CG or CG Painting is nothing more than digital drawing, or short for Computer Graphic. This direction includes all pictures drawn on a computer or, as it is also called, Digital.

What CG artists draw in depends on what exactly they draw. Roughly divided, there are raster, vector and 3D. The vector can still be animated later.

Raster - first of all it is Adobe Photoshop, in which you can draw in raster, partly in vector, create flash animations, work in the technique of photo art and collages.
Is there some more Corel Painter with a huge number of different brushes that mimic real painting. Some paint in less popular PhotoImpact, GIMP, SAI, Artweaver, Open Canvas, Art Rage, MyPaint, Krita. And of course in Paint, in which, by the way, it is convenient to draw pixel graphics.

The vector is drawn mainly in Corel Draw and Adobe Illustrator. Both have their advantages and disadvantages, but both are the largest and best known vector editors.

3d players also have a choice. 3D Max, Maya, ZBrush, Cinema4D– editors for 3D modeling. To fully create this type of computer graphics requires a VERY powerful computer.

Why is digital painting better than traditional?

• Very high speed of work and a large selection of materials. Choosing the right color is a matter of seconds (unlike traditional painting, where you have to mix or buy more paints to get the right color - it takes experience and time), choosing the right brush / tool is also an almost instantaneous operation. You can do work with imitations of oils, pastels, watercolors, or all at once, which is difficult in the real world.
• The ability to undo your actions, as well as the ability to save at any moment of your work and return to it later, and even a large list of features and benefits - all this makes the work of the artist several times faster with the same quality.
• Computer work is immediately ready for use in digital technologies of cinema, games, layout - the work done on the material with paints must first be transferred to digital form, and there are also a lot of problems plus an additional stage of work.
• Unlike traditional painting, digital painting has some cool and handy features and tools: for example, working with layers or applying textures from photographs to the areas of the picture you need; generation of noise of a given type; various brush effects; HDR pictures; various filters and corrections, and much more.

Nevertheless, there is a big problem associated with color rendition - difficulties in displaying art on material media. Most monitors work in the RGB color model with the sRGB color space, which color boundaries do not match those of a typical CMYK printer, which has its own color gamut limitations. As a result, some colors visible on the monitor are not printed on paper, and at the same time, the full potential of the printer in terms of its coverage is not used. To solve this problem, professional monitors are used with an ARGB (Adobe RGB) color space, specially designed to accommodate almost all colors available for the printer, and color profiles are used to best match the images on the monitor and print media. However, 100% match cannot be achieved, because even the worst sRGB space is wider in some color areas than many CMYK spaces.

The problem of education still remained outside the brackets - there are few schools and courses, a lot of personal time and money. But I think few areas can boast of its instant and easy development. In general, now I know what CG is with some additional details and I'm not afraid of this term. It seems to me that despite the "warm and lamp" aura of traditional painting, the possibilities of CG are still developing and in the future this direction will only be cooler.

Publication date: 04/15/2012

How are special effects for films created? What is digital painting? What does CG and CGI mean? We will answer these questions in this two-part article. And besides, here you will find addresses of sites on the topic and videos about creating special effects for films.

The article turned out to be so large that I had to split it into two parts to make it easier to read. The first part is devoted to theory and special effects, and the second is digital painting and graphics.

In general, most of the resources on the Internet related to the creation of special effects and digital painting are of foreign origin. This is due to the fact that in Russia this area is still developing. That is why Russian blockbusters with beautiful special effects have appeared recently. It is worth mentioning Timur Bekmambetov, who gave impetus to modern Russian blockbusters (for which many thanks to him).

concept

"CG" is translated as "computer graphics". However, as a rule, this concept has a slightly different meaning. After all, the concept of "computer graphics" covers almost any field of activity where graphics are created by a computer or with the help of it. However, the word "CG" means exactly the creation of either special effects for video, or digital painting, or the creation of graphics for various interactive presentations and video games.

