I tried looking up something about what was called “VFX workflow” but I didn’t quite understand what I was reading. Apparently it takes some time to make a shot but I didn’t understand why.
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Like any art, there’s not one specific way to do it. There are some common processes, but most shots will require some creative thinking and problem solving to make work. For example, “set extension,” where they’re adding realistic things to the background such as making a[ real-life house bigger](https://youtu.be/pocfRVAH9yU?si=xlV1bhUF9hq6CciD) or adding a mountain in the background that wasn’t there is going to be a very different process to a shot where [Godzilla has to knock down a building](https://youtu.be/hiGt6NFnhz0?si=I-FoO8NXqwMl2qIC).
However, the general steps include:
* **Planning**. Footage has to usually be shot correctly to accommodate the VFX, multiple artists have to work together to make the different pieces, and then those pieces all have to fit together, so proper planning and coordination is crucial.
* **Shooting the footage**. Sometimes blue/green screens are used, which allow the computer to easily erase a hole in the footage (similar to the “paint bucket,” tool in most image editing programs) which can be replaced with something else later. Frequently tracking markers are also used, which allows anything added to the scene digitally to “stick,” to the scene as if it was actually there, otherwise it would look like it was floating on top.
* **2D Effects**. Depending on the shot 2D effects might be used (lightning, sign replacement, etc.). Most of this isn’t anything “special,” and is mostly just done by hand through the same techniques you would use in photo manipulation, just combined with some basic animation. [Here’s a video showing what it looks like to create a 2D lightening bold effect](https://youtu.be/z9FdP1hVbWo?si=q2yxkhDR_-J7VM1A), another one for [sign replacement](https://youtu.be/mZow2oaWwJY?si=_qghPBQzePw7MBdO), and finally one for [replacing the sky](https://youtu.be/3ZtuloHefys?si=KJXcs4TZrH9JPLZF). Skipping through these videos should give you a more visual idea of the process.
* **3D Effects**. Using software like 3DS Max, Blender (free), Maya, and Houdini, 3D scenes are modeled, animated, and “rendered,” out. Modeling involves [drawing out and manipulating 3D geometry using artist friendly tools](https://youtu.be/Hf2esGA7vCc?si=Tle_eV8ugrM49Ow9), animating 3D isn’t [too much different than traditional stop-motion](https://youtu.be/OeuyMIm_2Zo?si=QJY1foef6lM8Yb5c) just with the computer making a few things a bit easier, and “rendering,” is just a fancy way of saying “have the computer simulate how light rays interact with the surfaces to make everything look pretty,” and produces our final output, being a 2D video which we can use just like footage from a camera. Here’s [a video of all 3 of these steps being broken down and explained](https://youtu.be/_inIyoPsx-g?si=lIgu4arDxw0QNlE3).
* **Compositing**. Compositing is basically just Photoshop, but for video. Software like After Effects and Nuke are used here (Blender, Natron, and Fusion are free if you want to play around with it yourself). This step serves to combine all the 2D layers together, color match them, adjust brightness, apply blur, etc. to finish things off. Here’s[ a video demonstrating some of that](https://youtu.be/Cmrs9hblaAM?si=RxE_mnJfamU99Kpb).
Of course this is just an overview, and people dedicate their entire careers to learning and mastering just one of these steps. If you’re trying to find “VFX workflow,” videos, a good term to search is “VFX breakdown,” and you’ll find tons of videos showing the process. If you want more technical videos, you can look up “effect tutorial,” or “3D tutorial,” and get more videos than you could ever need.
This is a huge topic, and there are many different things that can go into a VFX shot, so it’s hard to cover it all in an answer for ELI5. But essentially, it is combining visual elements from different sources into a final shot. Those elements can be live footage from the set, CGI (3D images created in a computer), animations, etc. These then have to be put together correctly to make everything look right. This is almost exclusively done on computers nowadays. They have to do things like get rid of blue/green screen, isolate things frame by frame when there isn’t green screen (called rotoscoping). The CGI has to be created to look real and animated. They often do simulations on computers to make realistic looking water and fire. There is a lot of work to be done for every shot, so it often takes big teams of people to do it all
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