Recently, the New York Film Academy in Battery Park welcomed Russian Television International (RTVi) to document a hands-on 3D Animation lecture taught by Animation Chair, Robert Appleton and Cinematography Chair, Sal Interlandi. The television piece was part of a half-hour program, which highlighted 3D animation, and aired on RTVi television March 15th, 2014. RTVi is an international Russian-language television network with studios based in Moscow, New York City, and Tel Aviv.
The specific class was a special green screen workshop, which is an integral component of NYFA Animation’s compositing class. Green screen technology is a visual effects technique that allows the filmmaker to layer separate shots over each other, giving the illusion that the character is in another location; for instance, in a desert or in space.
Instructors Robert Appleton and Sal Interlandi used the shot in the compositing class in conjunction with chroma key compositing, which is a post-prodution technique that layers two images or video and streams them together based on color hues. The green background is vital for chroma keying, as the digital camera’s sensor is very sensitive to that wavelength.
At the present time, NYFA is using Nuke compositing software, as it is the industry standard. Also of note is that the school uses RED cameras (which are widely recognized as the best video camera on the market) for green screen work.
The video above is Part One of the half-hour special that aired on RTVi. The New York Film Academy segment begins at minute 6:00.