True, special effects in movies are usually referred to as "CGI" ( computer- generated imagery , literally "computer generated images"). Although, in principle, there are no special differences between CG and CGI.

And now the most interesting...

Special effects in cinema

A long time ago, special effects were very primitive, but innovative at the same time. Usually, the essence of special effects was to skillfully erase tethers and the like from the frame to make everything look exciting and interesting. It was all in the days of silent films.

Later, when there was a need for various movie monsters, there was a need for appropriate special effects. Of course, if you need to create a humanoid or Bigfoot, then the actor simply put on makeup or put on a costume. However, the creation of something more complex caused the directors big problems.

To add bizarrely shaped creatures to the cinema, filmmakers came up with stop-motion animation. Those. a plasticine model of the creature was made, and then photographed many times, while slightly changing its body position. And then, if you quickly scroll through such photos (30 frames per second), it looked like the creature was moving. Although it looked ridiculous, the directors managed to present it quite interestingly.

It was frame-by-frame animation that changed everything (even modern special effects are made according to the same principle). However, even in our time, some cartoons are made using frame-by-frame animation, because such cartoons look original and interesting.

And then came the era of informatization and computerization ...
Then the film industry realized that you can draw special effects using a computer. Moreover, characters and various creatures can also be drawn directly on the computer and transferred to film during editing. Then there were the first films with "embedded" characters.

However, with this came problems. Due to the fact that such characters were superimposed on the tape after the shooting of the material, the actors had to show all their acting skills in order to interact with such an "invisible partner".

When Steve Jobs created Pixar, he wanted to create a cartoon made and rendered only with a computer. Thus, the Toy Story series was born.

Modern cinema is not far from the basics used by the forefathers of special effects. Only plasticine creatures were replaced by creatures completely made in graphic editors. However, there are a couple of techniques and tricks that modern directors actively use...

Chromakey

Pronounced "chroma kei", although the correct pronunciation should be "chroma kee". The essence is simple, the actor is filmed against the background of a green or blue canvas of fabric (rear screen), and then an image is put in place of this canvas. Those. you can shoot almost an entire film in one pavilion, where the main character travels around the planet (by the way, this is how the film Resident Evil 4 was created).

To project the desired image well on the rear screen, you need to use a monotonous soft color, and therefore either green or blue is usually used.

Motioncapture

It means "motion capture". Special sensors are attached to a real actor (white balls or cubes, etc.), and then all his movements are analyzed on a computer. Those. an actor fully dressed in a suit of sensors makes some movement, and then this animation data is transferred to a computer character. So the computer character moves just like a person (smoothly and physically correctly).
And sometimes, motion capture is used locally, for example, to add something computer-generated to a real actor (computer makeup, if you want).

3D graphics editors

Without them, you cannot make a single voluminous monster or creature, or build an entire city. To add, say, King Kong, you must first model it. This is done in three-dimensional graphic editors, and the process is more like creating a sculpture. It is necessary not only to be able to handle such programs, but also to know the basics of anatomy, composition, etc. As a rule, such people are also called artists, since the principle of work is almost the same.

Usually, a primitive model of the character is first made in order to understand how he will behave in the frame, how much space he will occupy, how the actors should interact with him. And then a high-quality model for editing is already made.

The skill of modern special effects creators is amazing. Fully simulated actors are already being created - of course, why pay a real actor when you can make your own, which will neither be capricious nor get sick.

In the following image, you see actor Jeff Bridges from Tron: Legacy. On the left is the real Jeff Bridges, and on the right is his artificial young copy (which is computer generated). Amazing, isn't it...

Filmmakers have many more clever ideas for using computer technology in cinema. Who knows, maybe tomorrow this article will have to be updated - new technologies for the production of special effects will appear. Now special effects and artificial computer characters are indistinguishable from reality, and what will happen next...

In the end, I want to show you some short videos about creating special effects in some films.

