Compositing

[Kallemero]

Hopefully I will get aloth of good advise on this question:-)

Trying to decide on what Composeting software I should learn first..

What is the best composeter on a windows platform?

Best regards

[adolff]

hi kallemero
you should make a solid foundation in photoshop. that is leran the tools and techniques in depth. all the other compositing softwares like after effects, combustion, fusion, shake shall be very easy for u to learn as ur photoshop foundation would be very very good.
so mastering photoshop first
then you could switch to after effects or combustion for level one.( this may vary according to the requirements of ur studio). if you are a student then do after effects first.
after effects is a timeline based software.
then go for shake as it is node based software.
so in short,
photoshop
aftereffects
shake
along with good understanding of 3d will make ur start as a good compositor.
hope that helps
regards
adolf

[cucobures]

Well, first of all, you should learn the compositing basis. For this, go out and buy "The Art and Science of Digital Compositing", that is a great reference for getting this foundation.

For compositing I recomend you a node based app like Nuke, Shake or Digital Fusion. As you are in windows platform, the options that you have are Nuke or Digital Fusion. You can get a 30 day evaluation version of both of them, but in the case of Fusion, you have to pay $95 for it. Fusion have a learning edition as well.

If you don`t mind to go into linux or you have a mac either, you can go with Shake that is a great app, and it has a very low price at this moment (<$500).

But, before you begin with any app, I recomend you to get a good foundation in compositing (after that, you should go with any app).

Best Regards,
Cuco Burés

[N8]

I have been a Flame artist for the past 10 years or so and I was wanting to expand on the softwares that I can use. What do you guys see as the most used compositor out there? I mean if I only learn one new desktop compositor, which would it be. Nuke, Fusion, Shake, or Toxik....

[rohit]

ive been using flame since 1995...in my opinion; for what its worth.. the coolest non discreet compositing software is shake, just bought it a few months back & am still learning it and i love some of the tools it has. i HAD to use it cos of those 2-3 things it can do that are painful in flame like smoothcam and auto align etc

[neonmarg]

My 2 cents is that if you have been on Flame for that long you will find any of the tools interesting. The big question is access and what you intend to do with it. I have taken the Shake courses we offered on fxphd and now am taking the Nuke classes. I don't own Shake but still found them worthwhile. For Nuke and Fusion fxphd has VPN versions so while you take the class you can check out the software.

We have had fxphd students who were familiar with Flame take classes on Shake for example and then move to a job on Shake.

What I guess I am saying is if you are serious about checking out other apps for $330 on fxphd you could take a Shake, a Nuke and a Fusion class (with Nuke and Fusion software to work with) and see where your interests lie.

Jeff

[rohit]

EXACTLY...theyre simply tools to GET the job done

[kk01]

I still think Photshop is the way to go for Kallemero. Also, he should spend plenty of time taking shots with a digital camera and analyzing the shots...try taking say 1000 shots a month..

In my own opinion, learning to see is the most important thing in compositing and not the software of choice....