Jeffrey A. Okun, VES, is an award-winning Visual Effects Supervisor, who is a Fellow of the VES and the Academy of Motion Pictures, Arts and Sciences as well as the American Society of Cinematographers, and the Television Academy. He has served as the chair and first vice chair of the VES, and the chair of the LA Section. Jeff created the VES awards program and show along with Tim McGovern, VES and Kim Lavery, VES.

Okun created visual effects tracking and bidding software in 1992 that is still in wide use within the industry today, as well as the visual effects techniques dubbed the "PeriWinkle Effect" and the "Pencil Effect".

Susan Zwerman, VES, has been a member of the VES since 1998. She is a highly respected Visual Effects Producer who has been producing visual effects for more than 25 years. Zwerman is also a well-known seminar leader and author. As chair of the DGA's UPM/AD VFX Digital Technology Committee, Susan emphasizes the importance of the visual effects teams to DGA members at visual effects seminars organized under her guidance.

In 2013, Susan received the Frank Capra Achievement Award in recognition of career achievement and service to the industry and the Directors Guild of America. She is also a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the Producers Guild of America, Directors Guild of America, and a member and Fellow of the VES.

Susan Thurmond O'Neal joined the VES in 1997 and has been deeply involved ever since. She has served on the global Executive Committee in multiple roles, including Treasurer in 2016, second Vice Chair in 2022 and 2023, and first Vice Chair in 2024 and 2025. Over the years, she has chaired the legacy global Education Committee, currently leads the Membership Committee, and in 2019, was honored with the VES Founders Award for meritorious service to the Society.

By day, O'Neal is a recruiter for BLT Recruiting, Inc., where she connects top-tier talent with the right opportunities. Her career has spanned roles as Operations Manager at The Mill, Operations Director at Escape Studios LA, and Account Manager at SideFX Software. She got her start in visual effects at Digital Domain in 1993, working in finance and operations before transitioning into production.

COMING SOON - John Knoll

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION - Michael Fink, VES

What is a Visual Effect?

What is a Special Effect?

Art and Technology

CHAPTER 2: PRE-PRODUCTION/PREPARATION

Overview - Scott Squires, VES

Breaking Down a Script - Budgeting - Scott Squires, VES

Ballpark Budget

More Detailed Budgets

Bidding

Plate Photography

Temp Screenings

Reviewing Bids

Contracts

Rebidding during Shooting

Rebidding in Post

Monitoring the Budget and Schedule

Keeping the Budget Down

Examples of Script and Shot Breakdowns - Susan Zwerman, VES, Jeffrey A. Okun, VES

Breakdowns

Production Breakdowns

Generating a VFX Breakdown: The First Pass

Working with the Director and Producer - Scott Squires, VES

Demo Reel

The Meeting

Moving Forward

Production Departments - Scott Squires, VES

Production Design

Camera

Working with the Cinematographer - Bill Taylor, ASC, VES

Special Effects - Scott Squires, VES

Stunts

Wardrobe

Makeup

Production

Visual Effects

Editorial

Locations

Production Meeting

Designing Visual Effects Shots - Scott Squires, VES

Guidelines for Directors

Storyboards

Previs

Objective of the Shot

Concept Art

Continuity

Photorealism

Original Concepts

Budget

Reality and Magic

Camera Angles

Framing

Scale

Detail

Speed

Scaled Images

Depth of Field

Sequence of Shots

Camera Motion

Less is More

Action Pacing

CG Characters

Creatures and Character Design

Powers of 10 Shots

Visual Effects Techniques - Scott Squires, VES

Technical Considerations

Additional Suggestions for Determining Techniques

Development of Previs Techniques - Mat Beck, Stephanie Argy

History and Background

New Potent Techniques

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

What is Previs and Other Forms of Visualization? - Hamilton Lewis

What is Previs?

Different Types of Visualization and When to Use Them

Visualization: The New Essential

The Application of Previs: Who Benefits and How? - J. Todd Constantine

The Benefits of Previs

Project Types

Post Visualization - Scott Hankel

What is Post-Visualization?

Why Use Postvis?

Who Does Postvis?

Cautions and Suggestions for Good Practice - Mat Beck

The Perils of Previs!

Passing the Work On

The Role of the VFX Supervisor in Previs

Previsualization: Advanced Techniques - Christopher Ferriter

Introduction

Benefits of Visualization

Advanced Techniques

Camera Angle Projection - Steven D. Katz

Introduction by Bill Taylor, ASC, VES

Drawing What the Lens Sees

Techvis - Christopher Ferriter

What is Techvis?

How is Techvis used?

Advancements in Techvis

Emerging Techniques and Trends

Essential Data Captured in Techvis

Real Time Engines and Their Previs Applications in VFX - Ryan McCoy

Introduction

Pre-Production Applications

Production Applications

Pipeline Advantages

Real Time Engines and Their Application in Animation - Ryan McCoy

Traditional 3D Pipeline

Real-Time Pipeline

CHAPTER 3: ACQUISITION / SHOOTING

Working on Set - Scott Squires, VES

Common Types of Special Effects - Gene Rizzardi

What are Special Effects?

