Look development artist

The workflow of look development artist:
Look development artist will start their work when they received ideas or concepts about appears from a director at the pre-production.
They might start brainstorming ideas and be able to provide the director with an early design version. In the early stage, it is mainly the 2D works. It aims to experiment with different colors, shape atmosphere, and place lights searching for the various mood that can help tell a story. Once they received 3D models and references, they can create different shading variations by using these objects.
As a look development artist and technical skills, you also need to understand theoretical knowledge. Colorspace is one of the essential parts. Sometimes you may not get the result in the final products because of the incorrect use of colorspace. In the second, maintain the continuity of the lens. Be careful not to show inappropriate scenes. Lastly, start simple and keep it as soon as possible. Do not waste time if you can get the desired look in more straightforward ways, of course, choose it. Time and results are much crucial than others. You have to save time for the rest of the steps for other departments.

• Lighting artist

The lighting artist’s duty in the VFX industry is quite similar to the lighting artist on set. Both of them use light to create an atmosphere, tone, and mood. The difference between the two jobs is that lighting artists in the VFX industry have to control lighting in the computer, which means that they need to master basic theoretical knowledge and practical skills in 3D programmers, such as V-Ray, Arnold, and Redshift.
In general, the duty of lighting artist is quite simple. They need to put the light into the scene. However, the VFX industry’s difficult part is that they have to organize lighting in the 3D software because lighting is more operable in software.
In the 3D programmer, artist can use the following methods to control the light objects.
Apart from 3D light artist, there is also some light artist work for 2D project. 2D animation also needs light to make it more vivid. Otherwise, the picture will become rigid and boring. Recently. There is a new tool that was created by Les Films Du Rouge. The new technology can help the artist finish a fantastic amount of work in not much time and reduce cost.

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Here is the demonsration of new tools

• Prep artist

Prep artist work with the Compositor. They prepare cleaning footage for Compositor. They clean the dust or electric pylons, which are useless in the frames.
As prep artists, they should be good at painting using a graphics tablet, have a high level of VFX programs such as Maya, Photoshop, and particularly Nuke. Besides, they should be methodical and thorough.
The workflow of the prep artist is to receive all of the assets from other departments first. Then remove the unnecessary items in the shot and arrange them carefully to help prepare plates for compositors.

• Compositing Artist

The compositing work with lighting directors and VFX artist. They are responsible for the final frames. The compositing artist collects digital assets like models, matte-painting, and live-action footage to bring them into the final shot and arrange them reasonable and believable.
As a compositor, they should be knowledgeable not only for the compositing programs but also for photography. For example, understand cameras, cinematography, and how films are made. Besides, they should have the ability to work under pressure because they are the final step in the post-production. They probably will not have much time after the earlier steps are complete.