In digital media, compositing is the practice of combining multiple source images into one cohesive image.  It is a technique used in matte painting, concept art, styleframes, and storyboards.  We had to create six animal composites as our first assignment in Design for Motion – a class focusing on the development of boards, frames and other design elements for motion media.  Styleframes and storyboards are the preliminary steps taken before animation begins.  Being able to create realistic composites allows the designer to give their client (and the production team) a better idea of what the final animation will look like.

All too often I skimp on the preproduction process when tackling my animation assignments, so with this class it’s really nice to get back to basics and practice my Photoshop skills. Click through to see the rest of my composites and some of the source images.

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I think this was my strongest composite of the bunch.  If the halo effect behind the lion looks a little weird, it is because I was trying to achieve a backlit effect (you can’t see it now, but behind the lion was a large window which was the brightest light source in the image.)

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Ghost cat!

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My classmates and I agree that this griffin comp is one of the least strong among my set… and not just because it looks like it belongs on someone’s wall next to a dream catcher and a black velvet painting.  It was definitely one of the more challenging subjects because creating an imaginary creature is never easy; you can’t find realistic references.  I ended up doing a lot of manual painting over with the Photoshop Brushes to make the feathers and fur blend together.  I could have done a much better job of blending the area overlapping the sun. As my professor pointed out, feathers are translucent when backlit.

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LOL.  I was laughing when I made this.  Tarantula in a dog show!

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