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compositors, because so much of CG can be broken into elements that later need to be put
back together. For example, the shadows in a scene may be rendered separately from the
rest of the scene.
Compositing as a specialty requires much less knowledge of CG, although today’s com-
petitive compositors should know as much as they can cram in their brains about CG.
Compositors not only have to assemble and color time (make final color decisions about)
CG shots, but they also have to work with live-action footage that needs to be altered or
affected. For example, a compositor will need to remove a green screen from behind an
actor and “place” that actor into a virtual rendered set. With color correction and other
tools at their disposal, the compositors must make sure everything looks as though it
belongs in the shot. In many cases, the line between lighter and compositor is blurred, and
the two specialties can become one.
Generalists are CG artists who can do everything. This is not to say they are the be-all
and end-all of all things CG. Many studios and boutiques have short-term jobs that are
small in scale (as compared to a production of the DreamWorks film Madagascar, for
example). When a short turnaround is required, you need artists who can take a shot from
beginning to end by modeling, texturing, lighting, animating, and rendering a scene. Gen-
eralists are more likely to work on commercials, for example, than feature films.
Core Concepts
CG touches many disciplines, and you will come across many different concepts as you
learn CG. You’ll need to understand something about physics, computer output, film,
photography, sculpting, painting, and other disciplines. This section introduces several
key concepts that will make it easier for you to understand how CG is created. Again, if
you’ve been around the block a few times, you can skip large parts of this chapter. How-
ever, you never know when you might come across a little tidbit that fills in an educational
gap you never thought you had.
Computer Graphics Basics
Here are some general terminologies and methodologies used in computer graphics.
Understanding them will help you understand how 3ds Max works. First on our plate is
the critical distinction between raster (bitmap) and vector graphics and how this distinc-
tion affects you as a 3ds Max user.
Raster Images
Raster images (also known as bitmap images or bitmaps) make up the world of computer
images today. In raster images, colored pixels are arranged to display an image on a screen;
these pixels come together to form the image like a tapestry. The same is true of printouts,
where dots of ink serve as pixels to form the printed image. The printed dots, like each
colored pixel, come together to form the overall image.
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