A Brief History of Special Effects

The Special Effects Supervisor

Working with the Visual Effects

Visual Effects in Service to SFX

Special Effects Design and Planning

Storyboards and Previs

The Elements: Rain, Wind, and Snow and Ice

Smoke, Fire, and Pyrotechnics

Mechanical Effects

Flying Wire Rigs and Stunts

Safety

Greenscreen and Bluescreen Photography - Bill Taylor, ASC, VES

Best Practices and Otherwise

Overview

Function of the Backing

Negative Scanning and Digital Conversion

Backing Uniformity and Screen Correction

The Alpha Channel

The Processed Foreground

The Composite

Recommended Specifications and Practices

How to Expose a Greenscreen Shot, and Why

Setting Screen Brightness

Choosing the Backing Color

Floor Shots, Virtual Sets

Foreground Lighting

Controlling Spill Light

Lighting Virtual Sets

Tracking Markers

On-Set Preview

Cameras for Bluescreen or Greenscreen Photography

Underwater Photography

On-Set Data Acquisition - Karen Goulekas

Camera Report

Tracking Markers

Props for the Actors

Cyberscanning

Digital Photos

LiDAR/Laser Scanning

Lens Distortion Charts

HDRI and Chrome Balls

LiDAR Scanning and Acquisition - Alan Lasky

On-Set 3D Scanning Systems - Joshua DeHerrera

Types of Technology

LiDAR

Photogrammetry

Prop Scanners

Lighting Data - Charles Clavadetscher, Jeffrey A. Okun, VES

Gathering Lighting Data

Using Conventional Still Cameras

Reference Shooting Considerations

Beware of False Savings!

Clean Plates - Scott Squires, VES

Shooting the Clean Plate

Locked-Off Camera

Moving Camera

Other Issues

Post-Process

Alternates without Clean Plates

Other Uses for Clean Plates

Monster Sticks - Scott Squires, VES

On-Set Animation Capture: Witness Cam (IBMC) - Joel Hynek

Wireless Non-Video Motion Capture

Factors Affecting Witness Cameras

Dealing with the Data in Post-Production

Camera Tracking for Real-Time Visualization - Joe Lewis

Introduction

Camera Department: Pre-Production and Cooperation

Camera Tracking Strategies in an LED Volume

Emerging, Innovation and Mature Technology

Triangulation As a Method of Recording Camera Data - Stuart Robertson

Camera/Subject Positional Information

Basics: The Toolkit

Basics: Nodal Point

Photographic Reference - Charles Clavadetscher

How to Proceed

Shooting Video as a Reference

Rules, Setup, and Testing - Charles Clavadetscher

Do a Complete Test Shot!

Why Run Through Example or Test Shots?

Digital Cinematography - David Stump, ASC, Marty Ollstein, David Reisner, W. Thomas Wolf

Digital Definitions

High Dynamic Range (HDR)

Camera / Lens Metadata

Camera Tracking

Look Management

The Recording System

VFX Photography - Eric Swenson

The Camera Array

Designing an Array Shot

Technicians

Shoot Day

Special Techniques

Post

The Future

Filming Live-Action Plates to be Used in VFX - Bill Taylor, ASC, VES

Camera Position (Station Point)

Angle of View

Lighting Considerations

Camera Tilt

Background Quality

Moving Plates

Scouting the Camera Positions

A Case Study

Camera Cars

Camera Car Safety Issues

Purpose-Built Crane Cars

Vibration and Camera Stabilization

Road Speed

Precautions

Panoramic Rigs

On the Water

Air to Air

Cable Systems

Shooting Elements for Compositing - Mark H. Weingartner

What Is an Element?

Stock Footage

Types of Elements

Generic versus Shot-Specific Elements

Determining Element Needs

Cheating

Backgrounds

Black Backgrounds

Line-Up

Camera Format Considerations

Assorted Methods for Shooting Elements

High-Speed Cinematography and Filming Elements - Jim Matlosz

Cameras

Technicians

Director of Photography

Lighting

Moving the Camera

Video Assist

Post

Supervising Motion Control - Mark Weingartner

What is Motion Control?

Performance Choreography

Multiple-Pass Photography

Scaling

Import and Export of Camera Move Data

The Data

Types of Motion Control Systems

Motion Control Software

Camera Types

Sync and Phase

Dealing with Production

Acquisition of Motion / Still Photographic Textures for Mapping onto CG - Mark Weingartner

Panoramic Backgrounds

Tiled Stills

Motion Tiling and Synchronous Plates

Practical Considerations

Stills for Textures and Lighting

Stop-Motion - Pete Kozachik, ASC

Evolution of Stop-Motion Photography

The Time Required to Shoot in Stop-Motion

Preparation before Shooting

Setting up a Shooting Space for Stop-Motion

Use of Motion Control in Stop-Motion

Useful Caveats

Evolution of a Shot

Use of Stop-Motion in Visual Effects

CHAPTER 4: PERFORMANCE AND MOTION CAPTURE

Defining Motion Capture / Performance Capture - Demian Gordon, Nathan Camp, John Root

How Motion Capture is Used Across the Industry - Demian Gordon, Nathan Camp, John Root

Is Motion Capture Right for a Project? - Demian Gordon, Nathan Camp, John Root, Tracy McSherry

The Mocap Look

Visual Storytelling and Aesthetic

Production Planning

Performance

Technology and Approach

Aligning Needs vs. Wants

Optical Motion Capture

Motion Capture for Virtual...