Author of The Art and Science of Digital Compositing. (2nd edition now available for pre-order). Occasional supervisor in the visual effects and animation world. One of the founding employees of Sony Pictures Imageworks. Part of the initial design and development team that produced the digital compositing application Shake (acquired by Apple in 2002). Continued as Shake Product Designer for a few years, until development on the product was ruthlessly terminated. Also was slightly involved with Apple’s photo-management software Aperture. Slightly.
Frequently speaks at seminars on the topics of visual effects, digital filmmaking and general technology. (Has spoken in England, Netherlands, Russia, China, Singapore, Thailand, Australia, Japan and India… and several less-interesting locations). Regular guest-host on This Week in Photography podcast. Gadabout.
February 7, 2008 at 9:21 pm
Hey Ron,
Can’t wait for the new book. What’s up with Apple’s next gen compositor? Are they still making “Phenomenon” or did they kill it off altogether? You hear any rumblings from any of your contacts in the biz? No one I know seems to know what happened with it or if it’ll ever materialize.
All the best,
Matt Wallin
February 23, 2008 at 5:53 pm
I really can’t say much about where Apple may or may not be going with future products. Although the fact that I decided it was time to move on might be a reasonable clue as to my confidence level that any alleged ‘next generation’ tool will be focused on the market (high end vfx and animation) that I’m interested in… And why I’m now working with The Foundry on Nuke…
May 21, 2008 at 9:07 pm
Hi, I was just wondering between the 1st and 2nd edition, what the major changes were, and also if you think its better for me to wait for the second one to come out? I’m not much of an experienced compositor (would like to be in a year or so) and I feel like I need some knowledge/info before trying to make it in the industry. Any suggestions? Thank you in advance…