ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses tips and techniques for preparing a VFX shot. The amount of time spent in preproduction can save valuable hours on the production and days in postproduction. Film students have this oil-and-water relationship with storyboards. The chapter demonstrates using Photoshop to create storyboards. There are some distinct advantages to storyboarding an effect digitally; using Photoshop one can come up with something much closer to the final shot than stick figures. Some directors, if the shot is going to rely on an effect, will insist on a VFX person being present during the shoot. Big-budget Hollywood movies do this, and there’s no reason for an indie to be any different. Traditionally, character animation in After Effects was done by taking the character into Photoshop, cutting all the parts up into layers, and then importing all those layers into After Effects, changing all the Anchor Points, and using a complex Parenting scheme.
