ABSTRACT
The trend in visual effects today is an ever-closer integration of digital compositing within the CGI production pipeline. Compositing software is continuously evolving in the direction of more support for CGI issues, so the modern digital compositor needs to not only understand how to composite CGI, but also have a good understanding of CGI. In this chapter, we will begin by taking a look at the composite of a CGI element with its background to introduce the concepts of the foreground layer, the matte (or alpha), the background, and how they go together to create a basic CGI composite. In subsequent sections, we build on this to introduce the complexities of a more typical production shot. We will also be taking a close look at the interface between CGI and digital compositing-the boundary where they meet and how the workfl ow in the CGI pipeline affects the digital compositor.
