VFX Book Project

[1st draft july 2023] Appendix A.  An Abbreviated Glossary Every field has its own working language, a jargon, and each studio within that field has its own particularities of meaning attached to even the most common term.  The language often shows its origins from other fields inherited perhaps through many iterations back into the misty days before time.  Sometimes language is imposed from above but often emerges from below and the proletariat.  The following is an incomplete list of terms one might have heard in the ancient days of film and a few of the terms used in the degrading workspaces of the digital age.   There are many paths through the jungle and this is not the only list that could be proposed and not all meanings are universally agreed upon but bear with me, you will be a better person if you give these a glance and inhale them holistically. Animator  Art Director Color Key Art  Composite (v) Compositor (n)    Hero (n) Optical ...

[1st draft 7/18/2023]   2.1 Common Ground In order to have a coherent conversation about the subtleties and nuance to be found in visual effects it is important to have a common language.  They say that one person's fish is another's  poisson  and this is apparently true.  How often have I gotten myself in trouble by using a term that is well understood in one studio but means something subtly different in another and competing studio?    And people, being how they are, can take offense at the simplest thing.  I once used the term " dilettante " in conversation and to my astonishment discovered later that this film professional thought I was making fun of her by using a French word.   Can't we all just get along?   To avoid this discontinuity in understanding and promote harmony, I am going to propose some basic concepts and terms-of-art for us to use in this discussion we are having about visual effects.  Whether or not this term i...