From BlenderWiki

[edit] Introduction

Compositing refers to building up your image or file from components. Like plywood, the final product is a combination of layers bonded together. The layers work together to create a better product than any single piece. Compositing has two main purposes: Assembly and Enhancement.

Image or sequence assembly is where the final footage is assembled from multiple shots of raw footage. For example, the two-second shot of the actor driving is taped to a three-second shot of the car driving by, resulting in a five-second sequence.

Image enhancement changes the appearance of a shot. In film, a shot may be taken during a bright and sunny day, but in post-production, the editor/producer may want the sky to be dark and cloudy to convey a sense of foreboding. The end result is thus a composite of what was originally shot, with effects layered on top and bonded to the original.

Compositing is accomplished two ways in Blender:

• Assembly
  • Using the Video Sequence Editor
  • Using Composition Nodes
• Enhancement
  • Using Composition Nodes

The Video Sequence Editor is used to assemble your shots into raw footage. The editor allows you to add a few mixing and transition effects, such as alpha over and wipe, and was the first way Blender enabled compositing. Limited post-processing can be done using the editor. This set of tools has been modularized and greatly expanded by the introduction of Composition Nodes. Composition Nodes are little workers that do something specific to a shot, such as colorizing it or sharpening it; you arrange these nodes and thread them together in assembly-line fashion to composite the images, resulting in processed footage.

To learn how to use the new, wild, and very cool Composition Nodes, click here. To use the Video Sequence Editor, click here.

Previous: Manual/Rendering_From_Command_Line Manual index Next: Manual/Compositing Node Editor