I will say right away that this article is not for beginners.

Despite the fact that now is the best time to make money even in our visual effects industry, many Internet users continue to complain about small salaries.

And it's not even about novice students, but rather strong specialists.

And so, I'll start with the facts: the average salary in the offices of most IT companies in the millionaire cities of the CIS = $1300-$2000. This also applies to our CG industry (post-production, game development, animation).

It can be counted on by hired employees with work experience of at least 2 years with an average workload and responsibility. From 2k to 3.5k$/month can be received by employees with higher responsibility, for example, supervisors, leads, generalists. The highest salary of a CG specialist that I have heard and can confirm is $4,000 (Kyiv).

But the problem is that quite a lot of excellent professionals do not earn as much as they would like. A few reasons why this is so that I have noticed in my 12 year career:

1. Low social activity

Or in other words, the lack of networking. In other words, you should be known. And preferably influential market participants.

It's no secret that the best jobs in good companies come from acquaintances. Note that there is little work on thematic sites where salaries exceed $3,000/month. They just don't advertise. The fact is that in the circles of communication of intelligent specialists there are always 2-3 of the same or even better specialists (such as prof. friendship). Most directors address their employees first. find me the same as you. And often they find.

2. Rare job change

“There is no better company anywhere. Stress. Difficult." These are all typical excuses, because of which we spend half our lives where we accidentally ended up after college.

More than once in the articles we mentioned that in domestic cgi companies there is practically no career growth, no matter what you are told at interviews. Yes, there are a few exceptions, but all the same, the growth of your salary within the same company will rarely exceed 15-20% in dollar terms (usually it does not change in any way for 5-7 years).

The easiest way is to resell yourself as a good specialist (if you are) to other companies for higher salaries and positions. So without much difficulty, you can get an increase in salary from 25 to 50%.

I recommend in the early stages of a career to change jobs once a year and a half. At a more mature stage - once every 2-3 years. Moreover, you yourself will understand this and reach such a schedule, if continuous development is important for you, just as it is for me.

3. No skill in selling yourself

Move on. Tell me, how many times in your life have you been interviewed in the last 2-3 years? Well, if more than two times. And this must be done. Post your resume on all job search sites and wait for calls / emails to come to you. Next, answer the calls and tell the new boss what a cool special you are and why you should be paid above the market. And look for jobs. On the Internet, with friends. And go to interviews! Learn, in general, to sell yourself.

5. Stagnation with prof. growth. Lack of ongoing continuing education

Think back to your last job change. How many tutorials did you review the month before and when you moved to a new company? How many questions were asked to new hires? How many new techniques and tricks did you learn? This is what happens 2-3 months before and in the first year of being in a new company. So…

A rare change of job often leads to the fact that a person stops developing. To be more precise, it begins to degrade. After the second or third year of being in the company, the employee slowly begins to be covered with a “film of God”, primarily in his own eyes.

Of course, professional growth and development of you as a person stops. Professional growth is one of your core values. If we discard everything else, you are paid a lot of money just because you are a good professional = you know how to quickly solve the tasks and problems of the company.

4. No need for money

Everything is simple here. Most of us earn just what we need to successfully stay awake in our comfort zone. Everything else is whining and discharge “It would be nice to buy a yacht next week, but a bad boss will not raise my salary.”

What to treat? Just expand your needs, the level of the norm. Fly to the sea to the Dominican Republic, walk around the showrooms of new cars. If you do this regularly, you will need money.

6. It's not yours

For all of the above to work, for you to grow as a CG and VFX pro, make sure you have a heart for it. Now on the Internet you can meet many beginner igrodelov, buzzers. They were inspired by some project and with burning eyes they are supposedly ready to play day and night. But this fuse passes in a week or two. Some in a month or half a year.

