Most creatives don’t know that CGI / 3D visuals get a lot of retouching.
For creative producers, just knowing a few key points can help avoid a costly oversight.
First, we tend to use the terms CG, CGI, and 3D interchangeably to refer to computer-generated 3D images. CG works for me. And to be clear, I'm talking about “stills” images here, not animation.
What producers should know:
1. The last 10%-20% of a really high-end image is extremely expensive or not possible to do at all in VFX applications like Nuke, Blender, or After Effects. It’s a lot more cost effective in Photoshop.
2. A VFX compositor often assembles elements from the 3D artist in one of these apps. A *good* Compositor will know how much time & money to invest fixing all the little errors and aberrations herself, and when to leave it for retouching in Photoshop.
3. A good Retoucher will know what assets to expect, along with what kind of errors they’ll expect to see. They’ll also know to ask for other stuff from the Compositor/3D artist to make their job easier.
In CG and Photographic images alike, each has defects & distractions inherent to the medium. But if you’re new to working with CG artists, it can seem all too technical to really get a handle on.
The costly oversight I referred to is realizing you really need a retoucher late in the game and suddenly it's a fire drill. ??
And that’s it, just knowing those 3 points can go a long way to having all the right creatives in place for a smooth production.
Insights, thoughts, cheesy jokes? Let me know!
