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  • Duration18 months
  • Topics11
  • Software09

Diploma in Visual Effects

VFX & Compositing

Visual Effects (VFX) is the art of creating realistic or imaginative visuals that cannot be captured during live filming. In this course, you will learn how to blend real footage with computer-generated elements to create stunning scenes — from explosions, environments and fantasy worlds to clean-ups and realistic motion effects.

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Visual Effects

Diploma · 18 months

You'll learn · 01/11

01Try it

What the camera shot, and what the audience sees.

Drag the slider to wipe between the green-screen plate, with its tracking markers, and the finished composite.

Plate

Final

Keying removes the green, tracking locks the new background to the camera, and compositing blends the two.

02 // Raw vs final

Shot on green.Seen at sunset.

In the studio there is only a performer and a green wall. The beach and the evening sky are added afterwards, and the audience never knows.

On set: green screen
On screen: final shot

Footage: Mixkit

  1. Stage 011/3

    Key

    The green is removed, leaving the performer cut out cleanly, down to loose strands of hair.

  2. Stage 022/3

    Match

    The performer's colour and brightness are shifted toward the warm, low evening light of the new location.

  3. Stage 033/3

    Composite

    The beach is placed behind the performer and softened like a real lens would, so the two read as one shot.

03Course content

What you'll learn.

11 topics, in the order you'll meet them. Open any one for a plain-language explanation.

  1. What VFX is, and how invisible and spectacular effects are used in films and series.

  2. How a shot travels through a studio, from the shoot to the final composite.

  3. Removing a green or blue background so an actor can be placed in a new scene.

  4. Tracing around a subject frame by frame to separate it from its background.

  5. Following movement in the footage so added elements move along with it.

  6. Working out how the real camera moved, so a virtual camera can copy it exactly.

  7. Layering footage, CG and effects together into one believable image.

  8. Making computer-generated objects sit convincingly inside filmed scenes.

  9. Matching the light and shadow of added elements to the original plate.

  10. Fixing colour problems, then giving the shot its final look.

  11. Using AI tools to speed up concepts, references and repetitive production work.

04Software

The tools you'll use.

Career options: Compositing Artist, VFX Artist, Motion Graphics Designer, Rotoscopy Artist, Matchmove / Camera Tracking Artist, Paint & Cleanup Artist, VFX Generalist, Freelance VFX Artist

05Careers

Where it cantake you.

8 roles this course prepares you for.

  • Compositing Artist
  • VFX Artist
  • Motion Graphics Designer
  • Rotoscopy Artist
  • Matchmove / Camera Tracking Artist
  • Paint & Cleanup Artist
  • VFX Generalist
  • Freelance VFX Artist

06How you'll learn

Three stages.

  1. Stage one

    Learn the fundamentals.

    Drawing, timing, composition and the software itself. Small batches, daily feedback from working artists.

  2. Stage two

    Build the reel.

    Studio-style projects with real briefs and real deadlines. Every student finishes with a portfolio they can defend.

  3. Stage three

    Get hired properly.

    Portfolio reviews, mock interviews and introductions to our studio partners. We stay reachable after you graduate.

Ready to start?18 months.

Enquire about Diploma in Visual Effects→

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