Creating visual effects and 3D graphics is actually not a simple, tedious, routine task. Here are not the easiest customers who need to be “understood and forgiven”. Therefore, make sure that the visual effects industry is what you really have a soul for. Only under this condition will it be easier for you to grow and develop, improve your skill level every year, learn new tools and techniques and, as a result, increase your income at least one and a half times every year.

Write your thoughts on this in the comments!

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Duration of training: 2.5 weeks (5 lectures // 4 practical tasks // 4 online reviews of students' work by the course teacher)

Course author Ivan Smirnov - art director, illustrator, concept artist, founder of the digital painting school SMIRNOV SCHOOL, founder of the educational community for artists DIGITAL PAINTING CLASSES

Ivan's gallery:

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Video tutorials from Ivan:
Youtube channel SMIRNOV SCHOOL:

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The Basics of CG Drawing course will allow you to master the basic techniques and principles of drawing in Photoshop and give you more confidence in your own abilities. You will learn how to work with volume, silhouettes, color and textures and develop your artistic perception to effectively solve real professional problems. You will find detailed lectures, interesting homework assignments, individual analysis of work with a teacher and a lot of practice.

In addition, we also created a course on the Basics for those artists who want to effectively study on our long-term programs, such as the course "Concept art of characters", "Concept art of the Environment", which will noticeably affect the result: the quality of work and level of digestible material.

The program of the course "Fundamentals of CG drawing":

Lecture 1: Fundamentals of Fundamentals
Learn to work in Photoshop and draw three-dimensional shapes.
Learning the basic steps of working in Photoshop:
Learning to draw a three-dimensional figure.
Post-processing: learning how to make the perfect final picture.

Lecture 2: We learn to come up with the design of objects and embody this design in a drawing.
Learning to draw an interesting subject:
Learning how to come up with a cool design
Learning to work with perspective and form
Learning to make clean line art

Lecture 3: We study the principles of working with light, shadow and diffused light and draw a 2D object with a 3D effect.
Learning to draw occluded (shadow from diffused light), light and shadow:
We study in detail the principles of building light.
Learning to build own and falling shadows.
We draw an object with a 3D effect.

Lecture 4: It`s render time!
Learning to correctly compose a color composition
Learning to render materials - learning how to draw different materials:
We will analyze the approaches in which any artist can independently learn how to draw any material: metal, glass, wood, stone, plastic, and others.

Lecture 5: Survivor Bonus!
Let's change the mind! How to do all the same, but much faster?
Render around the head:
Alternative rendering techniques.
Effective cheating and simplification

Duration of training: 2.5 weeks

What is included in the course:
5 detailed video lectures
4 practical tasks
4 online webinars (analysis of students' work by the teacher)

For classes you need:
computer, graphic tablet, internet, graphic editor Photoshop.

Learning scheme:
The course lasts 2.5 weeks. In total 5 lectures, 4 homework assignments and 4 analysis by the teacher of students' homework.

Creativity and Hobbies

Become a Professional CG Artist

I love the world of CG since childhood, and more recently, drawing has become my life.

I am already 24 years old, I have a higher non-art education and several years of work as an office hamster behind me. At one fine moment, I decided that such a life does not suit me and something needs to be changed. Gathered all her will into a fist and went to college as an animator. Now a year has passed. While the training was going on, I began to study what professions there are in the world of artists. I realized that the profession of an animator does not really attract me, just like the cartoons themselves. I like to draw and look at static pictures more. I prefer sci-fi, military, I like the cartoon style in the drawing.

I want to develop, engage in self-education and gain skills. I would like to come up with concepts and different objects for games.

Termination Criteria

Draw in such a way that you will not be ashamed of the drawings. Receive orders for drawings.

Personal Resources

Two years left, a great desire, a personal computer, video tutorials, books, an initial level of drawing and support from her husband.

Green Goal

I want to make money by drawing, because this is the only thing that really gives me pleasure. In addition, I want to see how the gaming industry is developing in the country, I want to see this process from the inside.