigate the Shake interface so you will know how to view images, change settings, do motion previews, and save out your results. Find out what node-based compositing is all about.Send to Shake – How to send a clip to Shake, process it, and send it back to FCP. Selecting individual clips or sequences with multiple clips and what to do with the results.Key Shake Operations – Here are the most common Shake operations an editor would use Shake for. Learn how to do silky smooth speed changes, professional greenscreen/bluescreen composites, and more.

Learn what else Shake can do to make your editing jobs more professional. A guided tour of the many image processing operations that Shake has but FCP doesn’t that you can use to sweeten your projects. A guided tour of the many tasks that Shake can do for you including top-quality rotoscoping, wire removal, motion tracking, warps, morphs, mask generation, and scene salvage.

Beginning Shake - Level 101

Experience a three-day intensive course and get a firm foundation for your future career as a top Shake compositor. Steve provides a wide array of images from real-world feature film and HiDef video productions so you are working with the real thing. If you have ever wanted to learn Shake, this is your opportunity to learn it from the master! This course is designed for digital artists that wish to learn Shake from the beginning.

What you will learn:

Shake Starter – Navigating Shake’s interface, how to load and view images, where the tools are, the color picker and pixel analyzer. Building Node Trees – Assembling nodes into a compositing tree, how to edit the node tree, render a flipbook, save and load jobs.Compositing CGI – Using the compositing nodes, compositing CGI over live action, compositing CGI over digital matte paintings.

Bluescreen Compositing – How to composite bluescreen and greenscreen shots with Shake’s keyers, Keylight and Primatte.Color Correction – Basic color correctors, compound color correctors, how to color correct a composite.Drawing Shapes – Create a mask, animating masks, and rotoscoping.

Animation – 2D and 3D transformation nodes, keyframe animation, editing motion curves, clip timing.Motion Tracking – Motion tracking, match move, stabilizing or smoothing a shot.

Advanced Shake - Level 300

This follow-on to the Introduction to Shake Compositing Class goes beyond how to operate Shake and delves into advanced techniques for the most common production problems as well as how to improve the photorealism of your composites. This is must-have information to get a job in the visual effects industry. This course is designed for digital compositors that are already familiar with Shake.

What you will learn:

Outsmarting the Keyer – Keyers like Primatte and Keylight virtually always need outside help to make a good composite. Learn the divide and conquer strategies used in real world production.

Photorealistic Composites – A good key is just the beginning. A methodical color correction procedure and special post-processing of the composite are required to really sell the shot.

Compositing CGI – How to composite multi-pass CGI renders and the whole premultiplied / unpremultiplied thing. Know which to use for transformations and which to use for color correction - and why.

Rotoscoping II – Keyframe strategies, hierarchical roto shapes, and proper mask sub-divisions are just some of the advanced techniques required for rapid, professional rotoscoping.

Motion Tracking II – Motion tracking solutions for the most common production problems of match move and shot stabilization. How to solve occluded tracking points, chattering tracking data, lens distortion, and more.

Masks – In virtually every shot you will need to create one or more masks to isolate an item for special processing, such as color correction or filtering. Learn every which way of creating masks quickly instead of rotoscoping.

Multiplane Compositing – Compositing match move shots requires mastery of multiplane compositing which utilizes a true 3D world within Shake. See how to place image planes in 3D space and fly the camera through them.

Expressions – One of Shake’s most powerful features is the ease with which you can animated objects and parameters with expressions, link parameters, and create local variables. A must know.

Macros – You can improve your productivity and add your own “secret sauce” to your composites with macros. Actually create your own image processing nodes and hooking them into the Shake GUI.

Learn more about Steve:

To learn more about Steve, his books and view some of his Shake tutorials, click here and visit his website