Comments on: Foundation Blender Compositing

By: Papasmurf

Papasmurf — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 02:28:25 +0000

A reader asked that I provide a desktop like the one shown in Figure 1-1, and so I have at my ftp site. It is an all-in-one screen layout. The filename is 1-desktop.blend, and you can download it using the compositor@rogerwickes.com password login. Enjoy! All of the blends on the DVD have a separate compositing desktop and a sequencing desktop, but this mashes it all into one. The screen name is 0-AllinOne

By: Papasmurf

Papasmurf — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 03:39:56 +0000

I’ve uploaded the full table of contents to my ftp server, so if you want to see exactly what is in the book, please use my compositor ftp account. Using your ftp manager, the host is http://ftp.rogerwickes.com, and the login is compositor@rogerwickes.com with a password of “password”. The pdf is in the home directory and the details start on page 7. Thanks again, and if you have any issues, post at BA or email me@rogerwickes.com

By: Papasmurf

Papasmurf — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 17:32:42 +0000

Fantastic news, brokenjack! You can email me@rogerwickes.com or post at BA http://blenderartists.org/forum/showthread.php?t=161330 (I’d prefer a post at BA, so everyone can immediately see the typos). And of course, any suggestions for the next edition (sometime 2010) regarding new/different techniques would be appreciated. thanks again for supporting the Blender community.

By: brokenjack

brokenjack — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 00:45:52 +0000

I just got my copy and am about halfway through. Great book so far and it really targets what I want to do with Blender since I’m a commercial director. Was wondering though, I have stumbled upon typos here and there, and have been able to figure them out so far. Will there be an errata page online somewhere? I checked you’re publisher’s website, but I guess the book is still pretty fresh. Anyway as an intermediate Blender user, I look forward to working through your book!
Thanks for writing it!

By: ByronK

ByronK — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 15:30:15 +0000

I just got my copy yesterday and enjoying it very much. I am glad to see that you and others are writting books with a special emphasis for those who have conquered the basics. This will be a big help. Thanks for your great work Roger.

By: Papasmurf

Papasmurf — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 03:11:36 +0000

Hey NeptuneKid, I hope it’s both a thinking and a thick book! Regarding 2.5, I think people are going to be largely disappointed if they are expecting some sort of major functionality change. It’s kinda like we are taking a house and rewiring it and re-plumbing and adding fibre, oh and painting the walls a cheery color. Most of the work is behind the walls. The UI change will be most welcome, but with regard to compositing and sequencing, it’s all gonna be the same. It will look different when modeling a mask, and hopefully be more friendly, but the principles and techniques and nodes and VSE in my book will be essentially the same for a very long time.

Also, log any feedback/suggestions at BA thread http://blenderartists.org/forum/showthread.php?t=161330

Enjoy!

By: NeptuneKid

NeptuneKid — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 23:29:49 +0000

I meant thick. Big book.

By: NeptuneKid

NeptuneKid — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 23:29:26 +0000

Got mine today, it’s pretty think. Can’t wait to wade into it.

My only concern is when 2.5 comes, how will the transition be for this knowledge?

By: Jahmaica

Jahmaica — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 02:37:21 +0000

Thanks a lot for taking your time to answer those questions, I mean, all those we left here. I’ll be happy and glad to learn all that from your writtings on the book, as soon as I get my own copy ;D Keep doing it!

By: Papasmurf

Papasmurf — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 02:28:39 +0000

Jahmaica, great question. For the book, I couldn’t really assume the reader knew how to model in Blender, and you need to make masks for later compositing, so I do have one chapter on how to make a mask, rotate it in 3D space, and then composite that over a highway sign. This is very common work in film and such to remove logos and ads that do not have approval (or to swap in logos of the film’s sponsors).

With regard to BBB, as you can probably tell from the cover, I make heavy use of the BBB assets and give examples and explanations of what they did and why are sprinkled throughout the book. When I talk about setting up a backdrop world, for example, I go through the world used in BBB and the three textures they use. One aspect of BBB is the model and how they set up the mattes, so I talk about that (and is another reason I have to talk about 3D space).

Regarding nodes, I actually have about 3 chapters, 10-12, pp 273-388, over 100 pages just on compositing nodes. I go through each node in detail, and have tried to give practical examples of each, and as we learn more nodes, I build up to more complex noodles. I also try to show exactly what it does – the effect it will have on an image, and all the settings/controls. I finish up with a brilliant example from RobertT, and go through his noodle and explain it.